Austin is Four Months

Four months? Wait...it is going by way too quickly!! My sweet little Austin is four months old and growing like a weed! Oh, and the other day, he slightly pulled himself forward about an inch while on his tummy. I flipped him to his back. It's too early for him to figure out he can be mobile.

Four month stats:
14.15 lbs
26 "
*about a pound less than Cooper at this age and an inch taller!

A few things about my little Austin Boo at four months:

• He's found his little squeal voice and loves to fill the house with it.
• He's doing great at rolling side to side, but hasn't mastered rolling back to tummy just yet.
• His favorite toy is a little ball with lots of rubber loops on it.
• He must have something in his mouth at all times.
• He could win a gold medal in slobbering.
• He loves to be tickled and has THE BEST chuckle.
• He thinks Itsy Bitsy Spider is really funny.
• He's got the biggest smile and the cutest little dimple on his left cheek.
• His eyes light up whenever his big brother is close. Cooper can make anything funny and any tears go away.
• He's sweet and cuddly and easily content and almost always happy.
  
• He loves to splash in the bathtub and watch anything Cooper is doing.
• He likes to sit up more than lay on his back or tummy, so we've been using the bumbo a lot recently.
• He discovered his feet a few days ago and wants to grab them constantly. It's only a matter of time before getting them to his mouth.
• He likes to be swaddled with his right arm wrapped and his left arm free.

I'm actually in unknown stay-at-home territory. At this point with Cooper, I was back at work and completely in a different world of balancing being a new mom and working full time. So it's fun to experience all day, every day with a four-month-old.

Austin has started waking up happy...yea!! He will fuss for a second, but quickly begin talking and cooing, and on the monitor I watch him reach for and check out the animals on his bumpers. I wait until he fusses before getting him out of his bed. Hopefully he'll enjoy his bed and be comfortable in it like he brother was and still is!

Austin is pretty consistent with his routine. We aren't on a schedule, but I do try to keep his routine regular. He eats, is awake and happy for about two hours, then sleeps for 30 minutes to an hour, then repeats again and again. All day long. We aim for a 8:30 p.m. bedtime, which works well because both boys are in bed by then, so Philip and I have a little bit of time in the evenings together. It doesn't always work out, but more often than not, everyone cooperates. Austin is still eating about every three hours during the day and goes anywhere from five to eight hours at night. If only I went to bed when he goes to bed, I'd be ahead of the game in sleep. But, thanks to my night owl syndrome (thanks, Mom!), I go to bed too late and lose half of my sleeping time.

I haven't given Austin a paci. Mainly because Cooper never took one and we made it through, so I just decided I wasn't even going to try one with Austin. But, I think if I gave him one, he would like it because he has to suck on something as he's falling asleep. I don't want to start the habit of nursing him each time he sleeps, so I've been giving him the little taggies blanket that Cooper picked out for him just before he was born. Between the blankie and his fingers, he's able to soothe himself and fall asleep easily.

With Austin growing and starting to show his sweet little personality, I'm finding myself still thinking about how we almost didn't have him. It breaks my heart because I can't picture anyone else but him in our family. He's the one we were supposed to have; he's the perfect fit. And while I know and believe that, it's hard to also still grieve and wonder about the one we didn't have. Gosh, such an emotional situation that sticks with you like nothing else...

Happy month four, my sweet little Austin Boo!! Thanks for being such a bright addition to our family.

02.18.2012

Someone Got New Boots

Cooper loves his boots. Loves them. Nothing can keep this little boy away from his boots. And, I love that about him. No matter where we go; no matter what we do. Cooper wears his boots.

Cooper and his boots have been on many adventures together--walking, running, jumping, skipping, or even just sitting. Inside or outside, rain or shine. In fact, he kind of reminds me of me when I was little. I would wear my cowgirl boots with everything--swimsuits, jeans, dresses, skirts, jammies. One of my favorite pictures of me as a child is one where I'm wearing my Catherine the Great shirt, wearing my cowgirl boots, and I have a black eye. Seemed to be my "look" when I was little, black eye and all!

But, it's time to pack this pair of boots away. They've made a little boy incredibly happy (and, in my opinion, super cool) for the last year and have kept his feet cozy and entertained every single day for the last six months. Really. Every. Single. Day. For the last six months, at least, Cooper has worn these boots. With the exception of school days. I do, however, always have the boots in my car when I pick him up from school and he usually can't get his tennis shoes off quickly enough to get those beloved boots on his feet. These boots have been all over this city, on our many fun adventures and on all of our travels for the last year, at least. They've been in the rain and in the mud and in the sand. He's worn them with shorts, jammies, jeans, "zoo keeper" pants, underwear, costumes, and heck, even his birthday suit at times. He loves them. He is a cowboy, you know, "I Cowboy Cooper! What's your name?" And cowboys wear boots no matter what they are doing, according to Cooper. Several mornings a week, while Coop is still rubbing his sleepy eyes, he tells me he's ready for jeans and boots because "this cowboy needs to get to work!"

But, we'll put these beloved cowboy boots on a shelf and make new memories with his new boots. Who knows what adventures these boots might take Cooper on or imaginary places they might visit. But as long as Coop has his boots, he is one happy (cow)boy.

Happy Birthday to Mommy

"Mommy...we have a surprise for you!!" That's how I woke up the morning of my birthday. Cooper was so excited and proud to walk me to my surprise. He and his daddy, with sidekick Austin, had been hard at work that morning, while I got to sleep until 9:00 a.m.! This is what I saw in the kitchen, complete with a blueberry muffin with a candle.
After my boys sang Happy Birthday, the four of us sat down at that little table and had breakfast together. Can't imagine a better way to start my day.
After Philip headed off to work, the boys and I headed to the Arboretum where Cooper found a friend to play with. The little boy brought his bug catching gear and shared them with Cooper. Coop thought all the tools were pretty awesome and was in bug-catching heaven. He searched all over for all shapes and sizes of bugs.

Coop took a bug-hunting break for a few minutes so he could plow. Loved seeing the determination on his face to correctly push that huge "machine."

Austin had a great nap during our Arboretum outing!

That evening, we had dinner and delicious cupcakes at Gammi and Poppi's house. Coop was so excited about cupcakes, he plopped down on the floor immediately to enjoy that chocolatey goodness!

And I'm just realizing that the only picture of me on my birthday is one where I'm wearing totally awesome jammies. Oh well! I had a great birthday with my boys!!

Boy Mom Moment (Trash Truck)

If I had a personal photographer following me and my boys around everyday to capture little moments, this is what I would like a picture of from today…

Me standing in the middle of our alley, with a barefoot three-year-old on one hip and a diaper-wearing four-month-old on the other hip, watching the trash truck make its way down the alley. We watched the trash go in the truck and get smashed down into the hopper. Both boys were completely enamored with that big, noisy truck. The trash men waved to us, Coop excitedly waved back and I’m pretty sure Austin tried his best to wave, too.

This might sound like a funny thing that I would like to remember, let alone wish I had a picture. But, to me, it was a true boy mom moment. And I loved it.

A Mama and Her Boys

Austin and I were looking at his little soft book, when my squeaky clean frog jumped in my lap, too. Does it get any better than this?