VICTORY!

We have declared a victory in our house! It all started with Austin's four month checkup a week ago last Wednesday. For the two weeks or so prior to the checkup, Baby Boy was waking up every three hours or so at night. Needless to say, Mommy was walking around in a bit of a fog. So we inquired of the pediatrician what to do. Dr. Weiss responded that Austin had figured out that he could get me up during the night and that we needed to get him into his crib in the nursery and let him cry it out. So we put Austin in his crib that night. He only woke up once but when he did wake up, he cried for 30 minutes. It was awful! But we persevered and did not go in there. The next night, he only cried for 15 minutes. By the fourth night, Austin made it all the way through the night without waking up. Yay!! We now are all sleeping through the night and it is wonderful!


Austin's four month checkup went well (other than the major guilt trip I experienced from being told that Austin should already be in his own room). He now weighs 15 pounds and is 26 inches long, which puts him in the 50th percentile for weight and the 85th percentile for height.

The other day Karie (Austin's sitter) called me at work to tell me that Austin had rolled over from back to front twice! He had already learned to roll from his tummy to his back and could roll from his back to his side, but this was the first time he rolled all the way from back to front. We haven't seen this accomplishment, but we are eagerly waiting!

We have now tried out the jogging stroller passed to us from Nathan's cousin Leslie & Bernie. (Thanks again Leslie!) Austin is finally big enough to ride in the stroller so I took it for a spin. We did pretty well except for when we had to turn a corner and I ran the stroller into the dog! Luckily Daja was only mildly irritated with me. Austin really enjoyed the jog.

I am sure there is some witty caption for this photo, but I couldn't come up with one. Austin's expression is pretty hilarious though.

4 months old!!!

Here are some recent pictures.

Daddy and Boo chillin in the recliner.


Austin sitting by himself in the Bumbo seat.


Last weekend we went to the South Florida Museum in Bradenton. It is a history museum with a planetarium and a manatee rehabilitation aquarium.

The aquarium has a permanent resident manatee named Snooty. Snooty is 60 years old and is the only manatee ever born in captivity. Snooty has other manatees that room with him temporarily while in rehab before being released into the wild. When we saw Snooty, he had two roomies - two females who are being fattened back up for release. We got to see a feeding of the manatees. They eat lots and lots of lettuce. Snooty used to get fruit as well but is currently on a diet and only gets strawberries and pineapple on his birthday.

Nathan and Austin watching the manatees


We also saw a planetarium show. Austin fell asleep and slept through most of the show. (I think Daddy fell asleep too near the end, but he won't admit to it!)Nathan and Austin in the planetarium




The following pictures are of Austin in his Jumperoo. The Jumperoo was a gift from our pet sitter, Ginger. (We love Ginger!!) The Jumperoo is a seat suspended from elastic cords that baby can sit in and bounce up and down. Austin's feet are just now able to touch the floor on the lowest level, so he doesn't do much bouncing yet, but he is very interested in the toys surrounding the seat. The seat also swivels 360 degrees so that he can access all the toys around him.

Hamming for the camera.....Austin is not always cooperative when it comes to the camera. These days he does something really cute and then when the camera comes out, he becomes instantly serious.

Sometimes we get lucky though. Daddy managed to get this big, cheesy grin and we just love it!

The Parenting Marathon

Yes, I know, it's been a LONG time since I've posted. The thing about working with a baby is this - we work all day, race home to be with the baby and then rush around like mad getting dinner, bathing and putting Boo to bed and then getting ready for the next day. By the time we're finished, there's time for nothing but bed! It feels like we run a marathon each evening before dropping into bed exhausted. I do think, however, that this is much, much more fun than running 26 miles! Here is an update of the latest news with a couple of pictures. (More pictures and video of our adorable little man to come later!!)


On July 14, I went back to work. Going back to work was tough, but has been a very positive experience overall. Miss Karie, the lady Austin stays with during the day is awesome. Each day I get a phone call during lunch where she updates me about Austin's morning. We have a notebook that Miss Karie fills out each day with all of Austin's activities - everything from swinging and floor play to poopie diapers and how much he eats. It is really nice to read each night about his day.
Austin has new friends at Miss Karie's house. There is Jake, a 2 year old little boy who was so excited to have another little boy at Miss Karie's that he went around telling people (much to his parents chagrin) that "Austin has a peepee like me"! There is Carlee, a 1.5 year old little girl who likes saying "hi, Baby!" to Austin. Carlee also likes giving Austin his pacifier but isn't completely coordinated so the pacifier usually hits him in the nose or in the eye before finally making it to his mouth, only to be pulled right back out! Luckily he is an easy going baby and just smiles at Carlee when this occurs. Finally, Austin's favorite new friend is Tessa, Miss Karie's 8 year old daughter who ADORES Austin. I think Tessa will have withdrawal when she goes back to school in a couple of weeks!


Austin is growing like crazy. He now weighs over 14 pounds. He is able to hold his head up really well and can sit up with just a little help. He also LOVES to stand with help. Many times sitting is simply not an option. Why sit when you can stand?!? He also laughs now and it is the funniest and most wonderful sound in the world. One night Daddy got Austin to giggle and laugh just by talking to him. I don't think I've seen Daddy glow like that other than on the day Austin was born. :-)

Rolling over is the latest trick Austin has learned. He can get from his back onto his right side, but hasn't quite figured out how to get over to his stomach. We are expecting this revelation to occur any day now. Right now, though, he will lay on the blanket and go from his back to his side, then flip back onto his back and repeat the process over and over. When placed on his tummy he can get all the way over onto his back.

Austin is becoming quite the blabbermouth. He says lots of "mmmmm" and "ma" sounds but hasn't quite gotten the "mama" out yet. We are convinced that dog-speak and baby-speak is interchangeable. Daja and Austin seem to be able to communicate perfectly!

The Drool Monster

In the past couple of weeks I have discovered a second universal truth in parenting. And that truth is, despite the small size of a baby's nose, he can still produce grown-up sized boogies. Don't ask me how this could possibly be true, but it is. It is amazing that Austin can breathe through his nose at times, because we have removed some BOULDER boogies from his nose! Just amazing...

Sleepy Boy

I have also learned that bibs are not just for spilled food. Yes, call me naive, but prior to Austin, I believed bibs to be used exclusively for keeping baby food off of the cute baby clothes. Much to my surprise, my little two-month old is secretly a drool monster. This monster rears its wet head periodically even though my son is too young for teeth. When the monster appears, you have two choices, dribbles on the clothes (which very quickly SOAK whatever he is wearing) or dribbles on the bib. So we go with dribbles on the bib. It keeps him dry and is much easier to change than changing his clothes!! A secret weapon against the drool monster is to put the bib on at the beginning of the day. It doesn't keep the drool monster at bay, but it seems to reduce the amount of drool. Go figure.

But enough about the bodily functions. Austin has achieved a milestone - he now sleeps an average of 7 hours in one stretch when we put him to bed at night!! Yay!! We have not gotten the full advantage of the 7 hours sleep ourselves since he goes to bed usually between 8 and 9, but nevertheless, we are very excited by this new development. We are also super fortunate that he is pretty good at going to sleep on his own. We put him down when he is drowsy and he lays there quietly until he falls asleep. I count my blessings every day, believe me.

And now, some pictures at 2 1/2 months....

Tummy Time!!


Just Chillin'

"Are you done taking pictures yet??"



"I see you!!"