3-5

It finally happened. My age finally caught up with me. For the first time in my life, I don't really like my age. Up until now, I never had a problem with any age, not 30, not even 35. But it just hit me - my metabolism has slowed down, my face looks tired, not taut like a 20-something, and my back aches. They said the metabolism slow down would happen at 30, but it did not. I rode the ride of eating whatever I want for 5 years past that, laughing in the face of those that said it would happen.

It's hard to accept. It's not fair - why can't I have nachos for dinner (again)??!

Toddler Adventures

Oh my goodness, Austin keeps us laughing and on our toes. Today, "Gamma Dottie" and Grampa were visiting and he was having a great time. He liked showing off for them; of course they are a great audience. He disappeared for a while, while we talked. I could hear him talking and laughing by himself down the hall. After a few minutes, I went to look for him and found him in his crib! He totally scaled the wall. It's a good thing we have been planning to go buy a big boy bed. I found the one I want this morning online at Ikea. We'll go get it next weekend. Good lord, the kid likes to climb these days.
Another thing that he's doing right now cracks me up. Whenever he knows he's not supposed to do something, he does it anyway and then says "Hug?" and gives me a hug. It is SO dang cute. He pushes all the keys when I'm typing and after each push, he says "hug?" and hugs me. Earlier today, I came into the room where he was listening to music and the fan was unplugged. I got mad and said "Did you unplug the fan?!" He yelled "HUG!?" and ran over to hug me. It's rather irresistable, exactly what he means it to be.
Last night we went to dinner with "Gamma" and his cousin Kaleb and his visiting Grampa. They are going on vacation so on the drive home I told Austin that Gramma was going on vacation so he wouldn't see her for a week. The whole way home he said "More Gamma please." Very cute, I can't wait to tell her that. She'll love it.
Austin can say many many words now. He can repeat just about anything. He finally says his own name which is really cute, along with Gamma, Kylie, every letter of the alphabet and all the numbers through twenty.
Due to Gramma's vacation, I am working a weird schedule next week so I can be home half the time to watch Austin. I can't take any vacation time right now, so I'm grateful for the few extra hours per day at home. I'm going to try to squeeze in a ton of things into a few extra hours though, very typical of me.

Solo Ride

Last weekend, after attending VegFest, we walked around Seattle Center checking out what fun could be had for a two-year old. I was pushing Austin in his stroller when we passed by the kiddie rides. Being a seasoned amusement park rider, he literally jumped out of the moving stroller when he saw the rides. He ran up to the ride he wanted to go on and tried to get in the gate. This was a little car ride on a track for very little ones. No adults allowed. I explained to Austin that this one wasn't a good idea because Mommy was too big for this ride and he would have to go on it by himself. I thought that would be a deal breaker for him since he is very clingy. (He even freaks out on carousels because I'm standing next to him and apparently that's not close enough.) He was very insistant that he wanted to go on the ride and I asked him a few times if he understood that he'd be riding by himself. He said he still wanted to go on it. So finally I thought, what the heck, let's try it. Who am I to hold him back? Something in his demeanor told me that he understood & didn't care. When we went to buy tickets, he didn't even want to come with us, he wanted to stand in line for the ride by himself. When it was time to get on the ride, he got right up there and had no problem at all going on by himself. We were all prepared to have to stop the ride for him to get off. But boy we underestimated him. He took his car driving very seriously, turning the steering wheel the whole time and had a very serious look on his face as he went around & around the tracks. He eventually would crack a smile as he passed us and we were waving and smiling at him. I stood there totally crying because I was so incredibly proud of him and it was so damn cute. We didn't even have a camera with us, but I did get a short little video on my phone. It was amazing.

Fiveteen and More

So I just finished a super hard week at work, and now would like to just slide into weekend mode by having a glass of wine and reflecting on all of the cute and cool things Austin has done recently.
Brian has encouraged him to learn his numbers 11-20. I hear him practicing by himself all the time. I like how he calls twelve "twoteen", calls twenty "Oteen" and says "fiveteen".
He now can say "thank you" instead of signing it. Yay! It sounds like 'crank you".
We encouraged him to use the potty again. Yay! Although, I think I made a mistake by telling him that pee pee is actually water that went through his body and out his penis. He freaked out when I told him that. I guess it is a pretty weird concept if you're not already familiar with the logistics of it all.
Every night Austin gets a binky when he goes to bed. His Elmo doll in his crib also gets one. Tuesday morning he was sleeping with me (thanks to an especially rambunctious evening with his playgroup friends) and when he got up he noticed a second binky in our bed and exclaimed "Elmo's binky!"
Basically he's been super fun and developing like crazy. I will post about Disneyland soon!

A Momentous Evening

I can't believe it. Tonight, for the first time ever, Austin went to bed without his binky. Austin has been very attached to his binky since birth. It's gotten much, much better during the past several months; he only needs it at night and for naps. But every single night he asks for it as soon as I put him in bed. Tonight, he just gave me a kiss, listened to me while I told him good night, etc., and then I walked out of the room and didn't hear a word from him! Seriously, this is such a big deal.

Some Noteworthy Items

I haven't written in a while and Austin continues to say and do funny and cool things. Here are a few things I don't want to forget.
Who can forget yesterday's playgroup? Austin was in rare form. When Sophie, Kylie, and their moms came over yesterday Austin got a little shy, for about 2 seconds. Then he started goofing off and was all over the place, laughing hysterically. He showed Kylie & Sophie how much fun it was hiding in the blinds, playing in the closet with the vacuum, and playing swords in his room. He had an infectious laugh and a penchant for getting reactions out of the girls. Of course, one hour after going to bed he was up crying out "Mom!" I brought him to bed with me and he passed out right away. In the middle of the night, I awoke to him laughing in his sleep. So cute.

He likes to hear baby stories. These are stories I tell him about when he was a baby. He really likes to hear about how when he was a baby he didn't eat food, just drank milk. And when I ask him where the milk came from he says "Mama's boob!" really loudly. Although I have told him where the milk came from, I certainly never told him to shout it. Very funny. Also, I tell him that when he was a baby he didn't brush him teeth, because he didn't have any teeth. Only gums. He got a little confused the other day and when I said he didn't have any teeth, he said "Only lips" (which he pronounces 'ips').

The morning of my birthday a few weeks ago, we started a few new things. I started letting him play on the computer, on an open spreadsheet. It helps him with his letters and numbers and engages him for a long time. That day while working on his spreadsheet he went and got his calculator for maximum calculating ability. I swelled with pride. Just like mom, he loves to calculate. We also started dancing that morning. Until now, we couldn't really listen to music in the family room, because he would mess with the stereo and/or CD player, making it impossible to listen to music. Now we listen to music & dance all the time now. He's got the moves! I'm not sure who told him to scrunch up his face while dancing, but that's his trademark dance look. On my birthday, we calculated and danced at the same time. What a perfect birthday. I finally got the inspiration to began to rebuild my Itunes library. I got all emotional because while listening to music I also started looking at the pictures on my phone and I realized how many cool things have happened to me in the past couple years. Not just with Austin & Brian, but with my friends too.


Usually at preschool he is very clingy, just as he often is anywhere but at home with just us. But last Friday he took baby steps toward being more independent. He goofed off with some other kids, being silly like he likes to be. Then he was upset because I wasn't right by his side watching him play, but I had a job to do. I was art sorter. His teacher was able to coax him over to the art table and he became interested in dumping glitter on glue. At first he wanted to wash his hands every time he got paint on his hands, but after a while realized that it was OK to have dirty hands. So, two small victories there. I will probably frame that particular painting. Then, when it was time to go outside & play, he took off without me and didn't even care that I wasn't right behind him. His desire to play trumped his separation anxiety. Baby steps! As I prepare to enroll him in a drop off class for fall, I feel optimistic that it may be OK. If he can be brave, so can I.

We're Going to Disneyland!

Yay! We're so excited. It's like the Disneyland commercial where the kids can't sleep the night before their trip and then they pan over to the parents room and they can't sleep either. I am super bummed that It's a Small World is closed for renovation though. I think Austin would really like that ride. Pirates of the Caribbean? Too scary?? I think so. We'll see.