Video of Crawling and the Newest Trick

Well, I finally got around to resizing Austin's crawling video so it could be uploaded here. This is Austin crawling on December 27, 2009.

Trust me, he is much better at it now. This is the main reason this blog has been so neglected.

Austin likes Fiona and she seems to tolerate him pretty well. (Jan 20, 2010)

Here is the beginning of the Monster. (Jan 21, 2010)

We made an appearance at Madeline and Dan's wedding. My handsome date. (Jan 23, 2010)

And it has begun. I found Austin pulled up in his crib after a nap yesterday.

And then today, he found the coffee table.

It's going too fast! He also got into the dogs waterbowl tonight. It's just a metal mixing bowl, but the big one. He dumped water all over himself and the floor while I was making dinner. It was AWESOME (<----sarcasm, for those of you who haven't heard me say that.)

Austin also had his first day at daycare. He's going on Mondays. He didn't have any anxiety about being left, but it was reported that he likes pull hair (I could have told them that). Other than that, there's not alot to report. We are holding down the fort for now.

Christmas, Crawling, and New Year's Eve

Well, we are finally back from all of our Christmas travels and we have lots to post. Sam was able to be here for Austin's first Christmas and he was able to go with us to Crystal Beach for Christmas with my parents. Austin got spoiled of course. This is one of his pictures from our Christmas card this year.

Here are some more pictures of:

Austin from Christmas Day

Uncle T & Austin

Pa Pa & Austin

Austin & Granny

Great-Granddaddy & Austin

Sam and Austin playing on the floor.

Austin in the bathtub. G-rated!

He also started crawling on December 27th. He crawled towards his Christmas present of course. We were able to get it on video thanks to Pa Pa, but it's too big to post here. I'll work on getting it to a smaller size so it can be uploaded.

Austin rang in the new year with me at Crystal Beach. We were sheltered under the Yorks' house and had our own personal band. Fireworks were set off at the end of the street. Austin slept through most of the night, but perked up at midnight for the celebration.

Sam had to return to Little Rock on December 27th so I was left to make the drive back home by myself with Austin and the two dogs. The trip usually takes about 7.5 hours. It took us 10 which was about what I expected. Everyone traveled pretty well and Fiona actually helped as a backseat-babysitter a couple of times when Austin cried.

Now we are gearing up for deployment. Sam will be leaving soon so we are trying to fit in as much family time as possible.

Ode to my Spoon & Forward Motion

Yesterday after I finished posting to the blog, I came across another funny thing Austin does and though you might be interested. After every meal, I wipe his face, remove the bib, and clean his spoon. Then, I give him the spoon to play with while I throw things away and tidy up. He usually just flings it around until he drops it on the floor. Recently, he's taken to talking to it and sometimes "serenading" it. Here's glimpse of how much he loves his spoon.

I also caught our little man engaging in some forward motion today. This is a first to my knowledge. He was after his starfish toy this morning when he started doing it and I had to run for the camera. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving and Goofing Around

Well, we spent our Thanksgiving this year in Marfa, TX with Sam's family and friends. Austin flew well again and did pretty good on the 3 hour drive from Midland to Marfa. We had a good time. Here's a picture of Austin riding in the truck out to a friend's house for Thanksgiving lunch.

Here we are after lunch relaxing at the house.

Here we are on our way back home at the Midland Airport.

Once we got home, it was time to get geared up for Christmas. Austin looked on from his jumper while I set up the Christmas tree. He was not that excited about it until it came time to touch the tree.

Austin's Great-Aunt Shannon made him a special hat for Christmas. Here's also wearing that and sporting his "almost" black-eye. This is what happens when I don't give Sam "advice" when he's holding Austin. This little shiner was gone by the next day. I'm sure it will only be the first of many boo-boos.

This past Saturday, I caught Austin and Sam spending some father-son time. It was too cute.

Austin is also beginning his experience with crawling. So far, he can get up on all fours and scoot backwards. It really makes him angry when he does all that work and realizes that he is further from his target (usually a toy or the pacifier) than when he started.

Here's Austin this morning in his hat!

Ok, I'm a slacker

Okay, okay. I haven't been keeping up with my "Keeping Up" blog. Sorry. Things have been pretty chaotic around here with Sam's upgrade, my school, and Austin's increased awake time. Here's my attempt at catching you up on all the happenings.

Well, on November 7th, Austin, Sam, the dogs and I went out to Burns Park in North Little Rock for a walk and a picnic with Matt, Lisa, and Andrew Halderman and their dogs. We spread out some blankets and hung out. It was a nice relaxing afternoon.

The next day Austin showed off one of his many talents (thanks to Granny showing him how he can reach them). He LOVES his toes and plays with them regularly. Here I got him with big toe in mouth.

The squadron has a Burger Burn one afternoon and Austin and I went to see Sam at work. It just so happened that Sam got nominated to get a pie to the face to raise money for the Christmas party. The guys encouraged me to "pie" Sam, but I let the boys have their fun.

Austin loves to hangout with his puppies. He loves to watch them go by.

During Granny's most recent trip, Austin was allowed juice. He loves his juice from either a cup or a bottle. The first video is Austin drinking from his sippy cup. The second is him holding his own bottle (kinda). And yes, he's drinking from a pink bottle. He's very comfortable with his manhood.

He is also more and more fascinated by the things around him. He especially loves the colorful remote control.

This was take today at the airport as Granny was leaving. One more big smile from Granny and his pumpkin hat courtesy of Great-Aunt Shannon.