Lazy January!

Thankfully, January has come and gone. Austin and I are starting to get a little stir crazy, with not being able to go outside. The only good think about this weather is that we stay home a ton and play. We have been shopping a lot also, and I managed to get all of his winter clothes for next year, as well as his pajamas for the next three sizes (3T-5T). He currently is wearing a 24month or a 2T in most things. He's such a big boy! Hopefully he will be able to wear the things I bought him for next year without a problem.

He's changing so much still. He's starting to throw tantrums a bit more, which is frustrating at times. I've gotten in the habit of walking away from him when he does that, but he's starting to get the hint that mom and dad don't respond to him when he behaves like that!

He's also starting to try to say a lot more words. He's been working on octopus, apple, and up are a few that come to mind. He's a pro at making sounds now. He knows what a truck, train, monkey, snake, lion, dog, cat, and a cow says. He also now shakes his finger (as if he were saying no), and says "no no no" when asked what mommy says. Thanks Jared for that one!

He's wanting to do a lot more things on his own now. He loves to help me put laundry in the dryer, help me hang up clothes, he even tried to help me sweep the floors recently. He wants to go up and down the stairs like a big boy. He skipped over wanting to go down on his tummy, he wants to go down the stairs like we do! Luckily, he holds are hand while he does it. He's getting better, but still has a long way to go. He even pointed to this apple the other day and decided he was going to eat it like we do. It's cute, because he sees us doing things, and he wants to do the same. Too bad he isn't like that with his food yet!

This is a picture of Austin trying to put on his shoes on his own. I can now ask him to go get his shoes, and he normally brings them to me. Many times, he actually tries to put them on by himself. It's too cute. He has quickly outgrown his shoes, and hopefully sometime this week, we'll be making the trip to the shoe store for a new pair.

Austin really enjoys getting mail. This is a Valentine's Day card from his great gandma and grandpa B. They sent some money also, so Austin got a new book about how much we love him. He still loves books more than toys, so a book is always a safe bet with him! We read it throughout the store, and it kept him entertained for quite some time, which at this stage, is pretty hard to do.

Like I said, Austin wants to do the things that we do. He even wants to sit on the stools and chairs like adults do. In this picture, he decided he wanted to "type" on the computer like daddy does. It was pretty cute.

Like I said, nothing keeps his interest much anymore. We bought him these storage bins to put his toys in for now. His favorite thing about these bins is to dump everything out. This kept him occupied for about 5 minutes, and then we moved on to reading books and building things!

Austin finally figured out how to put shapes in his shape sorter. He was so proud of himself. After every shape he puts in, he claps for himself. He's getting so smart. It's really neat to watch him figure things out. He hid the remote for the tv last week and I couldn't find it anywhere. I asked him where he put it, and sure enough, he went right over to where he left it and brought it back to me. I was impressed! I didn't even know that he knew what the remote was, let alone where he left it at!

Here are a couple of shots that Jared took this weekend. I thought they were pretty cute. As you can tell, he still has those gorgeous big blue eyes. He knows how cute they are too, he's such a flirt with them! We were at Matt and Drew's house this weekend for the Super Bowl (he actually made it up until 8 without too many sleeping disruptions, he only woke up once!). He was playing with Drew and it's just too cute to see him with other people. The looks he gives people with those big blue eyes are priceless! He likes to tease people by giving them toys and then taking them back. It's adorable.