Austin's officially two years old now, and man, is he a wild man! We've hit the terrible twos in full swing, and so far, it isn't so terrible. He has days where he's really fussy, whiny, and throws tantrums with the best of them, but for the most part, he's just wild! We had his two year check up today and he's now 31.5 lbs (85% for weight), and 36.25 inches tall (91% for height). The doctor told us we can go ahead and transition him into his big boy bed, and said he looks like he is doing great! He's speaking a ton now, and is putting together several words to make a somewhat clear sentence (today's classic one after I told him no snack; "grandma, couple crackers snack please"). He's coming up with cute phrases like "Ride the rails" when he's playing with his trains and "oh bumpers" when he does something wrong. He even told some girls one day riding bikes "hey girlfriend, come here." He even told me the other day "one more time, time out" when he knew he was doing something wrong and was about to get a time out. That made me smile, and needless to say, he didn't get a timeout.
One of Austin's favorite things to do in the late summer was to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house to feed the fish! He got really good at throwing the bread, and loves to watch the fish eat it. He looses interest pretty quickly, but it's still an experience and something he looks forward to every week. Grandpa loves to take him down there and show him the fish. One day, maybe even next year, Austin will actually be able to go fishing over there with grandpa on the weekends. What a treat that would be for both of them!
The biggest and most exciting news in our house lately (for most parents anyway), as many of you know, potty training has been in full swing now for about two weeks at our house. Austin has been doing great! Between the combination of "naked time" and the cessation of diapers completely during the daytime, Austin is really getting the hang of it! He is able to hold his pee for several hours at a time now (we go to the grocery store, the zoo, parks, etc. without diapers....I'm so brave!), and is doing really well keeping his big boy undies dry. He wears a diaper at nap time and during the night still, but he's starting to get to the point where he even stays dry during his nap time occasionally. He loves picking out his undies in the morning and will tell you proudly most days what kind he has on (It's either Queen for Lightening McQueen, or Buzzundies for Buzz Lightyear). He notices now that mom and dad are wearing undies, and loves to tell us what colors we have on. He even watches me use the bathroom and helps me tell my fluids bye-bye (I know, it's gross, but it seems to be working, and i'm willing to do quite literally, whatever it takes!). He sometimes even blows them a kiss good-bye and waves. He's recently learned how to flush the toilet, and does so over and over again while unraveling an entire roll of toilet paper in a sitting. He still poops his pants quite a bit of the time, but we're getting there. We'll take it one step at a time. Austin's doctor was very pleased that he was in his undies today, and said that he was way ahead of the game. Go Austin, GO!
Austin not only looks just like his daddy, but they have a lot of similarities also. For starters, they both love me of course :) Seriously though, these two look so much alike. I think Austin is even going to end up adopting the love of photography, just like his dad. Austin saw Jared playing with his camera one night, so they started taking self pictures so that Austin could see himself on the camera. He loves it. He's even been dragging out Jared's light stands and saying "Cheese" and "Smile" as if he was looking behind a tripod. These boys couldn't have picked a more expensive hobby, but at least it's something rewarding!
At the beginning of our potty training days, we didn't leave the house for quite some time. Imagine trying to occupy a two year old for several days straight without going anywhere, and being confined to the inside and outside of your house. As most of you know, it's not that easy! We did everything from play outside, to watch movies, do puzzles, play with trains, and even got desperate one day. I took off the coushinos on the couch and let him have at it. He thought this was great to be able to jump all over the place, as you can see! We'll definitely be doing this more and more in the winter months to come.
So here is my first shot at using Jared's camera in a non-automatic mode. Not to shabby, huh? This was taken at the Lindenwood Nature Preserve near our house. It's beautiful there, and it's a place that Jared and I have enjoyed going to for the past few years. We thought Austin would love to walk around and explore, and he did......until I almost stepped on a gardner snake and freaked out. Jared and I then had to carry Austin through the rest of the preserve! He did enjoy it for a while though :)
Our favorite summer spot finally closed it's doors for the summer. The Fort Wayne Children's Zoo is open for their Zoo Halloween, but that's it. Austin loves going to see the an-imals as he says. We went about once a week for the entire summer, and he loved it. At the beginning of the summer he just looked at the animals, and by the end he could tell me what all of them are. He even got brave by the end of the summer and would run through the tiger look out area and sit on the Komodo Dragon sculpture. It's amazing to see what all he's learned in the short time of 5 months. I look forward to next summer when I can start teaching him about what the animals eat, where they came from, etc. It's such a great place, and we are so lucky to have something so close to home.
Here was Austin the morning of his birthday party. This was his reaction to the presents from Jared and I.....priceless. He had such a wonderful birthday party, with many great, wonderful, loving people surrounding him. He got many wonderful gifts from everyone, and has loved playing with them ALL, and yes, I've seen them all over lately. He got several trains (he knows all of their names now), dinosaurs, an awesome play-doh set, books, movies, and a pair of cowboy boots. He even got clothes, but he wasn't too thrilled with those, but I sure was! He even got some bath tub toys, which he loves and plays with Elmo and "Bernie" all the time. He's loved his toys so much that we were going to take him to the Zoo on his birthday and let him ride some of the rides (we go weekly, but he's only ridden one ride, twice I think), but we couldn't get him out of the house. We ended up staying at home, playing with all his toys, and building forts out of couch cushions and blankets. Sounds like a perfect birthday to me! There is nothing that we enjoy more than watching that little boy's face light up. It makes everything you do in the world worth while.
Leave it to our kid, all the toys in the world at his birthday party, and he goes straight for the book. His love for books continues to grow and expand, and we couldn't be happier. It's amazing how they captivate him and how much he learns from them. I hope this love continues to grow.
We made Austin a Lightening McQueen cake, and the cars were dancing to "Sh-boom", his favorite song. He loved the cars, and plays with them all the time (he got a Red Fire engine, Sally, and a wet Lightening McQueen, and yes, there is a difference between a wet Lightening McQueen and a dry one. Who knew!). He blew out his candle on his own, but refused to eat the cake. He love the ice cream that came with it though!
Here are just a few shots from Austin's 2 year portrait session with dad. We went to Salomon Farms, which has tractors, and corn. There really isn't much to do there, but Jared was able to capture some great shots. There were some donkey's there, and Austin kept saying "here donkey, donkey". He loved exploring and sitting on the carts that were for hayrides. Jared realized how difficult it can be to take pictures of someone this small, but he still managed to capture great, unique shots. I love that he picked up this hobby, it's been so great to us!
Football season is finally here. And I just had to show this picture, because I loved it. This little boy is so sweet, and is our entire world. We couldn't ask for a better kid, and I think that both Jared and I would agree, we love being parents. I couldn't ask for a better "job" in the world than to take care of this little boy. I'm so blessed that we have been able to make it work so that I can be with him daily, because it makes most things in my life make perfect sense. This is what I was born to do, and i'm so glad that I get to wake up to his smiling (and sometimes whiny) face every day!
