Well, Christmas has come and gone now. It's now the middle of January, and things are finally settling down, or so they should be. But honestly, what ever settles with a 2 year old in the house? Christmas was a blast this year with Austin. We were so blessed to see family that we haven't seen in so long, and Austin got so many wonderful things from people. He loved giving people presents also this year. This year, I still don't think it quite sunk in what Christmas was all about, but he loved opening all the new toys! He now knows who Santa Claus is and calls him by name, so I think next year, it might finally all click.
So, as for what Austin received; well, the answer to that is a lot. He got many trains, planes, and automobiles, clothes, dinosaurs, toy animals, tool box, books, a "Grandpa Hippo" Pillow Pet (Thanks Jeff and Fran, that was too perfect...and he still loves his hippos!), a desk with a white erase board, puzzles, a Leapster, a SmartCycle, and even a new Big Boy Lightening McQueen bike. He loves everything...believe me, I clean up the mess several times a day on our floor!
Santa even brought something Austin didn't remember. Uncle Ben! Ben was able to come spend several days with us over the holidays, and what a treat that was. Ben LOVES his Uncle Ben. He now even tells me that "Uncle Ben, Back to work" because he knew Ben had to go back home. They bonded in such a wonderful way, and I can't wait to see them together again. For days after Ben was gone, Austin was asking for him. He just loves his Uncle Ben! The second picture in the series was one of Ben's favorites. We actually kept sticking toys back in the bag, covering it back up with tissue paper, and letting Austin unwrap everything again just because it was too precious to not watch over and over again. His face lights up so much, and it's true what everyone says about the magic of Christmas in a child's eye. I could truly not ask for anything more than to make this little boy happy....especially at Christmas.
As I said earlier, Austin got a tool box from Uncle Ben for Christmas. Austin thinks he can fix anything with these tools. Everything to him right now when something is broken is "screwdriver fix". One of his favorite shows now that we don't have cable is called Dinosaur Train on PBS. I found him these dinosaurs a few weeks ago and purchased them for him. He's convinced that he can open the package himself here.....with none other than his hammer! He actually tried to get it open with the claw end of the hammer. I guess his daddy will have to show him a thing or two!
So, we went to Menards last weekend as a family to price shop tile, and a laundry room cabinet. Needless to say, the tile was too expensive, and we came home with a laundry room cabinet (thanks Grandma and Grandpa, by the way. You gave us the Christmas gift of Storage..and that goes such a long way). I was teasing Jared about painting Austin's bathroom (it was the only room in our house that we haven't yet painted), and told Austin to go to the Crayola section and pick out a color he liked. He came back with a bright orange....so we settled on this color...also a bright orange. It's called Crayola Sunglow....and surprisingly, it's really cute in his bathroom. Bright, yes....but very cute! It's very Austin like. We replaced the mirror, light fixture, and the pictures with little monster stickers. Austin tells us the monsters "scare me" but he loves them all the same. Austin even helped paint the wall, and he'll tell you which sides he painted. He's pretty proud of his bathroom!
This year, Austin finally loves the snow! Last year he hated it, but this year he loves to be outside. We pull him around on his sled (which is a great workout pulling 34 pounds of dead weight!). If we let him, he would stay out there all day. It amazes me that I can be freezing my behind off, and he'll stay out there for a few more hours if you let him. I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. I love that he's such an outdoors kid.....hopefully that sticks with him through life.
Right now, as bad as it sounds, life is pretty boring. I'm starting to do my research into preschools for Austin next year (I can't believe that time is here). We are wanting to send him to two day a week preschool next year and hopefully we find one we like. We have a couple of places that we are very interested in, and hopefully one of them works out. He tells me he doesn't want to go yet, but I know it will be good for him to be around other adults and more kids, even though it already breaks my heart to think about.
He's getting so smart and starting to put things together, which is amazing. Today, we took our dog, Jackson to the vet (he had to get two teeth pulled and his teeth cleaned), and he realized that Jackson had to go to the vet because he was hurt. He was even playing doctor and patient with his Cars. When they got hurt, he would say they needed to go to the doctor, and then the doctor would give his car a kiss and it would be better. It's too precious how he's starting to put two and two together like that. He also pretends that he's a T-Rex often and runs around the room screaming (he loves dinosaurs, and knows several of them by name now). He says things like "Scare me" and "I'm screaming". He's starting to say adorable things like "I need to grab a pair of undies" and "I love you" and he even told me tonight that his "undies were stinky". He's also reciting his ABC's, even though he still misses a few letters here and there. It's adorable to listen to. I've been trying to get a video of him doing that, but every time he sees the camera, he wants to look at the pictures and he stops singing (like father, like son)!
He's been doing terrible with his sleeping lately, and hopefully that gets a little better at some point. He realized around Thanksgiving that he actually has freedom and can get out of his bed. I really don't think he was quite ready to transition out of his crib, but hopefully, at some point, he gets used to it, because at this point, there's no turning back! We often deal with at least an hour long battle of returning him to bed silently after telling him good night, and many nights end up sitting outside his door until he quietly drifts off to sleep. He normally greets us at about 3 am and wants to climb into bed with so we repeat the routine all over again. I guess what they say is true; a parent never gets a full nights rest! I know, someday, he'll get there with it....hopefully he figures it out sooner rather than later, because it's quite exhausting!
On a brighter note, he's finally starting to tell me when he has to pee....we've gone several days without having an accident (knock on wood), and is doing so well. It seems like on the potty training front, with him, when it rains, it pours. He'll go for weeks without and accident, and then have three in one day, and be fine for weeks. I never realized how long of a process it was, but all in all, he's doing so great! I couldn't be prouder of him. Oh, and this could very well be the most adorable picture of him in a long time. He's so stinking cute.....he's got his backpack on, with his spare change of clothes in it. He was so proud to have it on, and even put his hand in his pocket. Yeah, I have the cutest kid....ever. :)
