another trip to the Talbert Ranch

We've been wanting to take August back to the ranch in China Spring, TX for quite a while now, but were never able to take advantage of a free weekend until this past Saturday. We had a beautiful spring like weather on Saturday, so we decided to pack up and make the jaunt up there. We had a wonderful visit with Mama T (who celebrated a birthday the day before) and Uncle Pat, before heading over to see Aunt Tot, Cousin Nick, and second-cousins Ella & Sam. Ella was even nice enough to introduce our bouncing king to a real trampoline! He was a bit unsure about his own skills but thoroughly enjoyed watching the big kids get some serious air. Of course while we were on the property, we had to introduce August to some cows, and then do another mini-photoshoot along the road. It was a wonderful visit, one that we hope to make more of a regular occurrence as August grows older.

Week 51

August's developments this week again seemed to present themselves at a much quicker pace. It's almost as if each day he wakes up with the goal to beat his previous day's advances. No, he is not walking just yet, but he is definitely working on the skills needed to get there. He loves to stand in place and do his 'up/down' exercises, and has even added a hip twisting motion into the mix.

He also seems to have added a few new letter notches to his vocabulary belt this week. He's been strong with the 'b's and 'w's for a while, but has added a 'g' and a faint 'd' to the list.  We still don't have any of your clearly discernible words, but we're quite sure he says 'bob', 'ball', a form of 'bear', 'whoa', 'wow', 'up', and as of this morning, we may have a 'dog'. And he quite understands 'eat'. If you ask him if he wants to eat any meal, he will start a little fuss and start frantically crawling towards his high chair, much like what he has done for several months when you ask if he wants a bottle. 

Finally, he has spent a lot more time 'reading' his books to himself, and rarely turns down an opportunity for you to read to him. While he enjoys most of his books, he definitely has his favorites. He currently loves any and all of his 'touch and feel' texture books, along with anything that has a puppet attached to it, or  books that contain photos of actual babies. Hands down the reigning favorite for the past 4 months running remains 'Bear on a Bike' by Stella Blackstone. It's part of the bear series from Barefoot books, that I just happened to pick up for 25 cents the one day I went garage sale-ing. He has since acquired 2 more, and as of this Friday, will have all but two in the set. How do we know that it's his favorite? Because he will pick it out of the box and scurry it over to where you are sitting. And as soon as you are finished reading it the first time, he will whimper and put it back in your hands for a second r I'll admit, if you're stuck having to read the same children's book on repeat, it could be much worse! 

sharing his toast & cheese

snack time

happy hour

Week 50

(Just to warn you, this post is quite photo heavy as I was a bit trigger happy this week) I've been abnormally stressed over work and finances the past couple of weeks, so I've been trying to concentrate on the small joys of my life....hence all of the photos!  And the weather was much prettier this week than it has been, so we found ourselves trying to get back into an afternoon routine of walks with the dogs. It only happened a couple of times, but it was awfully refreshing both mentally and physically for me. 

While I was busy contemplating heavy grown up issues, August was busy developing his pre-toddler skills. First of all, he woke up deciding that it was time for him to start working on his vocabulary. He now spends a large majority of his day babbling in a very high-pitched, unsure, voice to his toys and to anyone who will listen. And while he's still not walking, he's been working awfully hard on his balance. For instance, he has decided that he doesn't need to pull up on anything or anyone to stand anymore, so at times I will look over to find him proudly positioned in his 'sumo-stance'. He's also walking along the furniture with much more confidence than in weeks past. He will however, walk while holding just one of our hands instead of the two he used to require. But probably bigger than all of the above developments is that he slept for 12 hours, 3 different nights this week. While he made up for the long hibernation the other 4 nights of the week, there is hope that a consistent good nights sleep is on the horizon! We're not sure if it's all of the new food, the big bottle he chugs right before bed, or the bigger sized diaper we bought in hopes of not having to have numerous middle of the night diaper changes. Whatever the cause, our household is so much more rested! 

an Upgrade

August is finally the proud new owner of a big boy car seat. While he still fits into his infant seat, it has a 32lb capacity, we noticed that the shoulder straps were lengthened as far as they would go, so our tall little guy wouldn't be able to scrunch into them much longer. I used my handy internet shopping skills to find a great deal on a new seat that should theoretically last him until he's 65 lbs. It was important for us to find a convertible seat that would still allow us to keep him rear-facing for as long as possible, and this one will allow it until 35 lbs. Thanks to Dr. C's urging, we have researched the importance of keeping a child rear-facing until at least 2 years of age, if not longer. After having read all of the information, I'm surprised that the U.S.'s regulations just call for a 20 lb limit, while many European countries suggest it up until the age of 4. There's more information on the topic here if you are interested. Needless to say, August is quite comfortable and happy in his new 'Captain's chair'.

Week 49

Quite a chilly cold front landed on Austin this week, so we spent the majority of the week cooped up in the warmth of our house. While our time was mainly occupied with the usual playing and harassing of the dogs, there were a couple of new developments. August's beginning to play a little more independently. If you just pull out his toy boxes, he will scurry his way into them and corral himself for a while. He is also quite content to pull out several of his favorite books and 'read' to himself for a good amount of time. But most notably, Augie's diet took a slight shift as we have introduced a lot of big people food into the routine. He's now eating whole grain waffles, toasted o's, cottage cheese, and pasta like an old pro. While I feel like we go through a thousand paper towels in a day, the actual number is dramatically reduced thanks to our furry, people food loving, companion, Lilly. She faithfully stations herself underneath his highchair throughout the meal, and as soon as the coast is clear, picks up all of the remnants that she can find. While we typically try to avoid feeding her much human food, at least it's all organic this time around?

still trying to 'slam-dunk' everything he can find

30

I finally made the monumental leap from my 20's to my 30's.  Despite the depression and anxiety that comes with milestone birthdays for a lot of people, I'm not really dreading or overjoyed about the next decade of my adulthood. Perhaps it's because I took care of the birthday crisis when I was 9, going on 10, but since then it's been smooth sailing. I like the aging process because I like the confidence and enlightenment that comes with another year of reflection. I look forward to what this next year has in store for me and my family, and I await the lessons that will ultimately make me wiser. Though I will admit, 29 is going to be awfully difficult to upstage as one of the better years.

As for the birthday weekend, we started off the festivities with brunch at a fun east Austin establishment with the Sprad's. Then, Kevin's mom came to town for the weekend and spoiled me with flowers, cupcakes, and free babysitting so that we could go on a movie date(we saw True Grit)! And my sister and her family surprised me with having a sweet treat delivered to the house. It was a wonderful, understated weekend, and yet another opportunity for me to realize how blessed I am to have so many people that love me.