Brenna has rediscovered some alphabet flash cards and has taken to quizzing me on them. Hey, shouldn't it be the other way around? After all, I already know that king starts with "k". To make it even more challenging for me, she quizzes me in the car so that I can't see the flash cards. I've cleverly turned the tables on her without even realizing it. She not only has to recognize the letter on the card, so she can tell me how the word starts, she also has to give me clues, so I can guess the word/picture on the card. She's getting pretty good at providing clues and I'm getting pretty good at memorizing what each card is! Here's an example of how it goes:
Brenna: "Ok, I start with "F" and I help keep the doggies safe and I'm made of wood."
Mommy: "Is it a fence?"
Brenna: "Yes! How did you know that?"
Mommy: "You gave me very good clues."
Brenna: "Yeah. You're always telling me that the fence keeps the doggies from getting out of the yard and getting lost."
To say the least, I was very impressed. Sometimes it doesn't go so well. She'll tell me it starts with "M" when it really starts with "W", or she'll tell me all the colors in the picture, but not provide any real clues. We'll keep working on it!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Austin has been weighed and measured...
...and found healthy! Austin went for his 4-month well check this week. He's 25.4" long, weighs 15.13 lbs and his head is 16.4" in diameter. He's in the 75th percentile for both weight and height and in the 30th percentile for head size. The doctor told me the lower percentile for head size is no cause for concern. When I told Brent this later that evening, he said "Yeah, I've got a small head". Now as a wife, there is NOTHING I could say to that comment that would be right. Things like "yes, but we love you anyway" or "sure it is but you make up for it in other areas" just wouldn't go over well. I opted to change the subject and said, "Uh-huh, what would you like for dinner?" Call me a coward if you must.
Next on the agenda for Austin is solid foods. I am both excited and terrified at the prospect of adding yet another routine to a day that doesn't already have enough hours. We're going to start giving him rice cereal at dinner time. I think he will enjoy being a participant during the evening meal and not just hanging out in the bouncy seat on the floor where he is a target for dogs swooping in and giving him a lick!
Next on the agenda for Austin is solid foods. I am both excited and terrified at the prospect of adding yet another routine to a day that doesn't already have enough hours. We're going to start giving him rice cereal at dinner time. I think he will enjoy being a participant during the evening meal and not just hanging out in the bouncy seat on the floor where he is a target for dogs swooping in and giving him a lick!
Friday, June 12, 2009
4 Months Old
Yesterday Austin turned 4 months. It would be fine if time could stand still for a little bit, so I could enjoy his baby-dom a little longer. I'd also like to be as thin as I was in college, but alas you can't always get what you want.
On Monday, Austin got his first of what I hope is not many ear infections. The only reason we knew he had one was a slight fever, was acting a little fussy at daycare and the doctor said he had one. He had a cough and the sneezes for about a week before, but it was intermittent. So he's on antibiotics for 10 days, and it will be a miracle if I remember to give him every dose. It's strange to give a baby medicine when he's not acting sick.
I wasn't feeling well on Tuesday, so we both stayed home. Here's a picture of what it takes to keep him occupied while I work from home.
Austin got to spend some time in the exer-saucer on Tuesday. He liked sitting up and trying to find all the different toys. He's doing a lot of drooling which leads to adorable bubble making and gurgling. If you look closely, you'll see a perfect bubble on his lips.
Brenna still loves to try to make him smile and is mostly successful. She delights so much in it that I regularly hear "Mommy, come take a picture. He's smiling!" Who can deny her?
Well, it's off to work I go. More pictures and fun to come.
On Monday, Austin got his first of what I hope is not many ear infections. The only reason we knew he had one was a slight fever, was acting a little fussy at daycare and the doctor said he had one. He had a cough and the sneezes for about a week before, but it was intermittent. So he's on antibiotics for 10 days, and it will be a miracle if I remember to give him every dose. It's strange to give a baby medicine when he's not acting sick.
I wasn't feeling well on Tuesday, so we both stayed home. Here's a picture of what it takes to keep him occupied while I work from home.
Austin got to spend some time in the exer-saucer on Tuesday. He liked sitting up and trying to find all the different toys. He's doing a lot of drooling which leads to adorable bubble making and gurgling. If you look closely, you'll see a perfect bubble on his lips.
Brenna still loves to try to make him smile and is mostly successful. She delights so much in it that I regularly hear "Mommy, come take a picture. He's smiling!" Who can deny her?
Well, it's off to work I go. More pictures and fun to come.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Reach Out and Grab Ya!
Austin has achieved a level of manual dexterity consistent with the number of months of his short life. Huh? He's grabbing everything! Without even looking, he will grab a fistful of hair and hold onto it like his life depends on it. It very well might feel like it to him when we are going up and down the stairs for one thing or another. He's also very adept at grabbing dangly earrings and tugging on them. Whenever my hair and earrings are unavailable, he tugs on the toys on his play mat and bouncy seat and gives them a good yanking. "Take that you orange monkey. I'll show you who's boss! Oh dang it, I lost my grip. Gonna have to start all over again."
He even grabbed Mickey's nose when we were at Disney World! It was pretty dang adorable. We didn't capture it on film (film...who uses film anymore?), but in this picture you can see that he's thinking about it. "Mickey, I don't wanna shake hands. I wanna grab that big nose of yours."
Hey Turtle! You good for another 5?
This past weekend we filled up the "pool" for the 5th season. As you can see from the pictures below, the only thing that has changed is the complexity of the toys and the lack of a swim diaper (for which we are always grateful). Yes, now we have a Barbie with scuba gear and temperature sensitive bathing suit*, mermaids sitting on lily pads with working fountains and various other water toys. The smile is just as big and there is still much fun to be had.
Thank goodness Brenna hasn't had any friends with real pools, and the turtle pool has kept her happy. I think we're gonna have trouble when we visit Lilly's house next though. Her grandmother bought her a real kiddie pool this past week. I can just hear the complaints already..."It's no fair that Lilly has a bigger pool than me". Dang you Mamaw. I guess we'll have to make frequent trips up to Layton this summer. Meredith and her family moved even farther north and west than they lived before. Now instead of it being like going to Idaho from our southern location; it's like going to Canada. We've clocked it at about 55 minutes. It's a good thing gas prices came down from last year and the 4 Runner has a DVD player. Otherwise we'd never see them!
Turtle Pool Play Year 1
Turtle Pool Play Year 5
*In case you're wondering what a "temperature sensitive bathing suit" is, it is a purple one piece at room temperature and turns into a pink bikini when placed in warm water. Do I have to tell you which one Ken prefers?
Thank goodness Brenna hasn't had any friends with real pools, and the turtle pool has kept her happy. I think we're gonna have trouble when we visit Lilly's house next though. Her grandmother bought her a real kiddie pool this past week. I can just hear the complaints already..."It's no fair that Lilly has a bigger pool than me". Dang you Mamaw. I guess we'll have to make frequent trips up to Layton this summer. Meredith and her family moved even farther north and west than they lived before. Now instead of it being like going to Idaho from our southern location; it's like going to Canada. We've clocked it at about 55 minutes. It's a good thing gas prices came down from last year and the 4 Runner has a DVD player. Otherwise we'd never see them!
Turtle Pool Play Year 1
Turtle Pool Play Year 5
*In case you're wondering what a "temperature sensitive bathing suit" is, it is a purple one piece at room temperature and turns into a pink bikini when placed in warm water. Do I have to tell you which one Ken prefers?
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Our Little Sous Chef
Sunday evening I was preparing Jambalaya, and Brenna asked me if she could help. I was cutting up shrimp, and she asked me if she could cut up those "mushrooms". First things first, I had to tell her those weren't mushrooms; they were shrimp. If she's gonna be a sous chef, she's got to learn the difference between shrimp and mushrooms. Call me a task master if you must. Anyway, after taking a deep breath and finding my calm, I handed over the knife and inched my way over to the phone, so it would be on hand to call 911 should a finger tip go missing. All my angst was for naught. She diligently cut the shrimp in half with no loss of limb or shrimp tails for that matter. Next we went on to cutting bratwurst in half and then quarters. That's about as small as I would let her cut. She was losing focus and cutting too close to her fingers for my comfort! Here are a couple of photos of her in action.
Please, no comments on her hair (except can you believe it's long enough for a stubby pony tail?). As George Costanza would say, "I was in the pool". Yep, that's definitely pool hair.
Please, no comments on her hair (except can you believe it's long enough for a stubby pony tail?). As George Costanza would say, "I was in the pool". Yep, that's definitely pool hair.
Rockin' and Rollin'! Really?
Last week, I put Austin in his crib on his tummy and before I could turn away to start putting away some of his clothes, he rolled over onto his back. Of course, I think he is a genius and super advanced. What baby does this at 3 months? I mentioned this to his teacher, Brittney, the next day and she said that something similar happened to her. She had him on his back on a play mat, turned to get a bottle ready for him, and when she turned around he was on his stomach. Now, I have not personally witnessed the back to tummy rollover, so this major milestone has not "officially" happened in my book. He certainly is working on it though. This weekend he spent a great deal of time and effort rolling from side to side, but no flipping one way or the other occurred. Here's a video his antics.
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