Austin tries to talk!

It's been a little while since I have updated you all on Austy's adventures as I have started back at uni (continuing my GM Masters program) and Austy hasn't been the healthiest little kid on the block.

Firstly, I guess I'd better tell you that Austy is definitely much better than he was, after the locum prescribed too low a dose of prednisilone for his croup. Then, as the croup wasn't as bad anymore after the initial course, our GP said he was fine before we went to Sydney, and then in Sydney when he was still waking up in the middle of the night choking and coughing we gave him another course (on our GP's instruction). He still wasn't right so we saw a doctor there. The Sydney GP said he was fine too and just to prop up his bed and use a vapouriser. Andrew and I weren't so happy as we felt he was still not how he should be, but figured there was nothing more we could do if the doctors were saying he was healthy. The, last weekend he coughed so hard he lost all his morning feed on my PJ's after I picked him up to pat his back when he started choking and coughing, so I took him to another doctor (an after hours one) who said he was pretty sick with a chest infection, and should have been given a higher dose of prednisilone to start with as he also still had croup! The doctor was concerned that the other doctors had missed it and said he wasn't far off needing to be hospitalised... He was surprised at how well Austy was handling it all though - our little trooper! Anyway, he's finished his medicines now and is MUCH better, so I am greatful for the after hours clinic and the doctor we saw there.

Now onto the exciting stuff! Austy is getting so good at pulling himself up on things now that he hardly sits or lays down for us anymore. He used to be so easy when he loved to lie and watch the world go by, or even when he would sit peacefully, but since he learned to roll at 7 months he has developed pretty quickly from there! So now I'm glad he was a late roller - I didn't realise how easy it was to look after him knowing he couldn't move. He's very much on the go now, crawling properly on the odd occasion when he can be bothered (still prefers his caterpillar belly flop style though for it's speed, despite how much effort it takes!), pulls himself up on everything and walks around furniture, as well as trying to climb everything. If we don't shut doors, he quickly ends up in the bathroom trying to get into the "ouwa" (that's Austy for shower - just in case you didn't realise...)

This week has been an amazing one in terms of speech. He has always been a bit of a gabbler (think he takes after his Mum ;)) but now the words are starting to sound like things we say. He doesn't always use the same consonants but the rhythm, tone, and vowels match the way we say things and he uses the words in context so we know he is trying to communicate rather than just the usual baby babble. "Mum" and "Dad" are old hat - this kid says things like "baa" (bath), "ouwa" (shower), "Guh" (Gryffin) , "du" (duck), "lie" (light) and the latest one is "yiega" or "diega" (tiger - the stikarounds above his change table). Andrew didn't believe me until this morning when Austy was yelling "diega, iega, diega.." while I was dressing him and Andrew was tring to have a sleep in in the room next door! Last night straight after his dinner he had a bath as we had been playing in the dirt while I weeded the rose bush out the front. This morning after breakfast he looked at me and said "baa?" with a questioning look as I unstrapped him from the high chair. I told him "no, shower" (he normally has a morning shower instead of a bath in the evening). Then after lunch as I unstrappped him from the highchair, he was asking about the bath once again. So he is definitely making associations with things and is catching on pretty quickly. I guess I should just give the poor boy a bath as he obviously loves them so much! I am depriving him by taking him into the shower with me...

The study is more of a challenge than I thought it was as I can't do anything while Austin is awake since I can't see him playing in the lounge when I'm in the study, and the short blocks of time I get when he is asleep makes it more difficult than I ever thought. Just as I get my head around a problem, Austin is awake. So Andrew has just bought a laptop so I can at least watch the lectures in his awake time, sitting in the loungeroom watching Austy play with his toys and save his sleep times fro assignments. It has really driven home the fact that I have to complete my studies before we have another baby though. It's hard enough with just one.

Anyway, I'll have to call it quits for the night and catch some early shut eye - the boy is so exhausting now - keeps me on my toes! Just thought I'd leave you with a coulple of recent photos to check out how grown up he is now. I know it's a cliche but I can't believe my boy is almost 1! Only 2 months to go till Austy's first birthday...