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...

We're BA-ACK!

Our trip to Sydney went really well, and Austy travelled much better than we could have ever expected. He slept for half of the plane trip there and played for the other half. On the way home he slept at the airport while we waited for the plane, and was full of beans for the flight, even managing to sit in a seat of his own for part of the trip as the plane wasn't full.

We took Austin on many an adventure, his first ferry ride, bus ride, train ride, even his first cable car ride up to Taronga Zoo! He loved the zoo and was capttivated by all of the animals that he has seen many times in picture books and in his bedroom, especially the girraffes and meerkats. He also had a ball watching the young snow leopards at play, leaping and pouncing on each other, as he really does have a thing for cats, and I'm sure he was thinking how great it would be to pull tails that big and fluffy!

We also had a day at Bondi Beach, although it was too cold for a swim, but Austin was amazed at the waves all the same. We went through the Sydney Aquarium again, because I wanted to show Austin and see what new exhibits there were since the last time we went was 6 yrs ago. Needless to say Austin loved it, and has come home with an even keener interest in Siegfred the turtle who lives in our dining room.

Austin was great the whole time, despite still being a bit sick with the cough left over from his croup. He got a bit sick of the pram at times, but I think I would be too the amount of time he spent in it. Luckily I had the sling with me and he slept in that a few times while we were out walking. While we were at the apartment he learned to sit up on his own (ie. go from crawling to sitting by himself) and now claps for himself every time he does it! He still isn't crawling properly, but will crawl on his knees for the first few strides before flopping down to his tummy. He has also learned to pull himself up into a stand, and was becoming an expert at opening and closing the sliding doors that separated the rooms at our apartment.

He settled into sleeping in the portacot really well and the trip didn't seem to affect his sleeping habits at all, although he did go for about 4 days eating absolutely no solids whatsoever and then another 5 eating just a couple of spoons at each meal. He just doesn't seem interested in food at all at the moment, only milk, which he won't take from a bottle, so I'm not looking forward to a hungry boy waking several times at night when I go back to work in just over a month and take his milk jugs with me!

Anyway, after that successful and enjoyable break to Sydney (even if it did rain for the last 4 days of it!) we are already planning our next family holiday!