Austy in the river!

Austy had his first trip to the river yesterday (apart from the time he was 4 weeks old and draped in muslin wraps to try and protect him from the blowing gale and 40 degree sun!). He had an absolute ball!! They have upgraded the reserve since we last went, with a little barbeque shelter, and Austy's favourite, a climbing frame. It's meant for much older kids, but that didn't stop the little guy from scaling it all the way to the top and hanging onto the little swing disc things like a little monkey.

It took him a little while to get used to the bouyancy vest that we had on him from the minute he got out of the car till the minute he went back in it to go home, and he was a little scared of the river (unlike him as he's such a water bug), but he absolutely loved riding in the boat and once we got him used to the river he wanted to paddle and kick all afternoon.

He was thrilled that Lulu puppy could come along with his big cousins, and had a good play with her. Then he noticed something sitting with another family and asked "Want to go play with the purple kitten". We had no idea at first then he took me by the hand and lead me to a tiny chocolate coloured labrador puppy, 12 weeks old, named Cocoa. The owners were kind enough to let him pat her and we were told to be careful as she is a bit of a nipper. Then Austy exclaimed "She won't bite!", quite sure of himself too.

In the end it became a bit much and he zonked it... in my arms in the back of the boat while it was running! He must have been exhausted since this was the same kid that slept only 20 mins in the long car trip between Adelaide and Falls Creek (and I think we only got that much on the way back too). The nap was short lived though as Austy's Dad kept flooding the boat with his sudden stops, and within minutes he had us both saturated and the poor boy awoke with a start!

Still, he can't wait to go back again soon.

Looking for Santa

Looking for Santa
Originally uploaded by austysmum

Just look at this gorgeous boy! How can I resist smothering him in kisses every night when I send him off to bed when he looks so adorable?!

Austy has decided that far too much fun stuff is happening at the moment to let us put him to bed in the day time, and this was taken today, after another refused nap. So technically, he is not actually looking for Santa, although it does look a bit like that. The truth is that he was actually cross at me because I wouldn't let him out the front to sit in the boat while his Dad tried to start it since we told him he could sit in the boat IF he had a sleep and sadly had to follow through...mean mum I am!

So he watched from the window instead. I got a shocker of a photo just a second later though, as he suddenly realised what he was missing out on and bawled his little eyes out. I nearly caved... (broke my heart - he sure nows how to work those heart strings) but I didn't! We want this kid to listen to us when we ask him to have a nap, since he was still taking 3hr naps until Christmas day, so definitely needs them. Also we're not too keen on the moods he gives us in the afternoon when he's battling to keep those eyelids open with those beautiful long lashes of his!

Merry Christmas! From a TWO year old!

Little Christmas tree
Originally uploaded by austysmum

I know I've been slack lately and not posted much in here, but it's mainly because I think noone reads it, so I focus on my crafty blog instead. Plus, with the study back on and full time work and life with a toddler doesn't leave a lot of time for blogging.

But I really should do it. Austy comes out with lots of little stories now and I should be writing them down.

Our boy is now two!!

He can:
Take his clothes off
Put his shoes on (he has been taking them off for ages)
Sing a few songs from start to finish, including ABC, Twinkle Twinkle, Baa Baa black sheep, Glump Glump went the little green frog, and some other favourites
Count to ten (and actually count objects)
Recognise letters of the alphabet, like "A sor Austin!"
Go to the big boy toilet (although not all the time yet)
Sleep in his junior bed instead of a cot and is VERY good and stays in bed all night
Tell you where he lives (although we have some teaching to do as that will soon be changing to our NEW house!!!)
Tell you how old he is
Tell you his whole name
Recite books - especially Slinki Malinki ones
Tell stories about what he did a few days ago (or in the case of the "Powder Incident" he tells me every day on the phone!)

What is the "Powder Incident"? One day before he hit two and we changed his cot into a bed, Andrew went to get him one morning to find Austy safely in his cot and nappies and powder EVERYWHERE!
He couldn't work it out and rang me at work to see if I had left the room like that. "Of course not" I told him. "Maybe Austy opened the drawer from the cot and pulled everything out that way?". He told me he must have a pretty strong arm then, and went to get the camera form the living room to send me a photo. As he returned, there was the scalliwag balancing precariously on the edge of the cot as he climbed onto the change table! The following week the cot was CONVERTED!

Austy loves our new house too! He kept telling us to buy the pool with that house (rather than the house with the pool), and after the auctionj, once I told him the house was ours, he squirmed out of my arms and ran to the pool "Swim in Austy's pool now!?" He semi asked - semi demanded! No mate, we can't just yet. On the way home he asked us "Did you have fun at Austy's house?"

Funny kid.

Anyway, we wish you all a happy Christmas and I hope to keep the blog updated in the new year as the cutest little stories keep coming out of his mouth!

New BIG BOY Shoes for Austy!

So Austin is a big 18 months old today (oh crap, that means more needles now, right?). In celebration we decided it was high time we got him some real big boy shoes, as the robeez "botbot shoes" weren't supporting his feet enough anymore and he tends to walk on the insides of his feet. Plus with the wet and cold weather outside recently we wanted his feet to stay warm and dry.

So, out with the old...




In with the new... a pair of Clarke's first walker boots for our little man.


It was so funny watching him try them on in the shops. It was just like he was learning to walk all over again. Or like he was trying to balance on a pair of stilts! He has been grabbing on to my leg for balance since we put them on him and asking "hand, mummy, hand" as he reaches out his own chubby little fingers to me. So cute.

So what can he do now he is 18 months old? If you ask him how old he is, he smiles and giggles out "One!". If you ask him how big he is he reaches his hands up as high as he can and says "Big!". He can feed himself with a fork or spoon (just) but still prefers us to help him and if you hand him a spoon ful of food, instead of taking hold of it he reaches his mouth down to it. He can take off his sleeping bag and tosses it over the cot (time for a big boy quilt, I think - off to my quilting friends house this afternoon so she can help me make one for him), and horror of horrors, takes his nappy off and promptly falls asleep only to wake up with the cot saturated!


He chats away like a 2 year old, and when I get to childcare he happily shows me around telling me where the fan is, the door is, the toys are, the lights are etc. etc. Then tells me to "get Austy's bag" and then "name off" and he likes to take his own name off the board now - if I do it, he takes some other child's name off which I have to put back. He loves planes and helicopters, cars, trucks and buses, and PUPPY DOGS! He is very excited to help us look after Lulu for a little while while Lulu's family find a new house. We tell him about it often and he is really looking forward to it. He had a great time in the city today after buying the new shoes as the animal welfare league had a stand in the mall, with some very well behaved dogs waiting for cuddles and I let him put some money in the money box, which is another favourite activity of his. Looks like he will take after his Dad in the money saving department!




Here he is at Mum's group last Friday, cream cheese sandwich spread all over his face, sand toy in hand, mummy made'ems tracky top on and squealing with laughter at the dogs that live at his friend Viviene's house. I'll leave you with this picture for now, and come back with stats later on when I get a chance to measure and weigh him. My baby is growing up! Such a little boy now, and oh so much FUN!

Just for fun

Austy still fits in "Gwibby's" basket... just!

Austy's Easter adventures

Easter Bunny had a sleep in on Easter Sunday, he needed a rest after delivering all those eggs, and decided to deliver Austy's while he had his morning nap, that way he could eat lunch before stuffing his face with chocolate. When he was all washed down and free from his highchair, Austy's Easter hunt began:

Instead of leaving a gazzillion eggs, the Easter Bunny hid six little chicks in the back garden for Austy to find, and two of the chicks were guarding something very special:

Well, we thought they would be pretty special to a little boy who loves to eat his Daddy's chocolate covered gluten free bickies... but he wouldn't have a bar of them, pushing us away and shaking his head with his little lips tightly closed!




So we gave up on him trying out chocolate easter eggs, and today he munched down on hot cross buns instead, saying "Mmmm-mmm - yummy". He likes these better than chocolate, which probably isn't a bad thing.

HAPPY EASTER everyone!

Sentences!

Austy is just amazing. There is no other word for it! Every day he treats us to a new surprise and this week it is sentences. Little ones, but sentences all the same. The first sentence was said last weekend and it was "Daddy gone bo-bye" when we were eating breakfast and I told him Daddy was at work. Since then, he has been stringing words together all week:

"Pa's here!", "Daddy's coming", "Mummy's home", "Hat on pease", "more bikkie", and the best one "I uv ooo!" As always with his talking, he has said more sentences than I can remember, so these aren't the only ones and I'm sure there were more with three words+ but I just can't recall them. And last night when I got home from work he ran over to me saying "Mummy, park puppy tunnel!" I had no idea what that was all about but then Andrew explained "We went to the park and he saw a puppy go under the play equipment which he calls a tunnel". I was just so surprised that instead of repeating something we have said or saying something in context with what we had said, he came up to me to tell me the story about what he saw. I am sure there will be plenty more now that he is happily experimenting with putting words together! He's growing up oh so fast!

Another two teeth kept him up last night from about 2-5am and he is only just down for a sleep now as he refused his morning sleep. But these are the last ones I think, so no more upset sleep due to teething!

Finally a photo!

Sorry Austy blogreaders, I have been a bit slack with the photo posting of late. I am having a glitch in my photography taking which could be on account of Austy becomeing very quick on his feet and never still for a moment so I never get anything worth posting. But for your enjoyment, here is a photo from this afternoon while playing in the backyard. It rained last night and this morning and the lawn has already taken off... It's amazing what a bit of rain can do in the course of a day. Andrew has a job for the weekend now!

Our family getaway

Back to the same old same old, after a fantastic family holiday. I will have to add pictures later because I'm on the laptop at the moment and they are all stored on the PC.

On the first day of our holiday, we got into Brisbane quite early and hired a car to drive down to Broadbeach (just south of Surfers Paradise). We stopped off at Dreamworld for the day on the way, and Austy was super pleased to see a helicopter taking off for a joy flight the second we got out of the car. Very quickly "Coptaaaaa" became his favourite word as they are just everywhere on the Goldcoast. He was pretty exhausted at Dreamworld as he'd been so excited on the plane and then only managed a 20min nap in the car. But he still had a great time in Wiggles World (did the big red car ride with Daddy and the Dorothy Teacup ride with Mummy) and watched both of us go on the white water ride (one at a time). He loved the tigers, wasn't so sure about the cougar that was doing fantastic leaps to get it's chicken for dinner. We went to watch the bush animals show while Andrew went to watch a wavemaker demo, and he was thrilled when they handed out fresh damper at the end of the show - he couldn't get enough. He liked the chickens, sheep and dogs too.

The next day was a day of getting our bearings and wandering around, so we stayed close to the apartment and let Austy have a good sleep to catch up on what he'd missed the day before. Was a good thing too because we ventured out to Sea World the next morning, which had lots of exciting things for Austy to see and do. They have a wonderful area of kids rides, and Austy absolutely loved the "merri merri" (merry go round) and had two goes on it. He also had a truck ride with me and went on a pretend coptaaa with Andrew. He was smiling all day, except for the 30 seconds of crying before he fell asleep in his pram in the afternoon. We were amazed as he has hardly ever slept in his pram since about the 6 month mark, and even when we were in Sydney at 10m old we had to sling him to get him to hgo to sleep as he'd just scream and scream in the pram. The pram sleep of about 45 mins gave him a recharge so he could go in the water park there, and had his first go on a water slide ( a baby one). It was very tiring for us as he just wanted to keep going up the ladder, down the slide and round again. We thought he'd never have enough. It was a great way to keep himn occupied so we could go on water slides too. One of us would stay with him while the other went off on our own adventures and then we'd swap. He liked watching the bears in the omni theatre, but unfortunately we only got a short glimpse of the polar bears as it was so hot. The dolphins put on a fantasic show as per usual and the penguins were very cute.

A big morning sleep was on the agenda the next day, and after he'd had that, we were off to the beach. We were hoping to go and watch some of the Quicksilver Pro but the surfers were having a lay day because the surf wasn't good. So we just went to the local beach and Austy had a good play in the sand as he preferred that to playing in the waves where the current was quite strong. He still got to have a bit of fun in the water but he liked it better on the sand, digging with the beach toys he got for his birthday (he got three sets so we combined them all in the bag one of them came in and took them with us to QLD.

Our last day was spent at wet'n'wild, which was a fantastic day out as the weather was perfect for it and Austy was quite happy to swim and splash about all day long except for yet another hour nap in the pram. We took turns in minding him and going on waterslides, and went in the wave pool and on a gentle tube ride all together.

Got back to Adelaide last weekend (Saturday) and back to work on Monday. On Tuesday we went to look at Childcare places and have now booked Austy in to a place four afternoons a week as Zarny's timetable has changed with the new uni semester and things were getting a little difficult to juggle. We decided that Austy needed to spend more time with kids anyway as he hasn't been able to see other kids much since I went back to work full time and stopped taking him to mothers group and fitness classes in the park. He was thrilled with seeing kids again while we were away, and even went up to a few kids he didn't know just to give them cuddles and kisses. That was the clincher for us as was the excited tremble, pointing finger and exclamation "Kiiiiiiids!!" whenever he saw some at the theme parks. He will be going for just a few hours each afternoon, and although my first attempt at leaving him there for 15mins while I went into another room to fill out forms didn't go so well (he was still clinging to the carer when I got back), I am sure he will settle in soon enough and love playing with the other kids once he gets used to us not being there and comes to know his main carer.

His favourite activity at the moment is drawing so we bought his firts colouring in book while we were away and a little pencil case to fill with crayons. It keeps him amused for ages and when he's had enough drawing, he likes to put the crayons in and out of the case. Great thing to calm him down with some quiet time at the end of the day.

We also went to a Baby Rave on Staurday (me and Austy) as a part of the fringe festival here in Adelaide. The first 10 mins he was excitedly running around the place and venturing off on his own with me running along behind trying to keep up. But then suddenly he couldn't see me, did his sad mouth and started bawling, so the rest of the hour was spent clinging to me. The music was a little loud I thought (as did the other Mums of my mothers group who were there with their little ones too) and we were a bit dissapointed as we thought there would be musical instruments like drums and marracas and tamborines for them to play with. The kids seemed to like it though (and Austy was happier once we all sat down in a circle and put the kids in the middle as he seemed more secure in teh fact that he knew where I was). They also had parachutes that they were flicking in the air and letting the kids run under and Austy loved that as long as I was under there with him.

Austy is at such an adorable age now, chatting away to himself and amusing himself quite a bit. His giggles are infectous and he is brilliant at grabbing attention with his cute and clever ways. Anyway must go and help him put his crayons away as he has suddenly got quite frustrated that the case won't open by itself...

We have a walkerand a talker! Our clever little boy...

Yes that's right - he's finally walking FULL TIME!!!! And so many new words are added to his vocabulary every day. It's amazing watching him grow into this clever little man, who just soaks up EVERYTHING we throw at him.

Austin started walking for more than a few steps at a time last week, and when he falls down now, he gets up and walks again rather than quitting on the walking and crawling. He beams at us as he wobbles along, so proud of his achievement and we delight in his delight. He is growing more adorable every day and is starting to string two words together now. He has been saying "pat cat" for a while (his first phrase), but tonight surprised me with "more pleeeeeease" when he finished his vegemite crumpet (he is a vegemite kid and had already tossed his steak and veggies on the floor!!!). Two crumpets later he was shouting out "Botooool", so that was the end of dinner and time to get him ready for an early bed time. I don't think he will be breastfed much longer, he tells me he wants "mumum mook", then a few sucks later he is screaming "BOTOOOOOOOL!!!!" again. So I guess it will soon be all over and any hint of our baby will be replaced with our little boy.

The other thing that got us all by surprise last week was that when we say one, he will say two and sometimes three. He's notg even 15m yet and the boy can COUNT!!! And the other day he pointed to one of his shape sorter pieces and told me it was blue! He also loves chatting on the phone, well actually he does more listening than talking when it's a real phone - if he sees anyone on the phone he reaches out for it saying "talk, talk, talk" and then as soon as he grabs it he giggles, holds it to his ear and is silent, perhaps shaking his head every now and then. But last week he spoke to me on the phone at work for the first time, I was giggling myself it was so exciting! He was just giving me the baby jibber that he uses when he talks to "Nanna" or Papa" on the pretend phone (when we ask him who he's talking to that's who he says it is), but soon I will be able to have little conversations to him from work. Thrilled me to bits as I miss him soooo much!

He loves to go bike riding and the last few days when Andrew asked him what he wanted to do he pointed out the window saying "bikes" but there was no way we were going riding in the sweltering heat. We have been telling him about our holiday next week and he is getting very excited about going on a plane again. We are looking forward to some decent family time again too as we are heading to the goldcoast for a week away by the beach. We have a friend's wedding on Saturday, then if it's not too hot we'll ride down the Parade to the food and wine fair (Auty will love it - going by bike AND lots to see!) then firts thing Monday morning we fly , fly away. Wooo hooo! Now I had better get back to the study as I still have to get an assignment done and an exam on Friday before all that can happen...

The boy can stand up all on his own!

Yep, for just over a week now Austin has been standing up without the aid of furniture, walls, toys etc. and is almost ready to become an official walker! He hadn't repeated his first steps since his birthday until I had him outside in his bathers on the really hot day we had a week ago, and he pulled himself up to a stand using the drawf agapanthus as a crutch. In his excitement he ripped off the flower heads and then stood there, holding the flowers in his hands witrh a bemused look on his face. I told him "Look baby! You're standing all by your self!" and he gave me a tremendous smile! Which in turn made him lose his balance and fall straight onto his bum.

He then struggled for 30 secs to stand up again, but the flowers were gone, so hje had to do it by himself, and he managed just fine, thankyou very much! But the moment he did he got excited, started giggling and lost his balance. This went on (up, giggle, fall) for about half an hour before he tired of it and he even made two tiny steps toward me, however cautiously. I am beginning to think he must have walked on his birthday without really realising as Andrew had been holding his hands when the excitement of his new car gripped him and I think all he was focusing on then was the new car, not how he managed to get there. But this time he is really comprehending that he can do it on his own, and once he does it, he tries again, entertained by his new abilities. So much fun to watch.

In the past week or so he has attempted to walk a few times, giving us a few steps here and there, and becoming more stable on his feet every day. He will be running around with Elizabeth in no time!

Now onto my photography challenge... It is getting hard to get a decent shot of Austy every day, especially now I am working full time (and studying part time), come home to a tired boy and have to just snap a couple of quick ones in between dinner and bed time. So far I have only missed one day, which I will make up for at the end of the month. I am impressed with some and horrified at the rubbish I have taken on other days, but I am certainly improving, even if it's one step forward, two steps back some days. I will attach the link to my challenge photos in the right hand column under LINKS on this page so you can feel free to have a browse. There is this thing they call EXPLORE on the photo website which shows the "most interesting" photos for the day. I have only seen really good professional looking shots in there (often taken by pros) and I have been surprised as three of my challenge pics made it in there, even if they only got to #226 (226th best photo) for the day... I know there are thousands of good photos put up every day, so getting into explore is an achievement for me, which I never thought would happen. This challenge is really helping me, and Austy will have some nice photos for later on.

Almost a walker...

Not alot has been happening in our household this week, other than Austin trying to take a few more steps, and standing up on his own a few times (after pulling himself up on furniture he lets go). He has started saying so much more too, but has now started being very demanding saying "That That!" if he wants something he can't say the name of. He is quite strong both physically and in determination.

I have finally agreed to let Andrew take him to get his hair cut at our local hairdressers tomorrow so these will be the last pics you see of him with so much hair and curls (sob). I agree the fringe is a little messy at the moment, but I so don't want to lose those gorgeous blonde curls! Andrew tells me his hair is sooo long when it's wet, and I keep saying, but it curls up when it's dry and isn't long then... Hopefully the curls will grow back, thicker and curlier than ever - they are just so adorable on him. But the fringe really needs a tidy up as you can see.

I have been doing a 30 day photography challenge since Jan 1, which requires a new and original photo of Austy each day. The idea is that by taking photos of the same subject on a daily basis, you have to explore different angles etc. to keep it interesting. I am starting to feel that it IS a challenge now as it's hard getting good photos of an active toddler at the best of times, let alone trying to get a good one every day! Just thought I'd share a few with you here, please excuse the watermark - I am now saving the photo without it for printing, then a version with it for uploading to the web but the first few all have it except for the original unedited shots straight off the camera.

Happy 2007!!!

Thought I'd better get my butt into gear and update this webpage with some Merry Christmas and Happy New Yeras wishes! A tad late, but you know what they say "Better late..."

Here are a few photo's from Austy's second Christmas. Not he best as he refused his morning nap and only slept for half an hour after lunch so wasn't the best subject for photographing, but we got him anyway. I tried to take a pic of him opening the present Michael and Debbie sent over, and then wearing the cute Quicksilver scuffs, but he wouldn't have it, the scuffs got kicked off his feet within seconds and a major tantrum errupted before we called it a day and took him home to bed.

I just love this outfit we bought for him for Christmas day (and the Christmas card photo). While the colour and star on the front make it super Christmassy, the back is just adorable - I will have to get a photo from behind him in it one day soon. The top says "Born to Rock" and the shorts have the words Rock Baby written in a star on the back pocket. Big cousin Jarryd would love it! It suits him perfectly too as he does like a good beat, and can often be found rocking away in the back of the car with Triple J turned up loud. Andrew was determined that he was going to be musically "cultured", and while he loves his Baby Classics music DVD's he will bop along to Veruca Salt, or Eskimo Joe and apparently loves to listen to things like Audioslave.

New Years was very quiet for us, we didn't even attempt to stay up for it this year after last years lame attempt and us falling asleep in front of a DVD. Maybe next year! I have been trying to cut out Austy's late night feed so we have had a few nights of him crying for a couple of hours at 2am (with me trying to resettle him without the milk bar!) so we need all the sleep we can get at this stage. Other than that, my New Years resolution is to improve my photography, which I think will be an ongoing challenge. Austy has already improved it tenfold, but I need to learn to be more creative and try new things (and settings on my camera - like going fully MANUAL - eek!). I got a great photography book for Christmas (thanks David and Rob!) so am churning my way through that, and spending every spare minute at the computer in photoshop.

Austin is still not walking, so I guess that will be his New Years Resolution, but I really don't care when he does start as he gets around fine by crawling, and no doubt walking will bring about more mischief making opportunities! His 4-5 steps on his birthday have not been repeated, but he is starting to get the hang of walking with his Fisher Price car in the walker mode (yelling "go go go" as he motors across the living room floor, then "cash" as in CRASH! - we definitely need more space!!!).

Okay, must get a move on, nappies to wash, dishes to clear and then bed!

Christmas Photo and 12 month stats

Just a quick one today. I thought I'd share Austy's first Santa photo with you all - it isn't the best as the 1.25hr line up at DJ's (despite getting there early) meant Austy was overdue for his morning sleep by the time we got through, and then he was terrified of Santa, clinging to my neck with his feet digging into my ribs like one of those clip on koalas you find at souvenier shops! It was all we could do to spin him around and get him to look at the camera, so unfortunately you get to see my ugly mug too!


I thought this wouild be a great place to put Austy's 12m stats too, before I forget them...

Height: 82cm (98th percentile - one tall boyo)
Weight: 11.4kgs (gone down a bit - now he's just under 90th percentiel - must be all that movin' and groovin' he's been doing!)

Vocabulary: (all the words i can think of at the moment - there's probably more)
gongongong (gone)
diega (tiger)
burbees (birdies)
turtur or turdooo (turtle)
shoua (shower)
baa (bath)
bor (ball)
tuk (truck)
bus (bus)
car (car)
picka (peekaboo)
boo (boo)
growls like a tiger
oo oo ooh like a monkey
kookookook like a kookaburra
gurgle like a magpie
meows like a cat

Newest tricks:
Blowing raspberies on the back of his arm and giggling
Squishing his face up against every glass surface he sees and giigling
Actions to open shut them song (giggling!)
Walking really fast while pushing his car or holding our hands
Climbing stairs (Elizabeth showed him -aaaargh! Thanks Lizzie!)
Again - probably more but I can't think of them at the moment.

The birthday boy!

I have to apologise for not getting in here earlier to update you all on Austy's first birthday, but with work, study, day to day stuff and looking after a sick and teething Austin, I just didn't have the time. So better late than never, eh?

Austin had a blast on his birthday, despite the ridiculous 38 degree weather (much like today). He had a difficult time trying to get to sleep the night before, much to my frustration as I had a cake to decorate and things to organise, but he must have been a wee bit excited as we had been telling him all week about this big party he was going to have and all of the wonderful surprises we had in store for him!

Luckily, he had a bit of a sleep in (which helped me to recouperate from the late night too!) and then after his shower with Dad and breakfast, we sat down to open some presents together before his morning nap. He had been excitedly doing laps around the present pile all morning waiting for Dad to come and help him open them, and then once the first present was open, he wasn't really interested in opening any more. When he came across clothing gifts, he was quite funny, picking them up and ditching them straight away and looking for the toys! And of course he got way too many of those, as he was thoroughly spoilt!

The big hit of the day was his Fisher Price Learning Car that we bought for him (I went to two separate toy sales hunting that one down and nearly had to rain check it - so I'm very glad he likes it!). He presses the buttons and dances on it and keeps pointing at it several hundred times a day and yelling "Car!"

We didn't manage to open all of his presents before nap time but we didn't want to push it as he needed to be rested up for his party. He had a great morning sleep which helped us to finish setting up and after his nap he came staright outside for his BBQ party. We sat on the lawn and opened some more presents and he decided it was more exciting watching his cousins opening the presents than actually doing it himself. Either that he was overwhelmed by having so many people he recognised in the one place.

He munched down some fruit chunks for the first time (he always just turned them to juice in his hands all the times I'd given them to him before) and filled up on a vegemite sandwich. It was the best he'd eaten in ages and we think it's because he saw so many people eating around him. He was quite good about the heat, and while it didn't really bother him we got the wading pool out for the kids to all crowd around and he got to try on his new swimmer set from Nanny and Grandpa.

After the splash about, it was cake time. He wasn't to happy about leaving the pool, but the cake soon distracted him and he ate all of the chocolate portion in his piece. I had made a tiger cake, which had tiger stripes inside as well, being a choc orange swirl flavour (something I made up by modifying the standard butter cake recipe a bit). It was yummier than I expected, and Austy agreed! The icing melted very quickly though so I think he wore more of that than he ate.

As the party slowed down, it was time to show everyone the VCD I made of Austin's first year. Austin loved it and just sat glued to the screen while the photos and music played for him. Once everyone had left we played with him and his new toys for a little bit and as Andrew walked him back into the loungeroom (holding his hands) he let go, thinking he would just plonk himself down on the ground like he always does. Instead, the little tacker saw his new car and just kept on walking at full pelt, falling after about four steps, once his legs got too far ahead of his body. Andrew and I were thrilled as we both thought that his first steps would be taken when one of us was at work, but luckily we were both home to see it! He hasn't repeated the incident since, however he loves to run while we hold one or both of his hands. He's super fast at his crawling and since he wants to get everywhere super fast I think that he's probably not that interested in walking just yet.

Thankyou to everyone who sent over gifts and cards for him, he was thoroughly spoilt and is getting into all of his new presents (and looking very cute in some of them!). Our little baby is a boy now, and growing up, oh so fast. While I miss some of the baby things, like being able to hold him while he sleeps in my arms, those early smiles and being able to leave him on a rug on the floor and know he will stay exactly where I put him, we are both so excited with all the new things he is doing now, and the fun we have ahead of us. Every day now he cracks us up with some new trick or cheeky moment, and we can only guess that the next year will be even better.

Dad's home, Mum's back at work....

Yep, well the year has avnished before my very eyes and I'm back in the working world, starting to clear my way through the haze of the first year of motherhood...

Andrew came back from Japan last Friday, not soon enough for Austy who had been through yet another chest infection in his absence and also started getting his 9th tooth, showing up as a big snowy mountain on a very fat sore looking gum. He missed his Dad tremendously, and Andrew brought back Austy's smiles with his return. We had a nice relaxing weekend reaquainting ourselves as a family and now Austy is getting used to a whole new routine as I head off to work three days a week.

His affectionate nature is blossoming now though, he gives us the tightest squeezes on our arrival home and giggles infectiously. His speed crawling and leg climbing are sports he has mastered to almost olympic level, and he demands a lot more attention now, wanting to be with us the whole time, or else he's escaping and getting into mischief chasing poor Gryffin, turning off the computer (he LOVES pressing buttons... why oh why did I teach him that - I never thought he'd apply it to the computer!), opening and closing drawers and cupboards... you name it, and he'll be into it!

He's a keen botanist, always studying nature as closely as possible, especially leaves, plant clippings and seed pods, and he wants to spend 90% of his time outside no matter what the weather. Wheel technology is still a specialty for him though, I think he is yet to decide whether he wants to be involved with machinery or nature ;)

He frightens quite easily though, especially with noisy things like the front awnings going up or down, and dogs barking, and just wants cuddles from Mum to fix it. Other times though, he is full of confidence even reaching out to strangers in a queue.

I'm hating being away from him, not being there to make sure his every need is met every second of the day, but the new role I am filling at work as a simulation engineer is interesting and I feel comfortable with a much better supervisor to teach me how it's done.

Andrew on the other hand is getting the hang of rinsing nappies and finding tricks to make Austin have his meals and naps when he needs them. I think he loves the freedom of Austy all to himself three days a week!

Austy is in the wars

Well, our boy is getting himself into more and more trouble each day. He was clinging onto the bookshelf in his room yesterday while I got his clothes ready and tried to dress him standing up to save myslef from a tantrum. He was happily talking to his books when he slippedand even though my hands were sooo close (I was slipping his shirt on his free arm) I didn't catch him quick enough and he came a cropper. We had a doctors appointment yesterday afternoon, and the doctor was going on about what a shiner he had, and how he had a black eye - made me feel awful and I thought it would only get worse overnight.

But today his bruised eye has settled down – I thought it would get worse… but now he has a big long scratch on his bum. He decided he should stand in the bath and as I told him to sit down he slipped. I caught him, but in my mad hurry to grab him before he hit his head on the bath, I scratched his bum… He cried at first but I think it was more the shock from slipping. Then I was in tears seeing the big red welt and scratch I had caused (felt so sad that I’d hurt my lil man) while he giggled away, continuing to play with his bath toys as if nothing had happened.

Still feel sick thinking about it. It’s quite a long scratch – and my nails are all short too. He just wants to stand ALL THE TIME!!! He has no fear. He pulled himself up against the hall stand today and then grabbed my keys off with his free hand (he only ever holds on with one hand now). Then, forgetting he was supporting himself he let go so he could hold the keys with two hands. I was behind him ready to catch him and grab the keys off him before he poked an eye out with them, but he stood for almost a minute! He keeps crawling over to me and climbing up my legs and clutching on in a stand position like you see lots of kids doing at supermarkets.

Oh, and he has decided he is scared of the vacuum cleaner again, I had to carry him and he clung on for dear life. Then later on he stumbled across the vacuum cleaner as I hadn’t had a chance to put it away, and started bawling. It wasn’t even on.

Oh well he got me back after the supermarket shopping today. I was trying to put him in his car seat and he wanted to stand in it (surprise surprise) so I let him snatch my keys off me so I could strap him in. Then I calmly proceeded to swap my keys for his toy phone, ignoring the tantrum that ensued, but before I could escape, he snatched the plastic phone and bashed my nose with it. OUCH! The tantrum stopped - I think he was shocked that Mum screams in pain too.

Were did he get these tantrums from, is waht I'd like to know! Still bloody gorgeous though, and gives me the bigest tightest squeezes. He misses his Dad though, and every time we come home from somewhere the DADADAD chorus starts.

His talking is getting really good now, he now says baby for baby instead of bubba, but now all buttons are "bubba"s. "Gone" is now said at the end of a solids feed as well as at the end of a milk feed, and he was watching finding nemo at the photo shop today and started yelling out turdool, turdool at the top of his lungs and sure enough there were a dozen baby turtles swimming across the screen. He will be chattering before we know it.

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!

First scare for Mum!

Not long after my post here on Friday night, Austy started coughing in his sleep. I thought nothing of it until he worked himself into a coughing fit, waking up and screaming in between trying to catch his breath! I was worried but most concerned that he got his much needed rest as he has had a cold and thought the cough was part of that. So I held him upright against my chest, rocked in our bedtime chair and patted his back, singing to him until he fell asleep. I held him for about half an hour just cuddling him and feeling sorry for him as he had worked himself into such as state whilst struggling to catch his breath and his breathing was quite rattley.

No sooner had I put him down and walked out of the room that the whole thing started again. He was more upset this time and so was I. I was trying to calm him down so he could breathe easier but nothing would work. Then Slinky Malinki (rapscallion cat) came to the rescue! For those not in the know Slinky Malinki is Austy's favourite book by Linley Dodd in the Hairy Mclary series. Sure enough the page with Slinki Malinki all tangled in yarn got him giggling again and his breathing slowed to a more normal rate. I was too scared to put him back to bed though and called Nanny Robyn around for a second opinion that he needed to see a doctor straighht away. We decided that it would ease my mind (and also didn't think he would get much sleep in his cot if we didn't) so we called the locum out. He came at 12:30am after a 2 hour wait during which Austy slept on my chest in the darkened loungeroom.

I was unimpressed with the doctor's manner as he seemed to hardly care at all except to tell me I was dressing him too warmly (he had a body suit and cotton PJ's on underneath his grobag as it was acool night and that's what the grobag recommendations say for a 16 degree room, which his was). I think he was a tad warm mainly because I'd been holding him and he had woken and fussed for a bit before the doctor arrived. I already felt awful that my precious boy was sick, and this doctor made me feel even worse. Anyway I realised that I should take what he said with a grain of salt once he diagnosed Austin with croup and told me to give him a dose of prednisolone (a broken down tablet from the bottle I had in the cupboard for my asthma) with a teaspoon of HONEY!!! Once the doctor left, I dutifullly crushed up the tablet portion and mixed it with my milk, and Austy took it just fine... no honey needed here to possibly set off an alergic reaction or give him some disease (you're not meant to give honey to an under 12m old for those reasons).

Anyway, the course of pred is now over and Austy seems to be on the mend thank goodness, ready for our trip to Sydney. We are getting him checked over tomorrow morning by our regular doctor just to make sure and then we are off for our big adventure - travelling with a baby for the first time!

Just to prove he is getting better, here's a photo taken last night when it seemed someone had changed his batteries and installed energiser max instead of the regular eveready ones. He escaped me whilst I was trying to get him dressed for bed after his bath and every effort at catching him and bringing him back for his evening massage failed, so I got the camera out instead!