21 months old

21 things about Austin on his 21 month birthday:

1- Austin loves to help Mommy do everything! He especially enjoys helping unload the dishwasher, put wet laundry into the dryer, and take out the trash (his dirty diaper bags that we put in the garage.)

2- He recently got his 2 year molars! Seriously, how many more teeth will this kid get before he starts losing them?!?!? Time to make his 1st dentist appointment!

3- Austin loves taking baths! When I say "do you want to take a bath?", he starts jumping up and down and screaming with excitement! His favorite things to do are splash & fill his bucket with water and pour it on top of his head! I need to post a video of that soon!

4- He is very expressive with his eyebrows! He raises them and does this high pitch sound when he's questioning something, and then he frowns them when he is upset or sad. It's really cute- need to try and catch it with my camera.

5- Much to my dismay, Austin loves stuffed animals. They are one of my least favorite things, so of course he likes them... A LOT! His favorites are his bear (bear), alligator (Al), elephant (Ellie), Moose (Mo), and new chimp (no name yet.) He drags them around, puts them in the wagon when he goes for a ride, hugs them, sleeps with them, etc. It's sweet, I guess.... if you like stuffed animals.

6- He is growing like a weed! He is getting so tall, but starting to thin out a bit. I'll be anxious to get his 2 yr stats in March!

7- Austin enjoys tv/movies more than he did before. In the past, I couldn't get him to watch more than 1 min of tv before he was done. But now he will watch for 20 min or so (during snack time), and loves watching DVDs when we travel (LIFESAVER!)

8- He climbs on everything. It started with the couch, and now our bed. He also loves my step stool, as well as the one that GiGi brought him (for the sink in his bathroom.) He thinks it's so fun to climb up on the stool to wash his hands/AKA- play in the water. I will not hear him for a few minutes, and I usually find him climbing up on our bed, then sliding down- over and over and over.

9- Austin is still an amazing sleeper! He sleeps from around 7:30 each night until 8:30 in the morning. And then he typically takes a nap after lunch for 2 hours or so. My only concern is that he will NOT sleep anywhere besides his bed (and car seat if exhausted.) So no pallet on the floor or napping on the couch. A funny thing- we often go into his room to get him up & find him without a shirt on. Not because he is hot, he just likes to take it off. So funny!

10- His hair is growing so fast now! The funny thing is, it grows a ton in the front & on top, but not so much on the sides. And no matter how I comb it (to the side) after a bath, it always ends up going forward. It just grows that way... ugh.

11- Austin has such a sweet and gentle spirit. Often times we are playing with other children who push him, knock him down, bite, etc- and he just looks at them with almost a hurtful "why did you do that?" look. He never acts aggressive back. I'm sure that will change, but right now I love that he is this way.

12- The way he plays has changed a lot. He really likes to sort, stack, put things in and out of containers, etc. He also loves riding on/pushing toys.

13- Austin has always loved to jump, but recently he learned how to hop! He just hops around behind me- all the way down the hall... it's adorable!

14- He has become much more social! I think this is due to his class at church & also his Little Gym classes. He still loves to watch older children play, but he enjoys interacting with kids his own age much more than before. He's only shy around new adults, and that doesn't last too long.

15- Austin loves putting on his shoes (mainly because that means we are going outside.) He is constantly going to his drawer where I keep his shoes and says "shoes" until we get them out. And then when we put them on, he runs around the house stomping in them!

16- He gets hurt A LOT. Most of the time, I have no idea what he has done until the bruise/knot comes up. He's also had a few altercations with the cats recently... resulting in scratches. Oh well, he's a boy, right.

17- Austin still doesn't really talk much... at all. It concerned me a bit, but everyone says not to worry- he will do it in his own time. He says mama, dada (a lot), shoes, and then a few other words not very often- fish, papa, max. He's constantly pointing to things and saying "this?"- wanting me to tell him what everything is. And he recognizes places. We will drive down the street and he starts pointing and making noises when we pass the farmers market (that I take him to every week.) It's actually impressive since it's not very close to our house.

18- He does really well with time outs. In fact, he hasn't gone to time out for 2-3 weeks. But when he is put in time out, he stays on the mat & only cries for 10 seconds or so. He typically gets sent to time out for not minding, jumping on the couch, or getting into the drawers in our bedroom.

19- Austin is a decent eater. We've just entered the picky phase, so he won't eat a lot of new foods- which is frustrating. His favorites are hot dogs, ham, vienna sausages (gag), pirates booty, chips (bad, I know), fruit, dried fruit, yogurt, desserts, most breakfast foods besides eggs, popcorn, any carbs. He's also eating with a fork now, although he drops it and eats with his hands when he's wanting to really get the food in fast! And he's sitting at the table in a booster seat with us for dinner (most nights).

20- He gets into EVERYTHING. Opens all doors, opens all drawers, gets into anything when I'm not looking. He's so curious.

21- Austin has gotten very adventurous. On an outing with a friend this past week, we went to this indoor bounce house place. They have the typical bounce houses, and then these big bouncy slides. Granted the slides are a little smaller in the toddler room, but not much. I've always carried him up the stairs, or followed right behind while he climbs. They are not typical stairs, but just these narrow soft ledges that are so easy to fall off of. Anyway, he climbed all the way up the stairs and slid down by himself- I was shocked, scared to death, and quite proud. Seriously, it's like 20 feet or so tall. How can my baby be growing up so quickly???

Am I not the most blessed person ever? Love this little boy to pieces!

Until his 2 yr post....