After I wrote this post, I started thinking of a million other things I should have said about my boys. I used to record key moments in a journal, but I really don’t have time to duplicate efforts right now by journaling and blogging, so I’m going to make a point of noting the details of each phase with the boys on my blog and call it “Little Moments.” If you’re interested in what my kids are up to these days, then you’re going to love it! If you don’t really care about how “Parker said the funniest thing yesterday,” then these are the posts you’re going to want to skip.
So here goes…
Austin
Apparently my little Austin goob (*see below for nickname explanation) is growing up because he can walk now!!! He took his first step the day after Christmas, but then there was a bit of a lull. I thought he was going to start walking soon, but even though he would take a step here or there when he was in the mood, not much happened after that. Then all of a sudden about a week and a half ago, Austin just started walking (note: this means he beat Parker’s record by a couple weeks… go Austin!). He was still a bit wobbly, of course. Sometimes he’d make it half way across the room and other times he’d fall after a couple steps, but he was walking! He’s getting so much more comfortable walking with each passing day and is starting to prefer walking to crawling. Clint and I are loving it, of course, and Parker is excited too– he’s looking forward to being able to play chase with Austin. 🙂 I’m looking forward to that too, really– I think Austin’s mobility will lead to them playing together even more.
My mischievous little mover also loves the stairs. He knows he’s not supposed to be climbing them unsupervised, so he always giggles when you catch him going for the stairs. We have 13 steps, and he can scale them easily. He also loves getting into the dog food and water, and there is no redirecting him from it. Cider (our dog) doesn’t like it when we move her food and water, but we often end up with it up on a table to keep him from getting into it. Another hobby he has is knocking the wine bottles onto the floor. Sure we probably shouldn’t have wine bottles within his reach, but we have a lovely buffet that holds wine, and we really have no other place for them anyway, so it is what it is. Fortunately we haven’t ended up with a broken bottle yet. A new source of entertainment for Austin that I particularly enjoy (enter sarcastic tone here) is the knock all the books from the shelf game. Come on now… mommy doesn’t need more messes to clean up. Speaking of which, I might think the floors are clean, but Austin is always proving me wrong. He has a particular knack for finding small pieces of things, like scraps of paper, shredded bits of dog toys, or dryer lint, and of course they go straight into his mouth. So I guess he has good vision and his pincer grip is coming along nicely, lol. When bath time comes, he finds more goodies… the first thing Austin goes for is the razors (if mommy forgets to move them), then the soap, and he can’t forget to knock the conditioner to the ground. Maybe someday we’ll have a separate shower for us so I don’t have to move everything to the counter and back each night.
Besides walking, Austin’s other big first is his new tooth. It’s broken through the skin, but you can barely see it on the bottom front of his mouth. For whatever reason, both of my boys got their teeth late. Austin’s eating more and more solid foods these days. He can eat the majority of what we eat now, which is nice. He has a pretty good little appetite too and will try most foods we offer him. His favorites are still breads and crackers, but he’s starting to really like yogurt as well. Austin is also learning to drink water out of a cup. Sometimes he does this really well, but a lot of the time he ends up with water all down his front.
I find it really fascinating seeing Parker with other kids. He has friends at school that he has known and enjoyed since he was an infant. He plays with both boys and girls, and this can lead to some interesting expressions. Parker will talk about things being “fashionable” or ask me questions like, “Do knights in shining armor always go to the castle?” Some people he has an instant connection with, like his cousin Quinn that he absolutely adores. He also met a girl at church recently that he formed an instant relationship with. My favorite moment was when she started swaying to the music, so he started swaying, and it looked like they were slow dancing in the aisle. Anyone within viewing distance had a big grin on their face just like us as we watched this unfold. Sometimes though kids will want to play with him, and he won’t want anything to do with them. It’s hard to say why with some kids it clicks and others it doesn’t.
Oh my goodness, I forgot about that stage. The stage that Parker is in and I did the same thing “maybe”. It was just easier to say. As the saying goes”this to shall pass” it is true with this stage. My son went through that stage. I was blessed to have my mom at that time of life, so when she would take him is when I would lighten the unplayed with toy load. At first I hide the toys in the attic, then when I realised he didn’t miss them they went into the yard sale or donated. Enjoy this season with your boys.
Crisi recently posted…Nothing Without Love
Thanks for the encouragement Crisi! Teaching Parker about giving to others seemed like a good idea, but apparently he’s not ready for that yet.