Oh Austin, the very next blog post I'll write about you will be when you are turning three. I can hardly believe it. I've been trying to keep you little for so long and have been fairly successful at it (at least as far as my own mind goes) but all the sudden you've turned into a little boy.
I love having a nice picture of you dressed in my favorite outfit with your hair all combed and your face wiped clean at the top of these blog posts, but I just have to smile at your tousled hair and summer outfit - which is how you look most of the time. I asked you jump up on the chair so I could take your picture and you immediately said "cheeese!" Summer looks good on you, little man.
Stats: 18-24 month or some 2T shorts. Size 2T shirts. Size 7 shoes. Size 4 diapers.
So many things to remember about Austin at this age. He's smart, funny, helpful, and great at playing with his siblings. He makes me laugh every day, and has a very tender heart. Have I mentioned that he has a great sense of humor? He loves doing things that make other people laugh, and sometimes he does things just because it makes himself laugh.
-One of the biggest differences we've seen over the past three months is that he's talking in full sentences now. We can understand almost everything that he says, but it's still pretty cloudy for other people to understand all of his words. Even so, he's talking much more to other people. His nursery teacher approached me a while ago and said something like "Austin is really starting to talk to us now!" I hadn't realized it, but apparently he was just really quiet and wasn't talking at all - even though he was talking a lot at home. But now he warms up much quicker and chats with other people just fine.
-- He says almost all of the prayers at the house lately. Even if it isn't his turn, he'll just start repeating the words of the prayer. My favorite things to hear him say are "be like je-sus" and "to be kind". I wish I could capture his little voice in a bottle and just listen to it over and over. (I guess that's what a video would accomplish - but I feel like he never says the things I'm hoping that he'll say if I try to record it. Or if I try to sneak record it, he knows and he stops.
--When you ask him a question and the answer is "yes" he says. "Hmm." Like, Uh-huh -lengthened to umm-hmm- and shortened to hmm. It makes me laugh.
--If he gets in trouble, or I ask him to stop doing something he asks "can I hav one moor ch-ah-nce"?How can you say no to something like that?
-He refers to himself as "Austin Scott Peaden", especially if you call him anything besides that. Or when introducing himself, "I - Austin Scott Peaden." He even has a little song at bedtime that he requests every night (that he made up himself) that goes like this: "I - Austin Scott Peaden, boop boop, beep beep. I Austin Scott Peaden, boop boop, bing bing." So cute.
--Sometimes when he's talking and trying to explain something, he bounces his head back and forth from side to side and it makes me smile.
--The next 14 pictures are the very most common type of pictures that you'll find around here: Austin loving on his baby, Caleb. Most of time time he's too close and he's definitely right in Caleb's bubble - but Austin just loves him so much that your heart can't help but melt at the sight of the love between these brothers. (I had to cut out at least twice as many pictures as I included.)
(note all the pictures with Caleb in Austin's bed. Austin asks for us to put Caleb in his crib every. single. night. I don't always comply, but when I do Austin is so so happy.
--Wants to read the train book ("How to Train a Train") every night with David. He knows almost all the words. Funny fact: when Shantel is reading him a book before bed he usually requests "The Little Engine that Could" instead.
--Speaking of bedtime - our bedtime/sleep schedule is working really well for us right now. Austin goes to sleep at 7:00 each night and it. is. the. best. We do scripture/song/prayer, then put him in his crib (still sleeping in the crib and I'll keep him there forever if I can!), once he's in there we read a couple of picture books, then have him lay down. During David's busy season (so until about May) I would stay in there with all three kids and read Lydia (and by default, Austin, too) a chapter book from the grey chair in the corner. Almost every single time, he'd fall asleep listening to me read which I kind of love. Recently, we've been letting them listen to the Boxcar children on Overdrive on my phone for about 15 minutes and Austin falls asleep listening to that. More times than not, he's asleep before we even leave the room at night. He's just so good at falling asleep!
-We dropped his afternoon nap in order to keep the "falling right asleep at seven o'clock". Most days he does just fine with this, but sometimes he gets a little extra tired during the day. One thing we haven't dropped? The pacifier. It's only at nighttime (or when he thinks he can get away with it by saying "I want to sveep (sleep) on the couch cuz I'm saddddd"). We talked about taking it away before Caleb came, but thought that might make the transition harder. So we didn't. Now I kind of don't ever want to.
--We're thinking about potty training, and by that I mean - Austin is thinking about potty training. He's been really interested for a long time (like, basically since he turned two) but I haven't felt like he was big enough to physically remove his pants or get onto the toilet and then I just haven't wanted to do it. He's going poop in the potty probably 80% of the time and he's definitely ready. We haven't made the push yet - but we're going to start this week!
--He just plays so well with Lydia. I know I say it a lot, but I think it's so special. They have such a great relationship and I hope that they always stay close.
--He loves playing "tacos" with his daddy. (David rolls him up in a blanket on the floor and then pulls the end to roll him out.) If he can't have tacos, he asks to be an Austin-burrito where his blanket is wrapped around him and he walks around like a little burrito.
-Sometimes I fear that he gets overshadowed by Lydia, and David and I have made a special effort - especially recently to spend one on one time with him and to make sure to direct questions at him specifically and give him the space to answer (instead of letting Lydia answer for him).
--Went to the dentist for the first time. He did SO good. I sat with him in the chair and held his hand the whole time- but he opened his mouth so well and did everything that they asked him to do. And the best part? No cavities! Atta boy...
-He loves his power tools, especially his drills. A windstorm blew down some slats in our fence and he immediately ran up to his room to get his drill to fix it. My only regret was that the drill we gave him for christmas wouldn't actually put in any screws, so when we found one while shopping for Lydia's birthday I bought it and gave it to Austin and it was the best purchase ever. He spends so much time standing at his tool bench putting the screws in, flipping the switch, then taking them back out.
(Also, it's SO hot outside right now - so it's easy to forget until I look at these pictures again but there was a time when he basically lived in footie jammies. We'd go through a few pairs a day but he didn't wear anything else. It was a good time of life for this little boy.)
-I snapped a few pictures of Austin and my Grandpa, Ramon Walker. I admire my grandfather so much and treasure these photos that I have with him and Austin.
--He decided he wanted to ride a horse at the Thanksgiving Point Farm for the first (real) time. We stood in line the whole time, then last minute he decided he didn't want to go after all. He watched Lydia ride the whole time, then as soon as she was done - he decided that he did want a turn. He really liked it and now he asks to go ride the horse all the time. I feel like it was a good example of his personality. He's a little more reserved at first, but once he get comfortable with something - he's quite the little adventurer. I think that he does a lot of things that he wouldn't normally do - but he sees Lydia do them and so he thinks it's fine and he does them, too. It can be good (riding the horse) and less good (jumping from the top of the couch to the coffee table) but it's totally him and I love it.
-When he's done eating dinner he'll ask if he can be excused "Ma-I be 'scused" May I is one word and it's all kind of rushed together and I kind of love it.
Some more pictures of the past three months:
(washing his hair with soap from the bathroom, all by himself.)
(likes to build with the train tracks and the car tracks)
Happy 2.75 little buddy. We love you!
