Austin is ONE!!!

(I just saw that this was still in draft form, probably waiting for some pictures...oops!)

My little Austin is one year old!!!  I think that his birthday colors and theme are always going to be chosen for him, patriotic/red, white and blue...lol!!!  He had a fun filled day for his birthday.  We went to Taft and saw both sets of grandparents and cousins.  We went to a street fair where he had his first taste of snow cones and cotton candy, which he LOVED!!!  Then we went to Mima's house for a bbq and swimming!!  Austin was in heaven in the water and it was so much fun to watch him get in and out of the pool.

The other day we were thinking of all of the different ways that Austin is like my dad.  There are a few 1) he looks just like him 2) he is ticklish all over his entire body and 3) he has a hound nose for ice cream and will kill to get it!!  They LOVE ice cream and for that reason he had a bowl of ice cream instead of a birthday cake.  

Austin's little personality is blossoming, I love to sit and watch him explore and do new things every day.  Here are a few of the things that he is doing at 1:

*Walking

*Loves to listen to nursery rhymes on the computer

*His favorite show is Little Einstein's

*He has 10 teeth

*He loves to eat

*He loves his momma

*He says mama, dada, ball, baba and has just started making the 'n' sound

*He loves otter pops

*He loves his big sisters

*He loves to play peek-a-boo and is usually the instigator 

Austin FINALLY has some boy toys!!!  He got a huge Tonka Truck for his birthday as well as some tractors, cars and train.  He is a happy boy!!

Austin

Austin is officially 16 months old!

His bedtime routine consists of a bottle, brushing his teeth and cuddling with Daddy for a few minutes and then going to bed.  Well Jacob has been into hunting lately.  He just got his hunting license for the first time and has been watching a lot of you-tube videos on duck hunting.  So, for the past few weeks,  their routine has consisted of watching you-tube videos of duck hunts while cuddling.

So last weekend Jacob was home and put Austin to bed at nap time with the same routine on Saturday and Sunday.

Monday rolls around and it is nap time and I am trying to put Austin to sleep.  He is super energized and so I new it was going to be a process to get him to settle down and go to sleep.  I tried EVERYTHING!!  Books, singing, letting him cry for a little while, nothing worked.  He still wanted to get up and go play....argg!  So it suddenly dawns on me to think about what Jacob does (in reality, Jacob puts him to bed more than I do).  So I get my phone and find me some you-tube duck hunting videos (I don't even know what I am looking for, but I will try anything at this point).  Austin hears the duck calls on the video and gets excited.  So he lays down next to me to watch the videos and is asleep in less than 3 minutes!

I am still mad that this actually worked.  But even I have to admit that it is pretty funny.  So his naps all week have included some duck hunting videos while cuddling with mommy.

Madelynn:  Where does the trash man take the trash?
Daddy: To the landfill.  You have been there with Grumpa, do you remember?
Madelynn: No.  What do they do with it?
Daddy: They bury it.  They have BIG tractors that they use to bury all of the trash.  Then the earthworms come and eat the trash and turn it into dirt.
Katherine: Do you get in the dirt?
Daddy: No.
Madelynn: Only if you die.
Daddy: That's right, when you die they put you in the ground.
Katherine: Oh!

Madelynn's brain has been working overtime with strange questions and even stranger responses.