22 Months!

(Yes, I know I'm a week behind again, but I'm claiming being on vacation as a legitimate excuse!)

Too close to 2 for comfort! I'm trying to be in denial that Austin will be 2 in less than 2 months now. I probably should start figuring out his birthday party, but I'm hoping (again, like I did for his 1st birthday) that if I don't plan it, it won't happen. Think that'll work? Yeah, it didn't work last year either!

I actually got a Pooh pic this month!





New this month...

Potty Training Awareness! That's what I have deemed what we are doing with Austin. Not officially training, but just becoming aware of bodily functions and getting comfortable with using the potty. It's going sooooo much better than I thought it would! Last month I bought him the little potty, but he had very little desire to sit on it and try to use it. So I pulled an idea from Rebecca's potty training days with Jack and bought a bag of M&Ms. Turns out my child will do anything for M&Ms, including peeing! I set him up on his potty in front of the TV, usually with a puzzle and gave him M&Ms for staying seated. I told him he would get even more M&Ms if he actually peed. Imagine my surprise when he went on the 2nd day! When I first bought the potty, I um... demonstrated what it was used for. (Just #1, I swear) I gave much emphasis to the excitement of getting to dump and flush the contents down the toilet, including saying "goodbye" to it. More than 2 weeks later when we started the Potty Awareness, he remembered the whole procedure. We took the bowl to the bathroom and he promptly grabbed it out of my hands, (surprisingly) carefully poured it in, flushed and then he happily exclaimed "bye bye!!" I've never been so pleased with bodily functions! Since that 1st time he's only not gone a few times that he's had potty time. Granted, part of the success is just that if he sits long enough in one place, he's bound to pee eventually, but recently he's started going as soon as he sits down, which is encouraging that he has some control over it. Still have yet to see poop, but I'm just excited about what he is doing. Not really sure what the next step is, so for the time being, we're just gonna continue with the Potty Awareness phase. I still think he needs to be a little more verbal to be successfully potty trained.

But he is doing so much talking! Austin has really stepped up what he says. I'm getting better at understanding him too. He still "talks" funny and not clearly at all, but he thinks he's saying something. He's not just making silly noises anymore. He's speaking in sentences very often too. Lots of "Bye Dad", "Juice All Gone", etc. Short ones, but definitely a huge milestone.

He still doubles up on words. Mom, milk & cat (meow) are remarkably similar, Dad & down are very close. But the one that cracks me up is "shoes" and "Aunt Suz". For some reason he says "Aunt Suz" for both! I swear he used to say shoes correctly before, but it has morphed recently.

He LOVES his Auntie Suz! And Boomer! A few weeks ago, Brian had to work crazy late hours and Austin was missing him. One night Austin was sitting in his high chair eating dinner and started asking about Daddy. I explained that Daddy wouldn't be home until after he went to bed. Austin contemplated this for just a moment and then promptly asked for Aunt Suz & Boomer. Apparently they are a close second to hanging out with Daddy!

He also loves Jack Jack! He loves to look at pics I've taken and excitedly points out Jack in the pictures. Unfortunately, his skills at correctly pointing out Jack need some improvement. He thinks all children, including himself, look like Jack. We're working on pointing out "That's Me!" in pictures.

Austin has mastered his jigsaw puzzles. He has two 12 piece puzzles that he just breezes through. It's so awesome seeing him work out the puzzle. He's good at testing 2 pieces, but he also has a great memory for where each piece goes. I'll be busting out a 24 piece puzzle this week.

He's learning new things every day! We're working on colors, right vs left, counting, his letters, etc. And every day, he picks up new info! It's so fun to see the incremental changes!

The good news - he likes to count. Bad news, every number is "Two"! If you ask what comes after one he says two but if you ask what comes after two he says two also. He says "two" with the same inflection that I use, which is cute.

Austin almost has a full smile. He either finally cut all his front teeth, or he's just waiting on the top right canine. The bottom one just cut so it'll be a few weeks before it grows in fully. But the left ones are fully in.

He's a ham! Loves to have his picture taken! But he has hard time remembering to look at the camera. He gladly says "Cheese" whenever you want him to, though!

"If You're Happy & You Know It" is his Go To song whenever he's being cranky. It's guaranteed to snap him out of it, even if it's just for a little time.

Speaking of cranky, he's not! The ugly attitude that was so pervasive for the last couple months is mostly gone. We still get some good scowls and such from time to time, but they're not even close to as frequent or bad. Yay for naps!!! It's amazing what sleep can do!! My fun sweet little boy is back! And I am so thankful!!