Botanical Gardens

I'm getting back on track for blogging some of our playdates. If we didn't have such busy but fun weeks, I might be able to keep up. But as it is, I'm getting further behind. So it's my goal for the week to at least finish June! Think I can do it? Yeah, I doubt so too. But it's good to at least dream big.

Our next playdate on the calendar was a picnic at the South Coast Botanical Gardens near us. The 3rd Tuesday of every month it's free, which is always a bonus! What a beautiful day it was! There was a good sized group of moms and kids that week but we didn't get to hang out with them much. We all started out together and headed towards the pond to see the ducks but between my little Austin, who lags because he's the smallest of the bunch and Jack, who lags despite being the tallest of the bunch because he has to look at everything, we quickly got separated from the group. But it was okay - Austin and Jack had a good time together meandering down the path and getting sprayed by the sprinklers. And Jack learned that there was a tree named just for him!

Waiting for the sprinkler to come around


Toddlin' on down the path


Documenting that McKenna was there!


By the time we stopped looking for our group near the lake, they had already made it back up to the grassy area and were eating already. Which meant that by the time our kiddos were done eating, all the rest of the kids had left! So Austin and Jack ran around on the grass just the two of them.



I love watching Austin run! Such grace enthusiasm! I call him my little Woody doll (from Toy Story). All of his limbs flail about as if independent from his body! I need to get some video of it so I can always remember it. But for now, pics will have to do! He was a little loopy from the combination of wide open spaces and his naptime nearing, so I got a bunch of silly pics of him. Such a cute, silly Woody doll!

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!!

Believe It or Not...

Basting brushes make terrific carseat toys!




When I asked Austin to pick some toys to take in the car, this is what he insisted on bringing. Good to know I don't need to waste money on real toys!

Just Swingin'

Miss McKenna is Four Months Old

I've been trying to get these month updates out on time, so that they are current even though my posts about our playdates are way behind. I hate to post out of order, but it's really the only way to do it! But this month I just dropped the ball. We've had a busy week since McKenna turned 4 months last Monday. And even now I'm posting while on vacation on Catalina. You may get to eventually see those pics if I ever get caught up!

Okay, 'nough about me...on to the cute one! Isn't she just great?! I'm loving this girly more and more each day!





New this month...

Last month her personality was just starting to peek though the baby fog and this month it has continued to bloom! One of the things I prayed for most fervently was for McKenna to have a fun sense of humor/personality. That has been my favorite part about Austin (even more than his killer eyelashes - and yes, I prayed for those for her too!) and I just hoped that McKenna would have the same spark that he does. I would have even traded the "easy baby" part for personality. (Glad I didn't have to though! phew!) You can definitely see that same spark these days! She likes to smile at just about everyone. (Although, if you were one of the people she burst into tears at the sight of, please don't take it personally! She still has her anti-social moments!) And her smiles are more like full body smiles these days. Shoulders go up, body wiggles, head tilts, etc. Much enthusiasm! Oh! and I've forgotten to mention before that she has a cute little dimple! It only shows when she smiles big!

You still have to work some for giggles though these days, but they are slightly more abundant than last month. Her main trigger of giggles are Momma's tickle kisses one her neck and ribs and being "tossed" or bounced in the air. But the other day she started belly laughing watching Austin rough house with Brian. What a sweet moment! Well, I'm pretty sure she was laughing. We tried to repeat the scene the next night and she started crying. I think he was being more shrieky and scared her though.

She's really starting to be into her toys this month. She had just started batting and playing with them at the end of last month, but now she "gets" them. Well as much as a 4 month old can. Her face does light up, though, when I put her carseat toy up and she knows how to work it pretty good! She loves the Taggie ball and her ladybug book/stuffed animal. (Thanks Phyllis!) With both of those her play consists of grabbing it with both hands (got that milestone) and attacking it with her face (got the bringing objects to mouth milestone too!) Unfortunatly, she has a hard time falling asleep in her carseat if her toys are up. When she'd usually fall asleep, now she's too fascinated to do so!

We're phasing out the swaddling pretty well. I do both the occasional nap and the occasional bedtime with minimal swaddling, just depending on how vital that nap is to the plans we have for the day or how wound up she is. If she's a "jittery" tired, she needs to be swaddled to calm down. And most mornings she escapes from her swaddle but goes back to sleep. I'm thankful we're getting it figured out before it gets too hot, cuz even with one of the lightweight swaddlers, she's still pretty warm.

She's settling into a very nice schedule during the day, to the point where I can pretty well predict what our day will look like! It makes planning outings and getting some housework done so much easier! As long as she's not having a bad reflux day, she's relatively consistent.

At the end of last month, she was just starting to acknowledge Austin's presence. Now she knows him well...and fears him! She's not fond of his "love taps" (ie bonks on the head) and winces whenever he comes near her! :( We are working on gentle, I swear! She's a pretty good sport though. She hardly cries now when he whacks her, unless she's tired and feels like tattling.

She decided to make me out to be a liar. I said last month that she's pretty at rolling and the day I posted that just happened to be the last day she's rolled! I think it's mostly that she's more content on her belly now and doesn't feel the need to escape it as much. She's actually getting somewhat close at rolling from back to front. She can make it about 1/2 way over, so prolly in the next month or so she'll have that figured out. I have to watch her much better on the couch now!

Not technically by 4 months, but because she started it the day after, and I'm a week behind in posting this, I'm gonna include it - She started blowing raspberries last week and it has to be the cutest thing ever! For this phase at least! She's really concentrating on it and will study you intently when you do it. She's figuring out she has a tongue too and will occasionally stick it back out at you when you stick yours out.

McKenna has hair! I can't tell you how excited I am that she didn't look like an old man! She still has some dark baby hair around the back and on top, but her new hair is growing so good! It shouldn't be long before I can put cute little clips and bows in it! It's very light brown, with significant red highlights. When she's outdoors, she looks like a redhead. And her facial coloring goes with the red too. (Very fair and pink!) Definitely of Irish decent! Although both my mom & I have red highlights, so really I don't know where she gets it from.

Her eyes are blue, her eyes are blue, her gosh darn eyes are blue! (Sorry, I always have the scene from "Liar, Liar" in my head when I think of the color blue. =D) Each month I cross my fingers that they'll stay! Maybe I'm hoping so much because I always though my eyes were such a boring brown? I guess I have eye color envy issues.

McKenna is finding her voice. She talks usually when she's tired and kinda cranky or hungry (so really she just has a sweet cute way of yelling at me), but is starting to just coo and talk when she's happy too.

I don't think I mentioned it in previous updates, but McKenna has some reflux issues. We were pretty skeptical of trying meds, since reflux seems to be the diagnosis de jour. But when it was pretty obvious she was in pain, we decided to try Zantac and it made all the difference in the world! The week before she turned 4 months she suddenly started having a hard time eating again. I guess it turns out that reflux peaks at 4 months, so she was right on schedule. A quick adjustment to her dosage and she's a happy girl again. Happy as long as I'm not currently giving her the meds. It is an intense struggle every time! Hopefully she'll outgrow the need soon so I can stop torturing her