11 Months - Austin

Our little man hit the 11 month mark, now walking and cutting his 7th tooth. He is eager to follow his sister wherever she goes, trying to get into whatever she is playing with as much as possible to her annoyance. Our dining table is now covered with toys because that's where they are safe from Austin's reach (at least right now!) He's taken his inquisitiveness up a notch, trying every cabinet to find one without a safety latch, discovering that toilet paper rolls spin, and pulling all the wipes from the wipes containers. I love to watch him in this phase (since these are all easy clean ups!) He's figured out that we come grab him when he goes towards the "no" things (baby gates, trash cans, toilets, etc) and so he makes a point to giggle while he beelines towards these goals. I think I see baby time-outs in his near future.  He is still pretty attached in that he wants to be right next to me at home, but he's handled my leaving better now.

Look! This sticker comes off!

Momentary distraction

Maybe a ball to keep his hands busy?

What do these people think I am? Easily distracted?

Fine. No smile then.

Two balls are better than one!

Best we could get!

And he walks!

Crayola with Grammie

Grammie stayed a few extra days after flying with us; so we took her over to the Crayola Experience that we love.

Oh these light peg boards. If I could figure out how to make one for my home, without costing a ton, I would.

Desperate to hold his hand

A little model magic

Today's project was making binoculars

World's Largest Crayon 

Firstfruits of our garden

Grammie even brought projects to NJ in her suitcase!

It was a short visit, but we enjoyed it. Thank you Grammie for all of your help!

2014 Trip to the South - Part 3

Daddy left at the end of our time with Grandma & Granddaddy, and we headed to Grammie & Pappy's house.

Grammie put Amelia in charge of making dessert the very first night. She make cookie/frosting sandwiches all by herself - we were so proud. Then we had a good laugh when my mom was serving them and discovered one with a half eaten cookie. Somehow she slipped that one by us.

Austin crawled up to his sister's car and slowly and methodically figured out how to climb in, sit down and close the door. It took him at least 10 solid minutes, but he stuck to it and figured it out. Sister's car isn't safe anymore!

A neighbor offered the use of their big tree swing. Our girl really enjoyed it.

Austin is big enough to play on the indoor trampoline that Grammie & Pappy have. He tried to bounce himself but really just loved to roll all over the texture. We'd put a ball in there and he couldn't help but be so excited about it always rolling towards him.

Grammie found this lego table for $4 at a thrift store and Austin was OBSESSED with it. He could be found at it most of the time.

Such nice photos come from watching the trash truck come by....

Then Austin decided to take the difficulty up a notch and stand in the car...

...and that's when we realized that some sort of "climbing" connection occurred in his brain and he started climbing on everything!

Great Grammie lives with Grammie & Pappy now and so there were plenty of opportunities for reading.

Putting on makeup together

After watching Great Grammie and Mommy knit together in the afternoons, Amelia asked to learn how to knit. Great Grammie was already prepared with little needles and stitches already cast on. So we had a little knitting session.

She asked to knit a row of 10 stitches or so a few times, but that's all the has the patience for.

Making blueberry danish

These are the only "calm" photos I got of the kids with Great Grammie reading. Austin gets so excited that he kept trying to climb in her lap or bang on the book - and she can't take it with her frail skin. So he had to be held for most storytimes.

We had a few outings - we call them "adventures"

 

First, to the McWane Science center. Amelia had no desire to touch the sting rays and sharks, but looking is fun.

Making giant bubbles

The water table was the biggest hit. We camped out there for quite a while.

He doesn't get tired of splashing himself.

The light pegs were awesome for Austin!

Some camp kids were yelled at by their chaperones for taking pegs away from a baby, so then then all started bringing pegs to him. With serious speed. Austin was too excited.

Those pesky butterflies just wouldn't be caught!

Pappy and Amelia play around in one of the video-making booths.

Second most favorite thing to the kids - building carbon nanotube models. At least I can explain something to them one day.

We also went bowling again. Funny story - we pulled into the bowling alley's parking lot and Amelia declares "It was raining the last time we were here!"  Who knows what this kid is going to remember from 7 months ago?!?

He loved the cheering and high fives after each turn.

In full disclosure, I am a schizophrenic bowler at best. And I barely beat my 3 year old. But it was a good time.

We had belated fireworks. Amelia really enjoys them and telling Pappy "good job" when they go off.

Donna and Ben came up for dinner one night. Austin took right to Ben and they practiced walking together.

There was a pillowcase tie-dying project.

Lots of cooking. Amelia even worked on her (butter) knife skills.

"Is this 1 cup yet Grammie?"

We invited a girl from Grammie's church over for a playdate one morning. Sabrina and Amelia helped Grammie cook lunch.

We headed out to Pappy's shop to build a bird feeder.

Austin was not happy that he was missing out on the fun.

An unused paint brush was a good distraction!

Love those crooked safety glasses

Ta da!

Painting the bird feeder

We spent the night in Atlanta before our flight back to NJ, so we visited the Atlanta Children's museum for a morning. As always, Amelia loved the grocery shopping area.

Their special exhibit was on building; they had piles of boxes, tubes, mailing tubes, etc for large building. We participated in one of their building events.

Doing a little building himself

Making a rocket

More fishing

Painting

Tractors are a given

This "sand" (I think it was actually flour & baby oil) play area was a huge hit too!

Later that afternoon at the hotel, Austin took his first steps! And he started waving the day before.

My mom flew home with me and the kids (THANK YOU MOM!) and we had quite a few good laughs. Amelia ran through the baggage claim area to the arms of her daddy. We arrived home where we discovered so many house projects had been completed (Daddy worked hard himself as well as managed all contractors while we were gone!) We love our weeks with our families in Alabama and all the memories we make.