Austen and Adler Go on Vacation

Sorry, I haven't posted for more than a week. We've been on vacation in Union Pier, Mich., renting our usual 'beach' house with friends. But I am back now and ready to share some stories about our vacation:

*Austen learned to jump in the pool on his own. No holding mommy or daddy's hands and you'd better be ready to catch him because he was jumping whether you were looking or not. Adler was of course a hazard. Remember last year, me telling you about her not wanting my niece, Mia, to jump in the pool. Well, Adler did the same thing with Austen, freaking out when Austen was about to jump into the pool. Mia of course was bigger and had better balance so when Adler ran in front of her to prevent her from jumping in, she could either stop or redirect herself. Austen is too young to do that. There was a collision, he almost toppled backward off the pool deck onto the grass. But he didn't and Adler was happy that he didn't make it into the pool.

*Austen was also fascinated with our friend, Perry's juggling abilities. I've attached the video of how excited Austen is to see Perry juggling. For those of you who don't know Perry, he actually runs and juggles. Check out his blog 'Just Your Average Joggler.'

*Austen also discovered airplanes while on this trip (there were a lot going overhead) and would point to the sky every time he heard one. His hearing must be better than mine because I swear he would start pointing at the sky at least 10-15 seconds before I could even make out the faintest whir of an airplane.

All in all, it was a great long weekend. We could've stayed longer and I think Austen and Adler liked having us around all day.

At the Playground with Austen and Adler

Today after work, Tom headed to his weekly softball game while I picked up Austen from daycare and then we walked Adler. Austen loves playgrounds. In fact, you can't pass by one without him whining. Since he can't really talk that well yet, I'm assuming he's saying "Stop, now! I want to go in there!" as he leans as far out of his stroller as possible and points to the giant slide.

Now I'm not a mean mom who deprives her kid of the fun things in life, but usually if Tom's not with me, I don't stop at the playground. It's too difficult if there are other kids at the playground to try to keep a hold of Adler and keep up with my now very adventurous 18-month old.

But today, we passed the playground and no one was there so I stopped. Adler ran around off-leash and I climbed up on the playground equipment with Austen and sent him down the slide (only the little ones by himself). He was having a great time, but Adler was very anxious about Austen playing at the playground - she was running around frantically trying to prevent him from getting hurt - meeting him at the end of the slide and trying to herd him as he ran around the playground and tried to climb up on the jungle gym by himself. I was amazed at how protective she was of him. She even gave a little growl when I accidentally ran into her as she was moving full speed ahead trying to get to the bottom of the slide before Austen did.

I bet if Adler had kids, she would have been a very protective mother.

Adler Shows Her Teeth

Well, we knew at some point it would come to this. No, our dear, sweet Adler didn't bite Austen (although I admit that sometimes I wish she would give Austen a little nip when he pulls her tail or kicks her in the head, but she just takes it from him -what a good dog).

At any rate, Austen, Adler and I were out for a walk on Sunday morning fairly early and I notice a guy that I used to take the bus with sitting in a car waiting for his friend to come out of the local convenience store. He sees me and gets out of his car to come and say hi. Unlike most strangers who admire Adler first, he goes right up to Austen and starts talking to him. Adler,who had been hanging back, suddenly is right beside Austen and barking like crazy at this guy who was talking to Austen. The guy backs off and like a little mother, Adler has protected her young.

Although I hushed Adler and told her it was okay, I later praised her for her protective instinct. I mean how often is it that you find a dog that allows a toddler to tug, pull and prod her and then turn around and protect the very child who torments her?

4th of July

This year, I surprised everyone and took my son to the parade. Nevermind that my popular refrain about parades was, “you’ve seen one parade, you’ve seen them all.” Or that I actually drove to the suburb I lived in for almost 15 years to see their 4th of July parade when I never did get around to going to it when I lived there. I guess that’s the stuff that changes when you have kids.


Let me just say, I loved the parade! Mostly because Austen loved the parade and it was just a gorgeous day to be outside. Austen loved the fire trucks and picking up the candy they threw off the street and putting it in his bag. He also loved waving his flag and being able to run around the closed off street before the parade actually started and then again when there were some gaps in between.

It actually felt like the 4th of July this year because we went to the parade. So I think we’ll do it again next year too. Maybe we’ll even choose a different suburban parade to attend until we move out there and can claim one as our own.

I'll be Glad When...

Austen's teething is over. My kid, that was for the most part such an angel and an easy baby, really struggles with the teething thing. His typical pattern when he is teething is to wake up multiple times in the middle of the night - crying out like someone is hurting him! That means that there are multiple moments of interrupted sleep during the night and they could be consecutive nights in a row! Not fun when we have to wake up and be alert for work the next day!

Okay, so maybe I had it easy because Austen started sleeping through the night at 9 1/2 weeks - almost three weeks before I even had to go back to work! But, the long-drawn out teething process is really starting to get old. Mostly because my little guy is in such pain and tries to jam his fingers as far back in his mouth as he can get them and he's just miserable. I try not to give him Motrin or Tylenol because for me personally, I just don't take medication unless I'm seriously sick but I have been resorting to giving him some to relieve the pain. He needs it, poor little guy.

The good news is that his 18 month check up this week his doctor said after this he should be done for a little while - at least until the two-year molars. Can't wait for those. Austen gained 2 pounds (26 lbs. total) and grew 2 1/2 inches. He remains in the 50th percentile for weight and has moved from the 50th percentile in height to the 75th percentile. We knew he grew because now he can actually reach our door knobs and let himself into rooms or out of the house (good thing we keep the dead bolts on!).

We can't believe he'll be 18 months old in a week. We still watch him sleep at night and marvel just how big he's gotten and that he's ours.

Photo: Austen and his Szurgot cousins, Brooke(6) and Matthew (3)