Bloody Nose

Austen is one of those kids who is prone to bloody noses. Not from fistfights or from picking it (at least not that I know of), but from dry air. So we had to invest in a humidifier for his room that looked somewhat stylish since it was going to be on every night. And it seemed to have worked too since the bloody noses stopped almost instantly. Wouldn't you know that the one time we didn't turn it on that the bloody noses returned. This background is just to preface the next story.

Last week, Tom decided he was going to have a V8 so he poured some into a glass to enjoy. Here's what Austen thought about it:

Austen: "Daddy, what's that?"
Daddy: "It's a drink that makes you big and strong."
Austen: "Oh (wrinkling his nose) that looks like a bloody nose!"

He may not look like me but this kid sure acts like me!

Two Teeth and Almost Crawling

At almost 8 months, Peyton has two bottom teeth and is pretty close to crawling. She's definitely on all fours and rocking back and forth and moving backward. She can also turn herself 360 degrees from her tummy. She's growing up fast and going through lots of stages.

Right now she likes:

- Austen. Still no one can make her smile/laugh like Austen.

- Adler. Her second favorite. She enjoys getting kisses from Adler and grabbing fur.

- Her pink spotted giraffe blanket. It's her favorite blanket to sleep with and we will often find her with it under face like it's her pillow. I've also caught her sucking its ears!

- Playing in her brother's room. Since she's not crawling yet, it's still safe for her to play in his room. Put her on the rug and Austen brings her a ball and his Cookie Monster and Elmo cars and toy bus. And, sometimes, if he's feeling generous he'll even let her play with his Little People bus.

What she doesn't like lately:

- Riding in her car seat! My usually happy kid detests being strapped into her car seat and forced to face backward where she can't see anyone. As soon as I shut the door, I can hear her screaming. Makes for a nice car ride. Hopefully this phase will pass soon!

- The sun in her eyes. I'm sure most babies and kids detest this but she can sure whine when that sun hits her straight in the eyes and there's no way to block her from it in her stroller or the car seat.

- Leaving her. She's in that phase now if she's awake and you walk out of the room for a minute to go get something, she certainly will notice and let you know that she knows you're gone.

Like An Orange

Austen and Adler are either the best of friends or fight like cats and dogs (Austen's the cat that whines sometimes and says..."no, Adler, I don't wanna play!") I think this video sums up their relationship today where I heard Adler scrambling to try to escape Adler in our hallway. When I asked Austen what he had done, he innocently told me "I squeezed her like an orange!"

Daddy Said...

Ever since Austen moved upstairs to the older kids' class his vocabulary has expanded by the minute. He's also listening to more things on TV and telling us, "Mommy..he said..." so we really have to be careful what he's watching and we knew it was just a matter of time before we had to be really careful with what we were saying.

The other day, he said to Tom and me "Giddyup, Cowboy!" I laughed and asked him who said that and he said Buzz - meaning Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. He went to see that movie with Tom and his Uncle Bob and he loved it. Everything is about Buzz and Boody (not Woody) and of course the movie Cars - Lightning McQueen and Mater. He listens to what they say and repeats it to us.

So yesterday, I came home from work and Austen and I happened to be playing in his room when he tells me. "There was a lot of traffic." Tom had taken Austen and Peyton to see Grandma and got stuck in a lot of traffic on the way home. "He said 'funk'", Austen tells me matter of factly. I knew Tom wasn't very happy that it had taken him so long to get home so I was pretty sure of what Austen was telling me. But, I wasn't sure I heard him correctly. He repeated it again and while I was glad he really thought his dad said funk it still was too close for comfort.

I told Tom and he couldn't believe it. I think mostly because he thought Austen would learn his first bad word from me, not from him. I'm glad he was wrong.

Our Special Day

It seems in the summer I have to work more weekends than the rest of the year. Or maybe it just seems that way because the sun is shining and I want to be outside. Either way, it certainly doesn’t make for a fun summer. So on Friday I decided to take a day off and spend it with just Austen.

Our day started off pretty good despite the threatening clouds. We walked Adler, loaded Peyton in the car and off we went to drop her off at “school.” Austen was so excited to tell his own teacher and all his friends that he wasn’t going to school today.

First we went to breakfast and Austen ate a big piece of crunchy French Toast complete with a side of sausage and a chocolate milk.




We then went home to change into our swimsuits since the skies looked like they were going to clear up. We headed to the north side of the city to try out a new water park with some friends. Since the weather wasn’t as perfect and hot as it has been all summer, the park was pretty much empty so we enjoyed having it all to ourselves.




After the park, Austen and I went with our friends to Dairy Queen. Austen enjoyed a stars and stripes popsicle but decided he liked my Blizzard better.




After Dairy Queen, we ventured to the Disney store (he is really into the movie Cars and Toy Story right now) where I let him pick out a car from the movie, “Cars.” He chose “Red” the fire truck.



We trucked on home after that and I realized that I felt more tired than when I go to work! Maybe because it was a Friday! Or maybe it was because Austen didn’t have a nap!