Free day

Austin's day care called yesterday and said his right eye was a little gooey and slightly pink. Another child went home earlier in the week with possible conjunctivitis and they wanted to warn us. So, I picked him up a little early. His eyes looked fine to me at the time.

This morning, his right eye was a little gooey, but not much, and still didn't look pink. But, we had a free day together since I took the day off to take him to the doctor. We went to Target and spent the morning shopping. We picked up some things for his day care emergency kit (we got it back for a refresh yesterday) and Valentine's gifts for his classmates.

(Here's Austin, ready to go to Target. He brought these two things out from my bedroom. I leave a couple of baskets on the shelf with interesting things in them for him to explore and these are what he decided to hang on to, a little cell phone holder bag and a tiny container. I love to see what catches his eye.)

Our appointment to see the doctor was at 3pm, we got there just in time. Poor Austin, I had to wake him up from his nap to get into the car, then wake him up again to go from the car to the doctor's office. We got to the waiting room and he sat in my lap at first as we watched a Clifford video that was playing on the tv. He eventually got bored and wanted to stand and look around. We waited and waited. Eventually, the train table opened up and I showed him the trains. He picked up on how the trains worked pretty quickly and was linking the magnets and pushing them around. I'm usually reluctant to let him play with the trains because... "eww, sick kids play with these!" But, we were waiting over an hour so it helped keep him busy. And I promptly cleaned his hands after he was done.

Well, turns out he doesn't have conjunctivitis. Possibly just congestion and the goo looking for a way out. We did find out that he is now 19 lbs., 7 oz. He gained weight since his last appointment a month ago. :)

What color is our car?

When I pick up Austin from day care, I always chat with him and ask him questions as we're heading for our car. I ask him things like, "did you have a good day?" "where is our car?" "what color is our car?" (I answer that last one and tell him it's black) Today, I asked him, "what color is our car?" and he answered "bwack!"

Legs

Austin has recently started coming to me and hugging my legs or pulling my hand or pant leg when he wants me to go somewhere with him.

Latest signs

I recently started signing "help" and "book" to Austin. His version of "help" has been just moving both hands up and down to the sides of him. Yesterday, I put his hands together to show him how to sign "help" again and this morning he did it correctly all by himself. Last night, he signed "book" for the first time while we were reading books before bed. This morning, he sat down to read a book again and I was wondering why he was looking at his hands, then I realized he was opening and closing his hands and signing "book."

Visiting the Queen Mary

We went to the Queen Mary in Long Beach yesterday. Entrance for the self tour is free for Southern California residents this month so we thought we'd check it out. (Thanks Kelly for passing along the info!). The forecast for Saturday fluctuated between cloudy and rainy all week and the forecast that morning was rain. But, once again the weather was good to us. It sprinkled a little in the morning while on our way then cleared by the time we got there for a windy and cool, but sunny day.

I had never been onto the QM before so I was interested in seeing it. My sister had seen it before and she was debating whether to join us, but we convinced her to come along. It was pretty cool exploring a ship with so much history and imagining what it would have been like to travel on a luxury cruise line so many years ago. I had a good time and it's definitely something to do at least once (especially when you've lived less than 20 miles away your whole life. :) Hee hee.).

If Austin wasn't with us I probably would have wanted to check out the "Scorpion," which is the Russian submarine that's parked next to the QM. My sister said it's really tight and you have to crawl in some places.

(Photos to come...)

*TIP for anyone thinking about visiting the QM with kids. Don't take a stroller. Most areas are only accessible by stairs. Luckily, we took a light stroller cuz Willis and I had to carry that thing up and down a few flights here and there. It was good for lugging all the stuff I brought and storing jackets, but wasn't really necessary.

More strange weather

The weather continues to fluctuate between warm and cool. It was a very hot, sunny 82 degrees on Sunday and only a few days later it is now a cool, rainy 65 degree day.

I sent Austin to day care today in a new windbreaker jacket. I remember buying that jacket sometime early last year. It seems like so long ago when I found it on sale at Target and him fitting into an 18-month jacket seemed so far away. I can't believe he is actually big enough to wear it now! He is growing fast and breezing through his clothes now. A lot of his 12 month clothes are getting snug (especially pajamas) and he's fitting into his 18 month stuff. (Thanks so much to Joy for passing on the big pile of clothes from Tessho's cousin! We are so grateful. The clothes are getting lots of use!)

Calm Nights

Nights have calmed down again and Austin is back to sleeping all the way through the night (with just an occasional cry in the early morning, but he falls back to sleep on his own). A couple of nights ago he cried around 4:15am and was standing at the side of his crib, but as soon as I set foot in his room he laid down. Popped his head up a couple of times, but I did nothing and he fell back to sleep pretty much on his own. Willis noticed that a new molar is cutting through his gums so that may be causing his night-time sadness.

We've settled into a pretty simple bedtime routine since he stopped nursing before bed. Austin has a cup of milk (about 2-3 oz lately), brushes teeth, gets a sip of water, we read a book or two in his room, I carry and sing to him in his room with the lights out, then into bed, I leave the room and he's off to sleep (he sometimes cries when I'm leaving the room, but it's usually only a few seconds before he settles down).

Pointing out things

Austin can point out some things in books now.. Car, train, ball.

He also loves to gobble the blueberries in one of his little books. (My sister taught him that.)

The new car seat

Here's Austin checking out his new car seat, fresh out of the box.

Here's Austin trying out his new car seat.


Here's Austin trying out the car seat box.


Willis usually drops Austin off at day care in the morning and leaves the infant carrier car seat in the lobby with all the other car seats. Then, I take it when I pick up Austin. Friday was to be Austin's last day going to day care in his infant car seat and I think Willis was really excited about the new car seats that morning because he forgot to leave Austin's car seat for me. This has only happened one other time in the whole year that Austin's been going there, but when I got there I didn't see the seat and I knew right away. Willis' cell phone was dead and I barely caught him on his Blackberry before he left work, luckily he only works a mile away. It was kind of nice though because we both got to play with Austin in the Angel Fish classroom for a little while, just like old times. :)

Not-so-secret-Santa and Iron Chef Hawaiian

Holiday traveling among our friends has slowed down so we finally had our belated not-so-secret Santa gift exchange and Iron Chef potluck last night at our house. Iron Chef 'Hawaiian' was a big success. Lots of yummy food and we ended the night with some delicious Lava flows.

Austin and Akemi hanging out.


(Unfortunately, this group pic is missing the Fus. They had already headed home before we thought about a group pic)

Laps

Austin loves sitting in people's laps. Over the holidays he was constantly plopping himself onto someone's lap. Usually, if his Granny or Auntie Allison was sitting on the floor he walked up to them, turned around, then "beep, beep, beep" he backed himself into a comfy, inviting lap. I love when he sits in my lap and I get to cuddle with him, reading books or playing with his toys. He has started to sit in my lap more often now, especially when he wants to read books. He picks out a book, hands it to me, turns around, then backs himself into my lap. Sometimes he misses and has to stand up and try again.

Here's Austin sitting in my lap in his room. We're looking at his train-shaped board book, "I am a Train." He's pointing at the cars because I asked him, "where is the car?"

He's always enjoyed books, but has recently taken more of an interest in picking out a book himself and handing it to me to read to him. I'm really happy that he likes the train-shaped board book that I picked out for him from the Scholastic book order last year and he always returns to his favorite, "Good Night Moon." He also enjoys the books that my Mom gave him - one about first words with lots of pictures and one that teaches about zippers, velcro, snaps, pockets, tying bows, etc. He's starting to get the hang of velcro and was trying to snap the snaps on his onesie this morning. The snaps are a little more difficult though because they're so small and he gets frustrated when he can't put the two sides together, but he's getting pretty close. He also started trying to buckle the seat belt on his car seat.

He still loves going into rooms and closing doors and he knows how to knock on the door when it's closed. He is also getting a lot more coordinated with giving hugs and kisses, waving and saying "buh-bye."

Big boy carseat

Austin's new car seats arrived yesterday! He has just about outgrown his infant carrier car seat so we finally bought two convertible car seats to replace it. A BIG thanks to Karen for sending the link for the Britax sale!! The seats were discounted AND there was free shipping. Today will be the last day Austin uses his baby car seat to go to day care, so I thought I would commemorate the event with some photos. I am so excited to install the new seats in our cars over the weekend. And, now that we won't need the extra space to take the infant car seat in and out of the cars anymore both Willis' car and my car can fit in the garage at the same time again. We just have to clean out the garage since it has become a storage area for a few strollers, a bike and miscellaneous sporting equipment and boxes.

Austin outgrowing his infant carrier car seat.

Here's my tongue

Austin recently started sticking out his tongue. He doesn't stick it out at anyone, just something fun and new that he recently figured out that he could do. Maybe he learned it from one of the other kids at day care? He'll play saying "bleh, bleh, bleh" while sticking his tongue out after each "bleh." Here's a shot I caught of him just sitting and sticking his tongue out while staring at the tv.

My helper's new tool

Austin caught a glimpse of our Swiffer duster yesterday and when I let him hold it he put it to the ground like the floor Swiffer. I gave him the extendable handle Swiffer duster instead and discovered it's perfect as an Austin-size swiffer handle. He loves to walk all over the house dusting the floor with it.


(My sis got me this Swiffer Sweeper Vac for Christmas and I love it! My new favorite cleaning tool, and Austin seems to love it too.)

Austin loves Elmo and always notices him. If he sees him anywhere he points or stares at him. He watches him on Sesame Street, plays with his Elmo lap top, points at him in pictures, found the big Elmo stuffed animal at our Chiropractor's office and wanted me to take him near it, then this morning he kept looking up when we were in the checkout line at Ralphs. I finally looked up and noticed that he was staring at the Elmo balloons. He calls him "meh-mo."

The Fus stopped by during Jonathan's basketball game today. Austin seemed to enjoy the visit and kept trying to give Akemi hugs, but she wasn't interested and kept pushing him away or ignoring him.

Sleepless night

Something was really bothering Austin last night. I peeked in on him before I went to sleep and he was tossing and turning, I didn't turn on any lights but I could hear him moving around. He cried about half an hour after I went to sleep. I got him to lie back down and go to sleep but he cried again another four separate times. Each time I tried something different, whatever I could think of.. a hug, teething tablets, drink of water.. Each time he laid down and was quiet but cried again after a little while. Finally I just had to lie down on the floor and every time he lifted his head I said "go to sleep" and he put his head down again. It took three times before I fell asleep. I woke up about an hour later and went back to my room. I guess it worked cuz I didn't hear him again till I went into his room to wake him up this morning. He was so tired this morning he didn't even want to stand on his own. Poor little guy, I know he had a fun time with his Auntie Allison last night, but maybe he was sad that he went to bed without seeing us so he just wanted his mama around for comfort to relax and sleep soundly?

USC vs. UCLA

We went to the USC vs. UCLA basketball game with Dan and Steph tonight. It was our first time watching an official basketball game at the Galen Center (we've only been there for a tour and a scrimmage before the arena opened for its first season a couple of years ago). It was a lot of fun watching the game and great to hang out with our evening's rivals, UCLA-clad Dan and Steph. I've gotten so used to watching football lately that the fast pace of the basketball game seemed weird to me. I guess i've been away from the game too long? (Next month it will be two years since i've played basketball!)

Royal/T

I met up with Eve, Inez and Steph for afternoon tea on Saturday. We went to a place called Royal/T in Culver City. It's a modern art gallery/restaurant located off the main stretch of restaurants in an industrial-looking area. We all had the high tea sampler, I tried the Royal/T Milk Tea and the waitresses were Japanese girls in french maid outfits. I thought the food and tea were good and I enjoyed spending time with the girls. We chatted the afternoon away through the late lunch crowd that was there when we got there, after everyone else left and the place was completely empty and finally decided to leave when evening diners started to come in. The people working there were very nice and never tried to hint that we should leave or give us the check before we asked for it.



Earlier that day, Willis, Austin and I went to a warehouse sale. It was in Westchester at the home/office for the website innovativebaby.com, not too far from our house. I heard about it from my sister's friend, Alice, who sent along the info. They have a small warehouse in their backyard full of great baby things; tons of clothes, lots of cute dresses, toys, books, accessories. It was a great sale and we found some really nice things that we would normally overlook because they're too expensive. I was happy that we decided to check it out.

Make-up shots

I took Austin for some make-up shots this morning. He was still recovering from a little cold during his 15-month check up a couple of weeks ago, so his doctor asked us to come back when he's well. He had an early breakfast so we could make it there by our 8:45 am appointment. The nurse had to prep the shots so Austin was happily playing with a telephone toy in the room. Another little boy was across the hall waiting for the doctor so his grandma brought him over to play too. He was a couple of months older than Austin. They both played next to each other and Austin occasionally glanced at him to see what he was up to. The nurse quickly gave him his shots when they were ready, one in each thigh. Austin didn't cry for the needle poke, but cried when she was injecting the vaccines. He was very brave and stopped crying as soon as I put his pants back on. He was just fine after that and stayed awake all the way home to pick up his Tylenol then to day care. He's come a long way, but it still feels like just yesterday when he was so little and I used to take him to the doctor and he would fall asleep as soon as we left the doctor's office..

The nurse said Austin could spike a fever from the shots from today until anytime within two weeks. Yikes! Once we got to day care, he played nicely with the Tylenol box when it was just the two of us in his classroom, but then the other kids came in from outside and he got very upset and couldn't contain himself, crying and lying down on the floor. Sadly, I had to put his things away and leave with him so sad he couldn't even see me because his eyes were squeezed shut.

I picked up a meal calendar on my way out, just realizing that I can use that for ideas for Austin's lunches. He needs more finger foods these days and I'm always searching for meal and snack ideas for him. Austin's class did a bread square activity the other day and he kept signing "more" and "please" to get more bread. So, his teacher said he can probably have sandwiches soon, which probably means I should send sandwiches for lunch sometimes.

It feels really strange not having to carry my big heavy pump bag to and from work everyday anymore. All week I constantly felt like I was forgetting something. Even though it sometimes felt like a burden to have to take my "breaks" at work, I do miss my time in the Mother's Room where I could read or just rest and I became so used to going down to my private little lunchroom on the 3rd floor. (Here is where I spent all of my breaks for a whole year. Although, it only looked this nice for about half that time, when it was remodeled)

Songs and music

Austin loves songs and music, he starts to dance when he hears music and sometimes likes to sing along when someone is singing. He also knows that there are hand motions for some songs. So far i've seen him do hand motions for "Itsy Bitsy Spider," "Wheels on the Bus" and "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes."

For Itsy Bitsy Spider he puts his index fingers together for the spider part. His arms go up for "the sun comes up" part and waves for "dries up all the rain." Then back to the index fingers together for the spider going up the water spout. He then ends the song with a loud "yah!" He also knows some of the hand motions for "Wheels on the Bus." He moves his arms around for "the wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round.." And he gets a kick out of "the babies on the bus go waa, waa, waa." He puts his hands up to his eyes and opens and closes his hands and giggles. For "Head, Shoulders.." he does head, cheeks, knees.

The mouse

Austin continues to imitate the things we do. He always wants to get up to the desk when one of us is at the computer. He loves to move the mouse, put it up to his ear like a phone or press the keys on the keyboard. I was letting him look at some pictures on the computer yesterday and he actually figured out how to use his index finger to move the wheel in the middle of the mouse and he was scrolling through the pictures!

Sitting in a box, playing with cups

Austin wanted to sit in this box last night. The box had all of his cups in it so he was taking them all out and organizing them on the carpet. He was so busy concentrating. And he was careful to make sure they were upright, if any cup fell over he fixed it to make sure it wasn't on its side.

This occasional organization and attention to detail is in complete contrast to his usual knocking over the towers that I build with these same cups.

First full day in a new classroom

Yesterday was Austin's first day back to day care after two weeks of staying at home and it was also his first full day in his new classroom. He was definitely overwhelmed and very upset when Willis dropped him off in the morning and also when I picked him up in the evening. His teacher said he was okay at breakfast and most of the day except around when the class came in from playing outside in the afternoon. When I arrived to pick him up he was kind of sad and lying on the floor next to his teacher who was patting his back. He burst into tears when he saw me but was very happy after I picked him up. I think he already looked different and more mature to me after just one full day in his new class, he was even saying bye to everyone on our way out. Maybe he was just so happy to be going home after such a long, rough day.

Today, when I picked Austin up from day care, I found him crouched near the gate concentrating on trying to poke the electrical outlet with his finger (it had a cover of course, but it just rotates the holes so it still looked interesting). Austin had a much better day at day care today. Willis said he cried in the morning when a teacher whisked him away for breakfast. But, when I picked him up in the evening one teacher said he had a much better day today, no crying.

Austin's buddy, Lucca, was the last one left when I picked Austin up. She came over and pointed at Austin. I said "Austin" and she said his name too, then she said it again later when we were saying bye. And I heard Austin said "Lucca" yesterday when I was telling him we had to give Lucca something. Wow, they're growing up and can say their friends' names!

Back to work

Getting Austin up and ready for day care is a ton easier now that he is no longer nursing in the mornings and has started to drink his milk with breakfast, which he eats at day care. This morning, I just went to get him from his crib at 7:30am, changed his diaper and clothes and he was ready to go by 7:45am. Of course it helps that we prepped his clothes and most everything else he needed for day care ready to go the night before. And speaking of making things easier, we will no longer need to send milk or cups for Austin. Day care will now be supplying that. It's also nice that I don't have to take my shoes off when I go get him from his classroom anymore. I'm so used to taking my shoes off in the baby room that it feels weird not to.

Well, the two guys left before me this morning, so I left an empty house when I went to work. It was soo hard to leave. I paced back and forth and stood for a while looking around the house before forcing myself out the door. It's so hard to get back to the regular routine after such a nice vacation. I got to spend every day with Austin, Willis took some time off work and my Mom and sister were over most of the time.

More molars

I finally felt Austin's gums and discovered that he now has three molars coming in. The top two seem to be around the same but the one on his bottom left felt fairly new and just cutting through the gums. His gums are pretty swollen on that side. He's been pretty brave about it, only the occasional fussiness. So far, I think his top two front teeth are the ones that have caused him the most trouble. Austin now has 11 teeth!

An afternoon at the aquarium

We went to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach today and finally got to use the annual passes that we purchased when we were at the aquarium for Austin's class fieldtrip in August. Willis, my Mom and I used our memberships and my sister came along using the free guest admission we received when we became members. Austin was asleep when we got there and we were all hungry so we headed straight for the cafe and started eating before he woke up. We narrowly beat the lunch crowd.

Austin was interested in looking at the animals, but was most excited to run around and chase the pigeons or wander in front of the large tanks stepping on the pictures of the fish. At one point, we were looking at a large tank that took up a whole wall, I pointed down and told him to look down to see the fish that were in the tank below the floor. He apparently thought I meant get down on the floor cuz he then laid down on the floor to look at the fishes. It was pretty crowded, but we still had a good time.

2009 Rose Bowl

Willis and I went to watch USC play in the Rose Bowl on yet another new year's day. It's funny that USC keeps ending up at the Rose Bowl game, but we like that it's local and we can go. One of these days we'll try to go watch the Rose Parade, when USC isn't playing in the Rose Bowl.

It felt like a runaway for the second and third quarters but got a little closer by the end of the game. The final score was USC 38 - Penn St. 24. I had a great time but was thoroughly exhausted from all the walking we did.

Austin sported his USC outfit yesterday to cheer on the Trojans as he watched the game on tv and hung out with his Granny and Auntie. He is kind of catching on to the USC Victory sign. He gets two hands moving to the fight song, but so far he only holds up his index finger. He doesn't have the coordination to hold up index and middle fingers together yet.