Austin at 6 months

So these odd grunting noises are as common as breathing for Austin. He has done this since he was a few weeks old. Needless to say, it makes heads turn at the grocery store. I didn't know Brad was filming at first, or I would have got out of the picture!

Brad had just gotten home from the Flames game with Logan, and he didn't believe me that Austin had started to repeat the words that Brad tries so hard every day to program into the poor kid's brain. So this was my attempt at showing the new skill off to Brad.

I am beside myself that my baby is 6 months old! How did that happen? This last 6 months has been a blurry, difficult, sweet, and memorable whirlwind. Austin has definitely taken the 5th month of life by storm! So many changes and firsts have occurred with this babe. At the beginning of Dec, I began adding solids to his diet. If he were still on my milk and not soy, I would have waited for longer. But soy backs this guy up so much that a little bit of vegetables have done him a lot of good! What a pleasant relief for him that he can go potty! He drinks lots of prune juice, and eats squash, sweet potatoes, avacadoes, applesauce, peaches, peas, and carrots. During the Christmas holiday to Calgary, Austin began sitting up on his own, got his first tooth, and started babbling out, "Dadadada." Not to worry, "Mamamama" started coming out two days later, but it is clear that he prefers saying is D's! December has been a good month for us with Aussie in that he has overcome more of his discomfort and colicky behaviors, and is able to be more himself- a very funny, happy baby. He continues to get better at falling asleep. Staying asleep is another story, but we are down to 3-5 night wakings from about 6-8 in November and December. He isn't usually hungry more than once in the night, it still seems like his stomach is the culprit. I still keep him right by me in bed so that he can have a hand to hold. As long as he can squeeze your arm and play with your face, he drifts off to sleep pretty calmly! And the second that I reclaim my hand as my own, he wakes up:) He sucks that binkie like he will eat it all through his naps. I will always remember him as a baby with nervous hands. He just doesn't know what to do with his energy if he isn't squeezing on to something when awake and asleep. My funny little boy. My exhausting little boy. I know that I will look back and miss these days. I bet i'll even wish for them back. They go by so quickly, and then they are a baby no longer. But I have to admit that being in the midst of it all, I find myself looking forward often to when I can get some good sleep.