We had a full month. Austin got to join us in celebrating my (38th) birthday and Emelia’s 4th birthday. We went to the apple orchard as a family and Austin wore the cutest little bat hat, complete with bat wings.
Chris officially went back to work (thankfully just at home) at the beginning of October after five months off. It’s been so wonderful having his help and even when the girls went back to school last month, it’s been nice trying to spend some time together. It’s been a little rough the last few weeks trying to figure out a new groove of me leaving to work while Chris still tries to occupy Austin while he’s working himself.
My first day I left to work at a cafe for four hours and when I returned, Austin was screeching. Chris was walking him around and said he barely got anything done. It was…kind of defeating. I mean, I have to do this for the next year while he’s home with us. It will get better. I hope it gets better.
We also had to say goodbye to Toby and it breaks my heart because Austin was just starting to notice him more, staring at him and reaching out to touch him. It makes me cry thinking Austin’ll grow up with no memories of Toby.
Stats
Nicknames: Austy, Little Man, A.J.
Weight: 15 lbs 13 oz (18th percentile)
Length: 27.5 inches (84th percentile)
Diaper size: 1
Clothing size: 6 months, 6-9 months
Eating
He’s been getting to try bits of ice cream when we’re out somewhere, but since he’s not sitting up confidently on his own yet, we haven’t done any solid foods. He’s still nursing like a champ though. Distracted as all get out, and I often have to disappear to his room to nurse him in peace because he wants to stop at stare at anything that moves.
And I finally stopped leaking. I can’t even remember the day it happened, but suddenly, I just stopped and didn’t have to use breast pads anymore. Freaking finally.
Sleeping
Austin has been doing pretty well sleeping. There are nights he’s up a lot and nights where it takes a long time to put him down, but overall, he’s been doing well.
He’s been taking more morning naps on me since Chris went back to work. I’ll often work in the afternoon, so we essentially spend our mornings streaming shows and snoozing. He loves being swaddled still, so I will wrap him up nice and snug, put him on my lap with the Boppy pillow and he’ll doze off nursing, sometimes for up to 3 hours.
He’s still in our room which has been going well, but I admit, it will be nice to get him to sleep in the crib in his own room, so I don’t feel like I need to tiptoe around in darkness when I go to bed so I don’t wake him.
Many nights he’s swaddled, but some nights he’ll have his arm or both arms out and I think he’s doing okay with that. After he started rolling, we kept his arms unswaddled, but I know it’s a matter of time before he needs to be out of his bassinet. I don’t know if I’ll use the Pack n Play in our room for awhile longer, or if we’ll end up moving him to his crib next month.
Milestones
He doesn’t mind tummy time anymore since he’s gotten better at playing with toys on his stomach. We’ve also been working in PT more on sitting up. His therapist even rigged up a tiny baby table that’s the perfect height for him, so he can practice sitting up with his arms on the table for balance.
Austin has been practicing HARD on rolling over. October 19th, he rolled for the first time and then rolled four more times that day. And then rolled like crazy for the next few days. And he wants to crawl. He loves being on his belly and flailing his arms and legs frantically like he’s a frog swimming. His therapist says that’s “pre-crawling” and the boy just wants to be on the move.
He’s been enjoying jumping in his Johnny Jumper, which is a good place to put him during mealtime to distract him. Bonus points if Toby was walking around him so he could look at him.
Personality
This baby is a hardcore fan of his sisters. He especially gets a kick out of them when we’re eating dinner and one (or both) of them is making faces and doing things to make him laugh, all from his perch on Chris’s lap.
Health
Not much to say here. He’s still healthy and has been doing great. We might have used gas drops once this past month.
He still drools a lot, but isn’t having any gum swelling, so I don’t think a tooth is coming anytime soon.
Likes
Interacting with his sisters, Toby, rolling around on his blankets and play mats, sitting on Chris’s lap during dinner, sleeping on me, nursing, babbling, holding his rattles, baths with Mama.
Dislikes
Being put down. Sometimes he’s not a fan of going to sleep at night, but no one’s perfect.
Undecided about
Naps in his crib, getting his nails clipped, strangers.
Looking forward to
I’m definitely looking forward to putting him in his adorable Halloween costumes. Yes, there’s two. A monkey and a skeleton. Also, watching him crawl for the first time. He may do it next month because the kid is determined to keep up with his sisters.
Your children are all beautiful! Such a joy to read about Austin’s growth and development……. and then I remember in real time he is now probably not only crawling but pulling upright or trying to.
When the state of the world gets me down seeing your posts and children really helps. THANK YOU!!!!!!
Author
Ha ha! He sure is! Almost have his 7 month post done. 🙂 Slowly, but surely I’m going to get caught up on these posts.
Oh how nice to see this uplifting post. Austin is just a cutie pie! How blessed you are that he is so healthy and growing like a weed. The girls are growing up into such beautiful girls. I love hearing all about your happenings with your family. Can’t wait until the next post comes out.