Austin Turns 1

On April 5th, our sweet little Austin turned one!  I know everyone says this, but it really went unbelievably fast.  He is such a wonderful boy and we are so thankful to have him in our family!

First, a few facts about Austin:

- He is an excellent eater and will eat most anything, but somehow remains in the 5th percentile for weight.
-  At the year mark turned into a great sleeper, usually.
-  He thinks he is a "big boy" now and wants to do everything Zach does.
-  He is a climber! 
-  He is a Daddy's boy and chants "Dada, Dada," squeals with delight, and chases Cal when he gets home until he gets picked up.


We did a robot theme, just for kicks.  (you can't see the details, but it's robot paper).  I was surprised that Austin actually noticed and smiled at the banner.

After special blueberry pancakes for breakfast (he loves blueberries), Austin did a few things he loves.
Played with the vacuum, and tried to climb it.

Wrestled with Zach on the beanbag and played with an old phone.

The decor.

He loved the balloons (what's not to love?).  It made me wonder why we buy birthday presents for a one year old?  We just need a good bunch of balloons.

Cupcakes for us.

A little cake for Austin.

After my mom and I took the boys to the pool for some good splashing, we had my parents over for dinner, presents, and cake.

He was great at opening presents, knew just what to do.  He actually squealed with happiness when he saw a couple of them. 

Notice how he is sitting.  This is how he always likes to sit, with his right leg bent back.  Silly boy.

As soon as Austin saw his new elephant, he immediately gave it "loves."  Since then, he loves to give loves to this elephant and his bear he got for Christmas.

He knew the cake was going to be something he wanted.

Exploring.

Tasting.  He didn't eat much and didn't seem to care for it much, but he loved the ice cream.  (that's my boy!)

Oh boy!  My Mom's comment to me was that I had come so far since Zach's first birthday.  Look at that mess!  Ay yie yie.

Can't let the frosting between the toes go to waste!

Straight to bathtime!

We love you Austin!

 

Oh, Zach

Lately Zach is funny, imaginative, adorable, sweet, helpful, and difficult.  I sure love this boy, but I think he's giving me gray hair.  I'm so happy it's spring and our options of things to do has expanded again. 

Nice weather = sanity!

Love this.

Fun With Nana & Papa

One weekend Cal got to go home for a boys ski weekend, so the (little) boys and I spent a day with my parents.  Zach has always loved Nana & Papa's backyard, especially doing yardwork.  It was fun to see Austin get in on the fun.  He was determined to be a big boy and use the tools.

My Mom and I took them to a fun park.  Austin loves the slides and swings and Zach loves the big slides.

Sandbox Fun

Austin has been fully converted to the sandbox.  He loves it! 

It's going to be a messy summer!

"Let me go out to play!!!"

Life Gets Busy... Part 1

I feel like I have so many pictures and things to blog, but just haven't gotten to it.  I don't know why...

So here is my first attempt to catch up with various random things.

Starting in early March. 

Zach really wanted me to take pictures of them in the chair.  This was the best I got. 

I have been trying so hard to get decent pictures of Zach, but he usually does not cooperate and just makes weird faces.  I was pleased to get one that I liked!

Austin continues to love to get into everything.  Sometimes, literally.  He is always trying to climb into the oven drawer.  I try not to let him because it gets really hot there if the oven is on and I don't want him in the habit of being in there...  But this time it was just too cute to resist a picture.  Zach, of course, had to follow.  These two are going to be trouble...

For more than a month, Austin has used Zach's step stool and his highchair to walk around.  He loves the independence and really wants to take off.  He is consistantly walking short distances by himself now, but is still a bit timid and wobbly.  

"Zach's Woodshop". 

After 2+ weeks of the boys having (almost) every sickness symptom you can think of (and very little sleep!), we were grateful to get outside and play and do some yardwork.  In a corner of our yard where we keep our recycling and trash cans, we also keep scraps of wood.  Zach has claimed this as his own and still talks daily about being a workerman.  He also has an "office" in his imagination that he goes to with his imaginary helicopter or "jet pack" daily as well.  It often doesn't make sense, but it is fun to see what he comes up with.

I got really excited about following an online art class with Zach, but it hasn't gone exactly as planned.  I've decided that the projects are directed at a bit older audience and he really just wants to do his own thing right now.  I was initially dissappointed, but we can save it all for when he is more ready.  And in the mean time we still do LOTS of art projects!  He likes to say, "I'm an artist!" and "It's GORGEOUS!"

One day I was in Zach's room putting away laundry and things were just too quiet and still.  So I hunted around for Austin and found him behind the curtain playing with Zach's Mr. Potato head.  Cute boy.

And of course, it turned into peek-a-boo with both boys.

Look Who's Walking

Austin First Steps, originally uploaded by ersphotography.

Wanting to be just like his older brother, Austin took his first steps just about a week before his first birthday. Luckily Austin waited until Cal got back from his ski weekend in Reno to take the plunge. He has been pushing things around (his high chair and step stool) to walk for weeks, but today he took his first unaided steps to get a book from Emily. So of course we busted out the video camera and are happy to share his accomplishment with the world.

Cookie Dough

Zach loves to help me bake.  If he sees a cube of butter out on the counter, he always asks excitedly if I am making cookies.  And then he quickly pulls his step over by the mixer and is ready to help, whether I am in fact ready to make cookies yet or not.  I haven't decided if he likes to help because he thinks it is fun, or because he likes the end products.  Maybe a little of both? 

So we were baking the other day and I had to run upstairs to get Austin up from his nap.  I came back down to find Zach kindly cleaning off the beater for me.  Lucky for him, the dough was done.

(and I was grateful that I always unplug the mixer if I have to step away from it for a minute!)

Pleased!