Merry Christmas!

Thought I'd share some pictures instead of writing a full post. Hope everyone has a safe and Merry Christmas. 

Can't believe it has been 2.5 years since we got married!

2 Down, 1 To Go!

Friday, we loaded up Auggie, Charley and Aussie and packed up the truck to spend the weekend in Giddings to celebrate Christmas with Tim's family.

We had Mommo's Christmas Saturday evening complete with a visit from Santa Claus! It was so great seeing all the kids excited about Santa coming. I got a little emotional when all the kids were around him because it brought on memories of missing it last year. I know, I know, everything is fine.




Sunday was the Siegmund Christmas. Everyone was able to make it- including Rick! It was a nice surprise seeing him. I know Ben and Jessica were really happy he was able to make it.



Jessica, Melanie, Stephanie and Tim singing "We 3 Kings." The version is from a Christmas special they liked growing up "A Claymation Christmas."



I have more pictures but haven't had the time to go through them - I do know I got some good ones, though. Here are a few from the weekend

Not wanting to pose for pictures on Thursday 

His head is under there somewhere

PawPaw swinging with Cohen, Libby and Ben

Auggie opening up his sit-n-spin from us

Playing with the chipmunk from Mommo

Monday we drove to Austin for Auggie's audiology appointment at 9 am. He got his bilateral BAHAs!! He wore them for about 10 minutes while we were in the audiologist's office. The appointment was running into his nap time since we woke him up early to get there in time so he wasn't too happy with us toward the end. The new BAHAs are smaller, lighter and use a different battery than the one we borrowed. It is just so great talking and not having to hear the feedback (buzzing) from the other one. We know Auggie likes them, too, because he'll wear them for longer periods of time. The first few times we put the headband on him, he clapped his hands. It was so great to see!

During the appointment, I sat with Auggie in a sound booth to see if he'd be able to localize noises and voices. In the video you can hear the audiologist talking but in the sound booth, her voice was coming from a speaker on the left and on the right. She would change which speaker her voice would come out of to see if he'd notice. Around 2:15 into the video, she changes to whistling and other sounds. I think he thought I was whistling around 2:20 into it.



The localization will come with time and hopefully having bilateral BAHAs, will help Auggie improve his speech and babbling. Any questions? I know a few people have asked but feel free to leave a comment, call or text us if you're wondering anything!

Auggie's walking... Oh, Wait!

He's basically running!

I don't think I ever wrote down when Auggie officially started walking but he's pretty much up to a jog now. I never wrote it down because he was only taking a few steps here and there. Then he would crawl real fast to where he wanted to go. Well, I missed the opportunity and now he's well past walking! 

Auggie knows how to get onto the futon now. First he started by standing on his rocking chair and leaning over (and almost giving us hear attacks) to the futon. We have to keep our eyes on him constantly now. If he's quiet somewhere, we know he's doing something he shouldn't... or he's looking at a book.

All one year olds must go through the book phase. Auggie loves bringing us books and sitting in our lap to look at them. I'm sure he could look at them all day and never look at his toys. I hope that continues when he's older. His favorite book right now is called "Ten Little Dinosaurs." It has a pair of wiggly eyes one one side so each page has a dinosaur with crazy eyes. It's cute. I love listening to Tim read it to him because the variation is always different from how I read it.

Since he likes his books so much, I'm going to make him a "Book Nook." We have so many pillows that we don't use so I'm going to make a giant pillow case and put them in it in a corner in his room. I set the pillows there last night and this morning he was already laying all over them. I'm hoping I can make him a  little shelf for his books, too. I haven't figured out how the shelves will be just yet, but I have a few ideas. I'll be sure to share them once they're done.

We found out on Tuesday that Auggie's BAHAs are in!!!! 

The audiologist had been waiting for the soft band to be delivered. We have an appointment on Monday to pick them up. We are so happy! It took long enough, huh?? I'm disappointed Auggie won't have them for the first 2 Christmas celebrations this weekend but I guess what matters is that he gets two! Here's a short PDF highlighting the benefits of having bilateral BAHAs. Its a little wordy for me but the main benefit we're looking forward to is Auggie being able to localize where sound is coming from. Of course, localization is only possible if both cochlea are functioning properly. We're pretty sure his are. 

As of 1:00 pm Thursday...

Wherrrree's Auggie???

Actually sitting down. This look is because I told him "NO!"

All sprawled out and stuffy

He likes sitting in his toy bucket

Sitting in his soon-to-be Book Nook

A Naptime Update

I can't believe I never posted pictures from our trip to see Santa Claus! College Station hosts Christmas at the Creek at Wolf Pen Creek the few weekends before Christmas. It was nice. They had free sugar cookies, live entertainment (all dance routines the night we went), free children's crafts, hay rides and food. Of course, Santa Claus was there! You could either pay $4 for a picture or you could take your own. They had the lighting way way way down- which was disappointing. I'm sure that encourages you to buy the picture instead.

Auggie did great with Santa! I was very happy. I didn't think he'd be too bad since he's usually okay with strangers.

The ceiling of the room where Santa was

Auggie was excited to see Santa Claus!

family

This is all he did

We might have figured out why Auggie has been so cranky since Sunday. I washed his Bear and Puppy (his wubbanub/pacifiers) Wednesday afternoon.  He dropped them on the floor in Los Cucos during dinner Saturday night with Kayla and Eric. (I posted a picture of his escapades with the chips on Tuesday) They have been attached to his mouth ever since he got them back. He had regular pacifiers the whole time but I guess Bear and Puppy make a difference. Sorry, bud! Now I'm not looking forward to when we have to take them away for good. Maybe they'll run away or go to the forest or something. HA!

Hopefully on Tuesday I'll be able to share some new information on Auggie's eating habits. We take him to see an occupational therapist Friday morning to see if they can help us. I got him to try a little bit of an Eggo waffle this morning. But of course, he just wanted to lick it or pick it to pieces and play. So we'll see what they say- I'm hoping its something that'll help because I'm tired of hearing "just keep trying, he'll eat one day."

Watching TV with Daddy.

So until, Tuesday! Have a great weekend!!

BRRRR... It's Cold Outside!!

It's a whopping 36 degrees outside. BRRRRR!!! I am so happy it's finally cold out. I'm sure Auggie isn't too happy about it, though. He wants to go outside a lot. And by a lot, I mean, every time we open the front or back doors, he wants to follow and gets upset when he can't go with us. Once it's not so cloudy and damp out, then we'll spend more time outside.

Auggie learned a new word. I guess it's not an adult word, more like a baby word but he's learned "quack quack" for "duck." It sounds more like how he says "dog" but he goes "quack quack" when he is shown a duck and sometimes a bird. He's getting there though! We're working on getting him to sign "more," "mom," and "dad" more often. We're also working on "ball" and "book." (If you click on the word in quotations, it goes to a picture of how to sign that word.)

I guess the stage that comes after walking is climbing! I figured Auggie would want to get on the couch or on his rocking chair but I didn't think he'd want to stand on the arm of the rocking chair.... and the continue to attempt to climb over to the coffee table or the couch. He tries so hard to get across the one foot gap in between the furniture! He has gotten really bad that we have to be in the living room with him or else he'll be on top of the coffee table. Tim caught him the other night just before he did a back flip off the table. Auggie is such a daredevil!

Well, I'll leave you with some pictures from over the weekend

Avery (17mo) giving Auggie kisses

Avery (17mo) giving Auggie hugs

Ruby (12mo), Auggie (13mo),  Avery (17mo) and Paxton (17mo)

I made Dean a letter for his room for his birthday!

The mess he made at Los Cucos on Saturday

mmmm... chips!! All he wanted to do was crush them!

Hanging out under the bouncer watching out for the pups

He loves being under things

At Connor's first birthday party on Saturday

At the party with Joanna and Archer

I love how the boys were staring at each other

Trying to get in the toy box!

December is Here!

24 days until Christmas!

Auggie has been walking more and more each day. I can't believe how much his walk has changed since his birthday just 2 weeks ago. If there is something there for him to grab on to, then he'll grab it. If he wants to go faster, he'll drop down and speed crawl to whatever he wants- like me or Tim. 

We're still working on getting him to eat more. He actually finished about 4 ounces of vanilla yogurt for me this morning! He's getting better at it. Hopefully, all this yogurt isn't what is causing his eczema to flair up again. We've also switched him over to a toddler formula since the PediaSure was so expensive ($1+ for one bottle and he eats 3-4 a day). The toddler formula didn't go over too well on Monday but I think he's getting used to it. 

On another note, we got some news we've been waiting for since...well, since Auggie was born! His BAHAs were ordered on Monday!! I literally did a happy dance when I was on the phone with his audiologist. She said we could have them as early as tomorrow! But more than likely we'll get them in a week or so. I am oh so happy the time is here! Just think, they told us when he was born he should have them by June or July... 6 months down the road....

Sorry- I won't get into that rant about insurance!

Not much has been going on... Tim has slowly gone back to work. He spoiled us too much by staying home so much.

A few people I've met through Facebook shared this video with me so I thought I'd pass it on to my non-Facebook-Friend readers. The video demonstrates what it's like to hear with a hearing aid. Hope you enjoy.

I'll leave you with some pictures and videos.

Mainly Music Wednesday morning

Walking Down the Driveway Wednesday

Monday night we put up our Christmas tree while Auggie slept

My friend, Jamie, shared these pictures over on her blog.

Colin (9 months) and Auggie at Colin's great grandparents' house in Bryan
for his first Thanksgiving

Bye-Bye Turkey

Thanksgiving is finally past us! Phew!!

We went to four turkey dinners for the one-day holiday. I can't complain much- they were all so good and full of great family and friends! Thank you to all the chefs out there who prepared the meals I went to.

I'll let you get to the pictures from our park trip on Monday because 1.) I'm not feeling too well and 2.) Auggie has an appointment in 15 minutes. I'll be sure to post a better update on Thursday!

A squirrel caught his eye

Thinking realll hard about that stick

Do you see what he sees??

He really enjoyed playing with rocks