Long Nights

I always told myself once Auggie started sleeping through the night, I wouldn't complain about sleep. Oh man, do I want to complain and be lazy all day because I'm tired! But I'll just leave it at that.

Auggie has been waking up in the middle of the night screaming and jumping up and down in his bed. We have no idea why he started this. We know he's tired because if we pick him up, he'll lay his head on our shoulder and then fall asleep. But as soon as his back hits the crib mattress, he's wide awake and screaming again.

Last night (er, early this morning), he slept in our bed with us. I laid him down so I could get in bed with him and Tim. Auggie was pretty much asleep by the time I got settled. And then I heard him snoring for an hour. His snoring wouldn't be so bad but it penetrates my dreams! He also likes to roll into me while he's sleeping so I gradually move further and further over. Before I realize it, I'm at the edge of the bed. I ended up putting him back in his bed around 4:15 and he slept until 9.

Other than the lack of sleeping well, we had a nice weekend. Saturday, I drove to the west side of Houston for a childhood friend's wedding shower. It was nice seeing Robyn and her family. We spent most of the afternoon there and headed back that evening. My mom also met us at the shower.

Mom, me and Auggie at Robyn's wedding shower

While we were there, Auggie signed a new sign. "Horse"! He was holding a little toy horse as he did the motion for the sign. It wasn't perfect but it was a new sign! During his appointment with Melinda this morning, he also signed "car".

Signs (as of January 31)

1. Milk
2. All Done
3. More
4. Dog
5. Bird
6. Rabbit
7. Outside (hold out your hand and act like you're twisting a door knob)
8. Airplane
9. Train
10. Cat
11. Ball
12. Baby
13. Eat
14. Cracker
15. Cookie
16. Bye-Bye
17. Monkey
18. Duck
19. Horse
20. Car
21. Shoes
22. Fish
23. Book

I feel like I'm missing a few signs but 23 is quite a bit for a 14.5 month old! I also feel like I blog about signing so much but Auggie is really catching on to it. I'd recommend it for anyone because it is fascinating to see Auggie think about it, watch our hands and then do the sign for himself. Plus, it a great way to communicate once their older but not speaking clearly. He has always been very interested in our mouths and hands. I'm happy to see that interest in them paying off! I'm still trying to get a few videos on here to show him signing- I just need to sit down and do them.

I don't think I've written about this before (sorry if I have) but a few weeks ago we found out there is going to be a picnic in Webster this summer for people with Microtia (a congenital deformity where the external ear is underdeveloped ). Webster is about 20 minutes (if that) from where I grew up. There are several families in the area that will be going. I am really excited about going and meeting other families and kids who have microtia. There is also a CCA Kids retreat in Tempe, Arizona the same weekend. I'd love to go to one of their retreats, too, but since it's that far away, we'll probably wait for a closer one to save on money.We'll definitely look into going once Auggie is a little older.


Well, I'll leave you with some pictures and a video or two!

Auggie fell off the bed Monday morning. :(
He did a front flip right after this picture

Chilling out under the ironing board/shelf in his room

Sitting next to Daddy before bed time

Picking at his diaper

Daddy Surfing is the coolest thing!

A book before bed

Until Thursday!
  

Introducing the Amazing Spiderman!!

Tim and I watched Auggie climb up onto the shelf. Boy! Was he determined to get up there? He is now able to climb on the coffee table, futon and his toy box. He has to have a stuffed buddy or two to help him up onto the toy box, but now he knows he can get up there!

ahhhh... there's two Auggie's!!

Auggie loves playing with his mirror twin

 We spent Wednesday morning at Mainly Music in Bryan. This is the first time he's been since before his birthday. He liked walking around and being nosey. A few of the moms and the coordinators couldn't believe how big he's gotten. I wish we could go to the 1 p.m. session with the other moms from the Moms & Tots group but it interferes with Auggie's nap. I always thought scheduling your day around a nap sounded ridiculous... just wait until you have a little one of your own! Hahah... you'll eat those words.

Watching Miss Carroll sing at Mainly Music Wednesday morning

Ma Ma

 After a dismal session with his occupational therapist, I took Auggie to the mall's playground Thursday morning. Auggie had a rough Wednesday night- no clue what happened there. I spent the majority of the night sleeping with him on the floor in his room. Man- he sure does move around a lot! I have no idea how much sleep I got but I am so ready for a nap. But it's looking like I won't be napping after all.

coming down the slide

I love this little guy's face!

Hey there, Mommy!

Busy Busy Busy Tuesday Morning

We had Auggie's usual auditory and speech therapies this morning. They went well. He had his yearly evaluation so his case coordinator came to his appointments, too. His evaluation went great. He is at or just a little ahead of what 14 month olds should be doing with receptive and expressive language and fine and oral motor skills. YAY!!

He impressed Melinda (auditory therapist) with all his new signs. He even showed her "fish," "monkey," "baby" and "shoes" without being prompted! He sat on the couch for quite a while as she showed him different blocks and pictures in a book. He makes me so happy because he's finally showing us what we've been working on! I think we figured out Auggie's up to about 20 signs.

Molly (speech therapist) got to hear a few new "words," too. Auggie has started to saying "thank you." He mostly getting the inflections down but he's using it in the same context we'd say "thank you" in. Molly has been really happy with how he's improved on eating and vocalizing. She's going to stop coming once a week and make it two times a month. I think Auggie gets tired after Melinda's appointment anyway so stretching out Molly's appointments will give him a bit of a break.

We are so proud of our little guy!



He was having a good time repeating my sounds and words.

My parents drove up on Saturday to help us install two fans in the duplex. The fans make a huge difference. The living room actually has air moving around in it and our room is soooo quiet! I can actually cover up with a blanket in the living room now. Since the weather has been inconsistent lately, we don't have to turn on the A/C since there is air movement. YAY! If you can't tell, I am very excited the fans are finally in. We've only had them in boxes since 2010! There was one slip up but when you're dealing with electricity and adding a light switch, I'd rather have one switch turn on two different lights in two different rooms than someone get hurt. It's okay- it's not that hard to deal with but we do forget how often we use the hall light. We just chuckle when we realize why the hall light won't turn on. Oh well! That means Mom and Dad have to come up again!

Tim and Dad worked on the fans while Mom and I entertained Auggie at the mall, Hobby Lobby and Chick-Fil-A. Auggie loves sliding head first down slides and crawling around in the playgrounds. He actually went all the way up (and down) the tall playground in Chick-Fil-A. He's not afraid of anything! There were about 15 kids playing on the playground at the mall. Two older girls (probably 7 or 8) were making sure all the little kids were taking turns going down the slide. I thought that was sweet. While we were at Chick-Fil-A, there were two brother (10 and 3). They were so nice to each other and to Auggie. They played with him for awhile and made sure he made it down the slide. It is so neat seeing Auggie want to interact with older kids.

We were having a such a good time, I completely forgot how mean some people can be. I guess it's not really being mean, just thoughtless, tactless, careless. I could go on. There were only two comments but they always catch me off guard. The one at the mall really caught me off guard. One of the girls that was helping the kids take turns was yelling (okay, really, talking loudly) to the girl at the bottom and told her "Here comes the one without any ears!" I'm sure she was just letting her know which kid was coming down. I guess that will be his identifier (has anyone seen "Easy A"?) when he's older if he doesn't get his ears done. The little girl said it twice. I tried so hard to not cry but those water works weren't stopping. Its really awkward walking through the mall attempting not to cry- Trust me. Thank goodness Mom was there to watch Auggie for a few minutes while I scolded myself in the bathroom for crying. We were in Hobby Lobby a while later when the next one happened. I knew some type of comment was going to come from the little boy who was staring at Auggie while we walked by... That's why I was listening to him as he leaned to his mom and asked what was on "that boy's head." His mom replied (nicely, I might add) she "didn't know. Maybe it monitors something but I'm not sure." The boy said "Well, I don't like it." I really wanted to turn around and say "WHAT?? You don't like it?!?! I don't like it either but it allows him to hear!" but instead I just kept walking. Ugh. I guess, people don't like what they're not familiar with. I know most people don't know what a BAHA is, I didn't even know what it was when we were told Auggie would benefit from them. Like I was telling Tim Saturday night before we went to bed. I don't think I'd have that much of a problem with it if people/kids would just ask in front of us. I have always thought of myself as a person people didn't talk about behind my back (not sure if its true but I've always felt that way)... I want Auggie to have that same feeling. I can't help but hope for that. So do me a favor... if you have kids or are planning on having kids, have them ask questions. If they ask you questions about someone, ask the person. Don't have the conversation behind their back when they're within speaking distance. I don't know if other people are like me, but I'd rather have someone ask than to just wonder. Would you want a stranger to ask you about your difference?

He loves playing with the LittlePeople track
Lindsay gave him last week

Someone found out how to take the
plug covers out! 

MMMM... Vanilla Yogurt!

Auggie likes to watch Finding Nemo.
He signs "fish" a lot

Our new fans and switch

He ate a whole waffle yesterday!

Dancing on the coffee table

Mr. Jonathan
I started to babysit him last week

putting a hat on his dog

At Gramma and Grampa's house

Hanging out with Uncle Kristopher

Going in the tunnel at the mall

Playing at Chick-Fil-A
Mommy had to go get him!

P.S. Did you see our new little Bio's on the right side of the blog? Cute, huh? I thought so too ;)

Behind

I am so far behind on keeping up with our blog. I'm sorry! Tuesday, I decided a nap was more important!

Auggie and I went to La Porte for a long weekend while Tim was out in West Texas hunting with Sherwin, Norvil and Cohen. I know I say it pretty much every time we go out of town, but Auggie sleeps horribly in the pack-n-play. I wish there was an easier (and more comfortable) way to have a portable crib. I slept almost 6 hours over the course of the weekend with him either on my chest or in my bed. He moves around so much; I have no idea how much sleep I was able to get. Of course, I can't spend my days asleep in La Porte- I'd much rather hang out with friends and see family! By Sunday, I was exhausted and then Monday I drove home... in rush hour! Haha... It wasn't too bad, though.

This week I started babysitting! It has been really good so far. Wednesday was our first full day together. Jonathan was great. Auggie, on the other hand, is a little bit jealous! Every time I picked up Jonathan, Auggie would want to be up in my arms, too. But when Jonathan was down, Auggie would bring him toys and sit next to him and play. It's so cute.

Even though Jonathan has been so good, he has definitely cured me of my "baby fever!" I can definitely wait to have another one (we have to anyway). I don't know how anyone does it with more than 2 kids under a certain age! Auggie would stand at my feet and pull on my shirt while I held Jonathan just begging to be picked up. I'm glad the "baby fever" is gone. Now I can just happily congratulate my friends (and Facebook Friends) on their pregnancies without that pang of "oh, I want another one."It's still there but I know I can wait.... definitely wait!

We have too much fun with Auggie to be thinking about sharing our attention. He's picking up more signs- "rabbit" and "cat." He's continuing to eat better- he ate half of an Eggo waffle this morning at occupational therapy. He's trying more bits of various types of food.

Annnddd he's gaining weight! He had an appointment with his dietician on Tuesday and he weighed 19.11 pounds (I'm not sure if that is 11 ounces or just 0.11- 19.11 is what it said on the scale). In early December, he weighed 18.04 pounds so he finally had a healthy gain. That made all 3 of us (and I'm sure Auggie, too) very happy! I would love to have him completely off of formula by 18 months. 3.5  months gives him plenty of time, right? We'll see. I also want him to be drinking out of a sippy cup, too. We're working on it.

I'll leave you with a few videos from the past couple of weeks. I hope you enjoy them! I'll have more pictures for you on Tuesday (and yes, I'll have a post then!!). I'm going to spend a little time on updating the look of our blog before Auggie wakes up







Have a good weekend!

NYE Pictures

I'm pretty sure I said it before but we rang in the new year in Giddings this year. We got to hang out with family and pop fire works! What better way to welcome 2012?!

We played a little Kinect for XBox 360 and then popped fireworks. Well, mostly watched the guys pop them. We started them early enough for the kids to see. Auggie liked them for the most part.

I'll leave you with some of my pictures. We got about 20 minutes from College Station when I realized I left both of my tripods! I was really disappointed but I did what I could when I tried to get some firework photos.

Tim and Auggie checking out the Christmas lights

Jacob lighting a sparkler

Laci and Auggie watching the fireworks

family

I just love Ben's face

this one reminds me of an angel

Sparkler love