More pumpkin pics

Andrew's showing off his pumpkin from the pumpkin patch.

I don't really know why Austin took his shirt off. And, yes, he's wearing pajamas in both pictures.

I think Andrew's more interested in his feet than the pumpkin.

Pumpkin carving

I bought a large pumpkin a couple of weeks ago at Sam's. Since, it's been sitting on our front porch. Every day Austin asked when we can cut him up. Today was the day. We also had 2 smaller pumpkins from the boys' visit to the pumpkin patch this week and we bought another one just in case the first one was rotten inside (it had a bad spot on the outside). Here are our creations. Can you tell who drew the faces?

Funnies

Just a few Austin funnies to share...

Oh, thank you Mommy for getting me new comfy pajamas!
Mommy, we got to do laundry. My basket's getting fuller and fuller.
I have to wash my squishy and bony spots.
I have the biggest pumpkin in the whole world.

Hand holding

When I picked Andrew up yesterday, the teacher said that he and a little girl in his class held hands. They were sitting in the bouncy seats next to each other and just started holding hands. They took pictures, but I don't have them yet and I don't think that I could post them anyway (privacy issues). Anyway, it was cute none the less.

Convertible...

car seat, that is. Andrew is officially in his convertible car seat after a trip to our neighborhood fire department for car seat inspection. We're no good at installing (and reinstalling) car seats no matter how many times we do it. They didn't grade our attempt, but I'm sure it wasn't passing. Any who, Andrew did great on the ride home in his new seat.

Cute pics

Tummy time fun

Swimming or flying? Not sure what Andrew is doing here except having a grand time. He loves being on his tummy and playing.

Go Blazers!

UAB doesn't have very many home games this year so when the schedule came out Gene and I planned which game we'd take Austin to. Yesterday was the day. The day began with Austin going to marching band practice with Gene where he played, not only the drums, but played the tuba! Everyone was amazed that he was able to produce a sound. I guess he's a natural!

We grabbed lunch and headed to Legion Field. He was so excited about getting into the stadium. First order of business? Get some popcorn and find our seat next to the band. He spent most of the 3 quarters we were there running up and down the steps in the stands. Needless to say, he was quite pooped by the end of the 3rd quarter and asked to leave. We weren't in the car 5 minutes before he was passed out. Here are a few pics.

Eat! Your toe will feel better...

Tonight at dinner Austin was talking about how his toe hurt. (He hurt his toe earlier this morning, FYI). I told him that if he ate his dinner his toe would feel better. Any reason for him to eat right? Well, he's caught on to my act. Tonight he said, "No it won't. That won't help."

Practice for Halloween

Here's a couple of pictures taken at school of Andrew in a witch's hat. Cute, huh?

Dollar store motivation

It's amazing what motivation a trip to the Dollar Tree can provide to a 4 year old who's having trouble behaving in school. Austin and I made a deal. If he accumulated 10 stickers on the calendar, we could take a trip to the dollar store and he could pick out whatever he wanted for a prize. He finally achieved that goal last Friday and off we went.

Austin grabbed a basket and went searching for the perfect prize (or prizes as it were). I pointed out some swirly straws which he loves. He said, "Let me see them" so I handed him a pack. He looked them over and told me to put them back. We came away with a car, a motorcycle, a bag of Tootsie Rolls, and a glow in the dark sword.

We've started on the next set of 10 stickers and I've shown him on the calendar what day we'll be able to go back to the dollar store for more prizes. He's counting down the days.

Squishy spot

Austin always says funny things. But tonight was over the top and I couldn't help but laugh. Austin was taking a bath and we encourage him to bathe himself. Of course, we have to remind him to wash his hands, feet, underarms, etc. He said "And my neck. And the neck in the back. And my squishy spot." I asked him where the squishy spot was. He pointed to where clavicle and neck meets and said "My squishy spot."

5 months old

It's hard to believe that 5 months ago Andrew was born! He's changed so much since he was born as all babies do. He's rolling over from his back to his tummy all the time. He smiles and laughs at us. He's had his first cold with a stuffy nose and cough. For the most part, he's a happy baby these days.

Now, for the unofficial measurements. He doesn't go back to the pediatrician until mid-November so I wanted to get some idea of his stats. With measuring tape and tired old bathroom scale in hand, I measured Andrew. I measured him at 29 inches and 19 pounds. Quite a whopper!

Stage 1 pears

Andrew started on stage 1 pears yesterday and, no surprise, he loves them. He's up to a jar of solid food at lunch time and about a 1/2 jar of bananas at night along with his cereal. He's an eater!

Some recent pics

Here are some recent pictures of the kids.

Andrew holding his bottle for the first (and only) time!

Dress rehearsal for Halloween

Constantly on his tummy

Spirit Day in Baby Bird 2 (Andrew spit up all over his spirit outfit...and ended up in this for the photo op)

Sniff, sniff!

I took Austin yesterday to the pediatrician for his flu vaccine. I opted for the mist versus the shot. I figured he's old enough to sniff something up his nose and, let's face it, wouldn't he rather do that than get a shot?

Prior to the nurse coming into the room, Austin asked if he could go tee tee in a cup. He has started doing this at his well-child visit. I told him no; we weren't there for that today.

The nurse came in and explained that she was going to squirt something up his nose (like water) and then she would tell him to sniff. We all practiced sniffing. We were ready to begin. The nurse put it up his nose, squirted, and said, "Sniff." Austin sat there. I chimed in and said "Sniff." He still just sat there. He started laughing. I had visions of mist round two and knew that insurance would not pay for two tries at a flu vaccine. Finally, after much convincing by me and the nurse, Austin sniffed the stuff.

On the way out, Austin requested a sticker. He wanted to be weighed. He wanted to be measured. I did let him step up to the yard stick hanging on the wall and he's a little over 43 inches tall. The one time Austin actually wants to hang around the doctor's office...

Fire safety

Today at Austin's school, they learned about fire safety. Stop, drop, and roll. He demonstrated and narrated the skills he learned.

"Stop what you doing and you fall down and you roll. Fire safety. And when your clothes get on fire and when you run around the fire is going to get bigger, and bigger, and bigger, really super big. That's what you do. Fire safety do. A sticker on your suit when your sticker gets fire. Drop and roll, the sticker going to come off when you roll. Why? Because that's what fire safety do."

He received a certificate for this. It reads "Austin Fambrough has participated in stop! drop! and roll! training as part of BIC Corporation's play safe! be safe! fire safety education program for pre-schoolers."

Freeze brain

What do you get when you cross a 4 year old with a blue raspberry two ball screw ball? Instead of a brain freeze...freeze brain.

P.S. I love you

Austin has a little girlfriend. Correction. It seems he has quite a few girlfriends. This became apparent to me on Saturday at the birthday party when he ran up to one of his little friends, a girl, and started holding her hand. Saturday afternoon, we were outside playing and the little girl from across the street, Mary Kyle, came over to play. She and Austin played for a little while, then the girl who lives next door, Maggie, came outside. He wanted to leave his original play date to play with Maggie. I explained that we'd invited Mary Kyle over and that he could invite Maggie to play with us which he did. Eventually, Maggie and Austin ended up in our house watching a movie.

Yesterday, Mary Kyle and Austin were back to playing with each other. Austin invited Mary Kyle inside to play and they started playing with the walkie talkies. He lost interest pretty quick in these and Mary Kyle still wanted to play with them so I joined in. Austin saw this and wanted to play too so I gave the talkie back to him. That's when I heard it.

Mary Kyle: "I love you!"
Austin: "I love you too!"

The first non-family member I love you. How sad is this for me? Very even though it's all part of growing up and he's only 4 and it's terribly cute.

First official birthday party

Austin attended his first official birthday party today at the McWane Center. He's gone to other birthday parties before, but not one for a friend from school. Austin had a great time playing with his friends and exploring all the cool things at McWane. Of course, I forgot the camera.

Stage 1 applesauce

Andrew tried stage 1 applesauce last night. As with all of the other solid food he's tried (peas excluded) he gobbled it up.

Please no peas

So, Andrew dislikes peas. Gags when you feed him peas. Not surprising though. I probably wouldn't like them either all mushed up like that. His favorite veggie so far is sweet potatoes.