Roll Tide!

Yesterday was homecoming at The Capstone. For months, we've planned on attending homecoming and marching in Alumni band. We decided to take Austin with us since my good friend, Kellie, would be bringing her son.

It was quite a long day since we had to leave the house at 7:30 to register for Alumni band. And who knew the temperature would be in the mid-70s on November 1st and that we'd be sitting in seats where we could practically touch the clouds? Needless to say, Austin only lasted through the 1st quarter. Here are some highlights of the day.

Halloween events

Last week and into Friday, there were all sort of Halloween events from the pumpkin patch and parties at school to the actual trick or treating. Austin has a large time and, of course, LOVED trick or treating Friday night. We had a lot of people over to eat dinner and then trick or treat and hand out candy. It was a blast for all of us!

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.

Chicken pops

Austin's cousin, Ella, has a small case of the chicken pox. We discussed this at dinner tonight. Austin said, "Why Ella have the chicken pops?" I thought this was so cute that I kept asking him to repeat it.

Stage 1 peas

We just keep moving through the stage 1 foods! Andrew tried peas today. He wasn't completely sure about them, but ate them anyway. He's getting the hang of this solid food thing.

Football game

I let Austin watch some of the Alabama/Georgia game last night. I explained to him that Alabama was in the white shirts, Georgia was in the black shirts. This was his explanation of out of bounds: "They have to stay in the green and not go into the white part."

The dreaded phone call

On Friday, my work phone rang. Unfortunately, it was the school calling about Austin. He was waking his friends up from their naps. I told the teacher I would be right there and I got in my car.

When I walked into the class, Austin was hiding under a table. Not sure if he even knew I was coming. I pulled him out of class, took him to the bathroom, and spanked him. I hated to do it but it had to be done. We sat in the floor and I asked him why he was waking his friends up. He said "I don't know." I told him that we'd sit there until he told me why. He said he wanted his snack. I explained that it wasn't snack time, it was nap time and that he waking up his friends was not acceptable. I told him that we'd go back into his room and find his napper and he was going to lay down and be quiet.

On the way home, I also told him that he'd be spending the afternoon in his room that I didn't want to even see the door open until I called him for dinner. When Gene got home, he went upstairs to talk to him. He told Austin that I said that if he misbehaved I would come down there to handle it. He said, "Did you not believe that she'd come down there?" Austin said no.

It's all about the follow through, I guess. For the most part, the weekend was uneventful with a more behaved Austin. I guess the spanking did the trick...for now...

What are you doing here?

Every day (or most every day) since Andrew started at the day care I go down there at lunch to give him his bottle or feed him his baby food. To get to Andrew's room, I have to walk past Austin's class. Most of the time he doesn't see me or if he does he doesn't acknowledge that I exist in that moment. On Thursday, Austin was outside on the playground and saw me park, get out, and start walking to the front door. He ran over to the fence and said "What are you doing here Mommy?" I told him that I was there to check in on him, make sure he was behaving. He said "I behaving, Mommy." I think he was surprised to see me during the day. I hoped that this Mommy sighting would deter the bad behavior. No such luck.

I'm going to wipe my boogers on you!

Seriously? Did my sweet Austin say this? Of course he did. Gene has said that just as we think we have one thing handled (i.e. potty words) something else comes up out of nowhere. And he's completely right.

It's never good when the teacher follows Austin to the door to greet me. This means there's been trouble and Austin's been in it. Today, sadly, Ms. Jennifer met me at the door with Austin. When Austin gets in trouble, we give him a chance to tell me what happened and of course he says "I don't know." So, Jennifer tells me that today Austin told her that he didn't have to listen to her or any other teacher or Mommy or Daddy or Dede or Nea or Nonna or Papa. And, after blowing his nose, chased her holding the snotty tissue saying "I'm going to wipe my boogers on you!"

I was at a loss of words. Of course, there's the usual "we use our listening ears," "we don't disrespect our teachers," etc. This time, I told the teacher and Austin too that the next time he disrespected any of the teachers they were going to call me at work and I was going to come down there and he DID NOT want me to come to his school in the middle of the day. And he will receive immediate punishment from me.

I swear. If anyone has any advice, please contact me in some way. These are trying times in the Fambrough household.

Stage 1 sweet potatoes

Andrew tried stage 1 sweet potatoes tonight. This was after his cereal and bananas but just before sucking down a 6-7 ounce bottle and nursing. This child was hungry tonight! He truly enjoys his new solid food. No surprise there since the boy loves to eat.

The day after

Not much mention today of the soap incident of yesterday. However, yesterday afternoon we went outside to play with all the other kids on the street. Austin said to me, "He said a potty word." And I told him "Well, you don't say it because you know what happens when you say potty words." And Austin said, "Yeah. You have to get soap in your mouth." This is one of the few bad things about Austin playing with older kids on the street. You never know what he's going to pick up. And the other parents either don't care or if they do care they don't address the problem. I could go on and on about the lack of discipline of other parents, but would rather not today. I'm just too tired.

Stage 1 squash

Andrew tried stage 1 squash today for lunch. He tollerated them a lot better than the carrots of a week ago. He got better with the carrots as the week went on, but the squash is a little thicker which I think he prefers. No pic today. I have my hands full with both boys. UAB has a football game today so Gene's out of pocket. Ah, the double edged sword of football season. One one hand, totally LOVE college football (for me Alabama, for Gene UGA). On the other hand, many Saturdays alone with the kids.

Strike three...you're out!

Upon picking Austin up from school today, I asked his teacher if he had a good day. She said that he did, for the most part. But that he'd been saying poop all day and laughed when he said it. This was the third time. I warned Austin the last time about what would happen if he said it one more time. I told Austin that when we got home, he'd have to pick out the bar of soap.

The ride home was quiet to say the least. No request for a happy story today. We pulled into the garage and Austin said, calmly, "I'll go pick out my soap." I thought "This is way too easy." We grabbed a zip loc (my mother's suggestion) on the way upstairs to save Austin's special bar of soap for the next time (which I'm sure will be sooner than I think).

We headed upstairs. Austin went into his bathroom and I told him that we were going into my bathroom to get a brand new bar of soap. We went into my bathroom, I opened the drawer, and pulled out a new bar of Safeguard. Austin, naively, held open the zip loc bag thinking that we were just going to put the bar of soap into the bag. I told him to sit on the toilet and open his mouth. By this time, Austin had figured it out, that this wasn't going to end well for him. The tears started flowing and cries of "No" rang out. Hands over his mouth.

I held his hands away from his mouth and told him to open. He said "I don't want to." I told him that I didn't want to do this either, that he'd said potty words, that I told him the last time he said those words that he'd have to wash his mouth out with soap. The soap was only in his mouth for a second or two but it felt like forever for Austin and for me.

After the wash out, we placed Austin's soap in the zip loc and placed the bag in a drawer in my bathroom. I hope this is the only time I have to do this, but I have a feeling that this is just the beginning.

Austin versus Andrew

Based on the results of Andrew's 4 month checkup yesterday, I began wondering about Austin's stats when he was 4 months old.

Austin
15 pounds, 8 1/2 ounces
27 1/2 inches long

Andrew
17 pounds, 1 ounce
28 inches long

Andrew's not too much longer than Austin was at his age. But, every 1/2 inch counts in the "I'm taller than you!" race.

Open mouth, insert foot

FINALLY! Andrew has managed to put his foot in his mouth. Not that I'm all excited about his sweaty little toes and feet being shoved into his mouth. But, this is a very important milestone is his young life. I captured the essence of his pleasure with making the discovery that, yes, these weird looking things reach my mouth.

Check out the look on his face. I can't tell if he's upset that I caught him or if he's just so ravenous for the feet.

Strike 2

The second offense has occurred against our "No potty words" rule. And Austin was just distraught by the thought of soap in his mouth. So, I gave him one more chance before the bar of soap would be inserted into his mouth for what will be the longest second of his life. I know it's coming and I really don't want to do that to him. I know he probably didn't mean to say the words. They probably just slipped out and when he realized what he'd said, got really upset because I had already warned him about the soap.

It reminds me of the scene in the movie A Christmas Story where Ralphie is blinded because his mouth was washed out with soap after he said a word much worse than what Austin has said. I'm sure I'll scar him for life with this if it comes down to the soap in the mouth which, I'm afraid to say, it probably will.

Something, something, poop and pee

Austin started Sunday school on Sunday. He's in a new room with new teachers and new friends. We drop him off and everything was fine. I pick him up and, of course, he's had issues. The teachers said he was using the words poop and pee in regular conversation. Not in reference to "I need to go poo poo" or "I need to go pee pee." Just hanging out talking.

"No David No" is a set of books that Austin reads at Nonna and Papa's house. It's about all the things that the author's mother told him "No" about. One such thing was using potty words. The illustration shows David sitting with a bar of soap in his mouth. We read this book on Saturday and Austin made the comment about how David had used potty words and had to wash his mouth out with soap.

After Sunday's incident, I informed him that if he did it again he'd be like "No David No" and have his mouth washed out with soap and that soap doesn't taste good. Monday and today I was greeted with "I didn't use potty words, Mommy" when I picked him up from school. I know the threat of soap will only last for so long. Eventually, I'll have to follow through and pull out a brand new bar of soap especially for Austin.

He's a whopper

Andrew had his 4 month checkup today. We all knew that he was big, but WOW! He weighed in at a whopping 17 pounds, 1 ounce (between the 90th and 95th percentile). But, the biggest shocker was his length. Andrew is 28 inches long! The pediatrician showed us where Andrew fell on the "curve." He's well above the curve, staring down at all the other little boys his age. He's well over the 100th percentile in height, probably more like 110 or 115.

Dr. Hamm said that it's poetic justice when the little brother turns out to be the younger brother. Watch out Austin.

The sweet sound of laughter

Andrew is such a happy baby (NOW that is). He loves to laugh...at anything and everything. A couple of weeks ago Austin was outside running and jumping into his little kiddie pool and Andrew thought he was so funny.

On the way home this afternoon, I heard all sorts of laughter in the backseat. Austin was making Andrew laugh and it went on like that for a few minutes. Austin laughing and Andrew laughing. It was perhaps the sweetest thing in the world.

Stage 1 carrots

Andrew tried stage 1 carrots tonight. I think he was confused both by the color and the texture of them. After a few attempts at getting them into his mouth and not on his hands, arms, legs, belly, chin, and any other place where there is skin, we put the bowl and spoon down. Can't you tell his totally thrilled?

A moon race

What is a moon race?

It's where you bring your best moon to race.

Per Austin

The strangest phrase

I never thought I would say this:

Austin, don't wipe that banana on your face.

Sneaking out

The other night, Austin was opposed to going to bed (what else is new). This particular night he said that he wanted to go outside in the dark. It was time for bed and Gene said no. He then told Gene that he was going to sneak outside in the dark.

If the boy wants to sneak out at 4 years old, what will life be like when he's a teenager? Lord help us!

Wrestling match

My cousin, Rachel, was nice enough to bring gifts from TX for the boys and for Gene and me. Included in the gifts were two Nacho Libre wresting masks, one for Gene and one for Austin. Today, it was like WWE in the house. Gene "lost" the match.

Finding feet

Andrew has found his feet. He is fascinated by them and just stares at them. He hasn't figured out that he can actually put his toes in his mouth yet. Plus, I think his thighs are just a little too big for that.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Goodnight, Coco Man

So, every child has some random language that they speak. For us, it's the language of the 4 year old boy who is influenced by other 4 year old boys with whom he is friends.

Recently, Austin's favorite is Coco Man. Everyone is Coco Man. Gene and I have even started saying it ourselves. In fact, the other night while putting dishes away, Gene hit something (his foot, his hand, whatever) and said, "Ah, Coco Man" to which Austin laughed hysterically.

Tonight, Gene was saying goodnight to Austin and sweet dreams. Gene said, "Goodnight, Austin." Austin replied, "Goodnight, Coco Man."

Ready for some sun

Or at least to sit under an umbrella for about 15 minutes until the baby is so hot that we have to go inside for the rest of the day. At least we made an appearance in a hat given by Ellen, the accessory queen.

Portrait of Mommy

by Austin Fambrough

How proud am I of my little artist? Even though my head is huge, my hair is flat, and it seems I have two noses one of which is massive.

The ice cream man

Every kid is just obsessed with the ice cream man, right? Austin is no different. Our ice cream man is inconsistent at best. He comes to our street when he feels like it and flies down the street in a big hurry. We have finally gotten smart and have Austin's wallet by the front door with a few dollars inside. We are prepared for when we hear the music.

Austin's favorite ice cream from the ice cream man? The blue raspberry Two Ball Screw Ball. It has two gum balls in the bottom.

I have no idea...

what happened here. All that I know is Austin's shirt was on his legs and shorts were on his head and apparently a sock ended up on one arm.

Long, long weekend

My cousin from TX, Rachel, came to town on Friday. And the Fambrough family has been at my dad's house pretty much for 4 days swimming, eating, and visiting.

Rachel has been christened with spit up, forced to swim with Austin, give bottles, change diapers, etc. Forced is probably too strong of a word. She and Austin (and Andrew too) have become fast friends with Rachel laying down with Austin in the vein attempt at a nap.

Tomorrow, the return to work and school. Tragic...

Austin's work

A day in the life of Austin's "work."

He works in Helelena which is 30 minutes away. He's been working there all the day, for 20 days. He has a microwave at his work. There are toys at his work to play with. He works at a destruction site. Papa is there and all of his friends. Papa is on the backhoe. And Dede and Nea and Nonna are all on a bulldozer. And DeDe is on a front-end loader. All of his friends watch the destruction mans work.

Hermey

An elf came to visit us last year at Christmas named Hermey. Hermey did many mischievous things while staying with us. One night he pulled all of the pillows off the couches and he was sitting in the middle of the pile in the living room. Another night, he snuck into Austin's room and pulled all his underwear and socks out of his drawer and threw them around the room.

Hermey also wrote Austin a few letters. With the arrival of Andrew, I figured now was a great time for Austin to receive some mail from the North Pole. In the letter, Hermey told Austin how he had heard he had a new baby brother and that he was going to have to ask Santa for something for Andrew since he can't talk yet. He also told Austin that he should be good at home and at school because Santa is always watching him.

Hey, it's not to early to start playing the Santa card. I'm looking forward to Hermey's visit this year. I wonder what he'll get into!

Big kahunas

My good friend from high school, Chea, bought the boys matching pajamas. Since Andrew is so big (and now wearing 6-9 month onesies), I figured I should go ahead and let him wear these and take a picture of the boys.

Sittin' pretty

Andrew sitting in his Bumbo...

Just a little syrup

What do you get when you let the 4 year old put syrup on his pancakes?

This...

Pool-side ghost

Minie moe

Every night at dinner we go around the table and talk about our day. At first, it was just asking Austin about his day and what he did at school. It has evolved into us all taking turns telling the specifics of our days.

Tonight, Austin said he was going to do "minie moe." He went around the table doing minie moe, leaving out the enie meenie parts, to figure out who was going to go first telling about their day. Austin's version includes the ice cream truck.

Old man noises

Andrew makes old man noises. He grunts, snorts, farts. And for no particular reason. Just thought I'd share.

Team cheer

Recently, Austin has taken to repeating everything that we say. And I mean everything.

Tonight, Gene wanted to have a little fun with it. So, he asked Austin to repeat after him. He said, "Go Dawgs! Sick 'em!" and then barked. Austin repeated, "Go Dawgs! Sick them! Woof, woof, woof." Of course, I told him to repeat "Roll Tide Roll" and he did. Gene said, "Go Blazers!" and then made what was supposed to be a dragon breathing fire noise. Austin repeated "Go Blazers!" and then made a noise that sounded more like the devil than a dragon. Not quite the perfect team cheers, but pretty close.

Goodies

Tonight, Austin and I were sitting in the recliner watching the women's marathon on the Olympics. Austin asked me, "Why are they not wearing shirts?" I told him that they were wearing shirts. They were really wearing something like a tank top or their bathing suit. He said, "I see their goodies!" I asked him what he was talking about. He lifted his shirt and, while pointing to his belly button, he said, "Their goodies."

Of course

Sometimes Austin will say words or phrases in context that we had no idea he knew.

Tonight at dinner, Austin was telling Gene what we'd been doing while he was gone at night this week, watching the Olympics. Gene asked him, "Do you like the swimming?" Austin said, "Of course." Gene asked him, "Do you like the gymnastics?" Austin said, "Of course."

8 ounces

People are shocked when I tell them that Andrew eats as much as he does for such a young baby. And that was when I told them he takes 7 ounces of milk in one sitting. Last night, he ate cereal, drank a 7 ounce bottle, and then nursed a little before conking out for the night. Now, that's some eating.

Today, I fixed 8 ounce bottles for him. He sucked them all dry. He will more than likely be the one that eats me out of house and home when he's a teenager. Austin, on the other hand...

Stage 1 bananas

Yesterday, after Andrew's first day of day care (school as I like to call it as to not feel so guilty about working), we all came home. Gene was at band camp late so I had both boys. Alone. It's hard enough to get things done after a full day of work with just one child much less two.

Anyway, it was time for Andrew's cereal. I came at him with the bib in one hand, bowl in the other and he grinned from ear to ear. Maybe he was grinning at me, happy to see me. But I think he was smiling at the food. I fed him the cereal and when we were done, I took the bib off. He freaked, I think at the thought that there was no more to eat. So, I gave me a little spoon full of stage 1 bananas. He seemed to enjoy them.

I mixed a little in his cereal tonight and he gobbled it all up.

Rain drops

I remember as a kid staring out the car window on a rainy day. I would watch all the rain drops run together on the window and see which drop made it to the bottom the fastest.

Today, it rained. Heavily. On the way home, Austin and Andrew were in the backseat and Austin was looking out the window, watching the rain drops. All of a sudden he said, "Go get 'em, guys." I knew exactly what he was doing. He was watching the rain drops race each other and he was cheering one drop on to beat the others. Funny how little things like that remind you of something from your childhood.

Let's roll!

Andrew's been rolling from his tummy to back for a few weeks now. Every day or every other day he'll roll from tummy to back.

Today, he has rolled twice from his back to his tummy! He's been working on rolling over for the past week or so. He's been rolling onto his side and he'll get 1/2 way rolled over but would stop there. Today, he finally did it!

Favorite thing

"My favorite thing in the whole world...my strongest contest."

Contest is pronounced more like conquest. This "strong contest" includes picking up and throwing his Pottery Barn Kids chair across the room, running at full speed into said chair and knocking it over, talking to oneself saying "Everybody ready for my strongest conquest."

Put the feed bag on

Andrew loves to gaze at people, but mostly me. (I don't quite remember Austin loving to look at me as much as Andrew does.) He smiles and coos and laughs out loud these days about all sorts of things. The ceiling fan, tickling under his chin, doing patty-cake with his hands.

But perhaps his most favorite thing to do is (surprise!) eat. His thighs are about as big around as my forearm. Maybe I'm exaggerating, but they are pretty big. As for solid food, he's only eating rice cereal. He does fairly well with the spoon and only spits a little bit out. We'll start other solids when he's 4 months old when "they" say that he should start solid food. If he gets excited over a bottle, I can't imagine how overjoyed he will be when he gets to eat "real" food!

Does this match? Not quite.

Prior to our outing this morning, we sent Austin upstairs to get dressed. I knew something was up when he went to his room and shut the door. About 5 minutes later, he emerged. Wearing this.

No, it didn't match. AT ALL! I couldn't even argue that there was red in the shirt so the shorts sort of went with the shirt. But, that was a battle Gene and I didn't want to fight. So, we took this child to public places sporting a T-shirt that reads "My favorite color is camo" and red shorts. I'm sure we got all sorts of looks. But, unless you're a parent, you don't know that, when it comes to the independent 4 year old who constantly says "I can do it all by myself," it's best to let him take pride in the fact that he picked out his own clothes and got dressed all by himself.

Boys versus girls

We went out today to do a little shopping before Gene starts band camp next week. We ran to Academy and WalMart. As with most shopping trips, it all starts with reviewing the rules with Austin. No running, no climbing on things, no touching things we're not supposed to, stay with Mommy/Daddy at all times, no acting like a wild man in the store. Seems like there are a lot of "No's" in our house. If rules are not reviewed on a regular basis, Austin just runs wild. Is this being 4? Is this being a boy? Or both? Anyway...

While we were at Academy, we were looking at sunglasses for Gene and Austin saw the nice watches in the case. Of course, he wanted one. I told him those were for really big boys and that, if he followed the rules, we could get a watch especially for him.

At the end of the trip, he was quick to point out that he'd been a good boy. So, we picked out our new watch. He chose Spider Man. In the car he put it on and said, "Boys like Spider Man. Girls like princesses."

What grown ups do

Sitting at the dinner table tonight, Austin started asking questions about what we do after he goes to bed at night. We told him that we each take baths/showers and brush our teeth and go to bed just like him. He said, "Grown ups stay up all night in the crazy and spooky downstairs."

Funnies from all over

• Gene asked Austin if he wanted him to turn on the ceiling fan. Austin said, "No; it will hurt."
• Austin was staying at Nonna and Papa's house. He got up one morning and said, "I've got to go outside." Nonna asked Austin what he was going to do outside. Austin said, "To tee tee in the grass." Austin went outside and came back in holding his pajama bottoms and underwear in one hand.
• "I can only tee tee outside at Nonna and Papa's and DeDe and Nea's house.
• "What are we having for dinner?" Chicken, rice and green beans. "Again..."

A snowman...with muscles

Today's happy story was quite different from any others Gene or I have told. This one involved a snow storm, which occurs so frequently in Alabama. In the story, Austin went outside in a snow storm and built the biggest snowman ever. It was bigger than the house. Below are Austin's additions to the story.

• We gathered rocks for the snowman's muscles
• His scarf was blue
• He had no hat
• He turned into 4
• He had teeth
• He liked chicken fingers, french fries, and ketchup for dinner with chocolate milk and a swirly straw
• The snowman spent the night and Austin shared his toothbrush, toothpaste, and bathtub

Yet another happy story

Coming up with a brand new happy story every day is a challenge. While I love Austin's imagination when it comes to his recent obsession with making up stories, it gets tiring and at some point you run out of new ideas of what "big boy Austin" can do in the made up story.

Yesterday morning, on the way to my first day back at work (sniff, sniff), I came up with a good one. Every story starts with "Once upon a time, there was a big boy named Austin." This time Austin was a race car driver. His car was red, like Lightening McQueen's. He decided he was tired of racing around the track, so he went up on the interstate. A police man started chasing him because he was driving too fast. Of course, the police car popped all his wheels and had to go to the shop. Austin continued on his journey and headed to, where else, but the beach. He took everything he needed in the trunk of the race car: a cooler with drinks and snacks, an unbrella, a blanket, sand toys. The police man made it to the beach too (after getting his tires fixed) and Austin shared his drinks and snacks, umbrella, toys, and blanket.

This is where the story ended yesterday morning. This morning, Austin added this to the story.

The police man followed Austin home and spent the night. They each took a bath and brushed their teeth and played pajama party. The next morning, they got up and splashed in Austin's swimming pool and then went to DeDe and Nea's house to go swimming in the big pool. They had hot dogs for lunch with cheese puffs. They took a nap and then spent the night.

THE END.

12 weeks old

Andrew is 12 weeks old today. It's hard to believe that 12 weeks ago we added a new son to our family to carry on the Fambrough name (and good looks, I might add). It's hard to believe that 12 weeks ago we started our life as a family of 4.

Based on our very primitive and very inaccurate bathroom scale, Andrew weighs 15 1/2 pounds. We'll have an official weigh in at his 4 month appointment in a few weeks.

Happy 12 week birthday, Andrew! We love you so much, you sweet boy.

Coming inside

Austin went outside after we got home this afternoon. He was out there for about 5 minutes when he came inside. I asked him if he was hot. He said, "No. The buzzing was too loud." I asked him, "What buzzing?" He said, "From the mosquitos."

Accidents happen, but not on purpose

About a month ago, Austin came downstairs carrying a new pair of underwear. I asked him if he had an accident. He said no, he just wanted to change his underwear. I told him that we didn't just change our underwear unless he had an accident. So, in the middle of my living room floor, pee he did. Gene and I just looked at each other in disbelief. Did he really just stand there and pee on the living room floor right in front of us ON PURPOSE? Of course he did.

I guess I asked for it by putting the idea in his head. But, who in the world would think, "I'll stand here and pee in the floor so I can change my underwear?" Obviously, Austin did.

Fat and happy

Andrew is getting bigger and heavier by the minute. He's not really fat, of course. He just LOVES to eat. You can set your watch by him. He eats every 3 hours on the nose. I've tried to push it to every 4 hours, but he just gets upset so why bother.

He's so hungry that we've started cereal early. I know, he's only 3 months and "they" say you're supposed to wait until 4 months to start solids. But, "they" have not been to my house and heard my hungry baby fussing.

We've set up the booster seat in the kitchen so he can sit in it when we eat dinner. Here's Andrew after eating his nightly cereal. I guess it was good because there's a little on his chin. Isn't that the sign of good eatin', when you get it all over your face?

Little photographer

Last night, we celebrated my dad's 50th birthday. The whole family went to Iguana Grill on Lorna Road. It's excellent food and a great atmosphere for all. Austin especially loved it because there were lights everywhere, huge hanging baskets which Austin observed looked like the planets, and, of course, the gumball machine.

We all took our cameras and took pictures of everyone. Austin got in on the act too. He held our camera and took this picture. I think it's the ceiling, but I'm not completely sure on that.

Not quite Olan Mills.

Volcano's and lava

A few times a week a stack of artwork is put in Austin's cubby at school to take home. Most of the time it's scribbles on a piece of paper. The only things that we keep are things that either Austin's written his name on or things that have his finger/hand/foot print. If we kept everything that was sent home, we would need a filing cabinet for the stuff. AND we haven't even started kindergarten yet.

On Friday, I gathered up all of the artwork to bring home. When we got home, I started sifting through it and found this. It's a pretty good likeness of a volcano, huh? Do we have a little artist or what?