First Vacation without Austin (8 months and 2 weeks)

Brian and I are going on a Caribbean Cruise on the Allure of the Seas without Austin. We decided before Austin was born that we would go on vacation once a year alone. We thought it was important to focus on our marriage too. Melissa and Jonathan are going on the cruise with us. It will be fun to spend a week with them. However I am very sad to be leaving Austin at home.

Austin is our world. Everything we do these days is on Austin schedule. Many times I don't get done what I want to because I am busy playing or taking care of Austin. I would not have it any other way.



My mother in law is on her way up here to watch him most of the week. My parents have two nights with him during the week too so she can have a break. As much as I love Austin, he is a lot of work and is exhausting. He does not stop unless he is sleeping. He crawls all over the place and is always finding something to get into that he should not. He must be watched all the time.

I am excited for the Grandmas to spend more time with Austin. I know they are going to love it. However there are many times I wish Austin was going with us. Brian and I are going to try this. Hopefully everything will go well for them and Austin. Austin is usually an easy going baby however there are times he screams like crazy. It's a loud screeching scream. Those times are frustrating but I am now use to it and realize that he is fine but just usually over tired. I hope they don't have too many of those episodes.


My mom and mother in law think I am completely crazy because I have been sending them all these emails about Austin and Austin's schedule. I thought it was best to have everything in writing. This way I could tell them both at the same time. I really want Austin to keep his same schedule. He is going to be confused enough on where Mommy and Daddy are, let alone if his schedule is all messed up too. They say kids thieve on schedules so that is what I am hoping for.

Last week, Austin had a bilateral ear infection again. It's his third ear infection. Two were bilateral. Luckily he is feeling better. Austin is such a good baby even when he is sick (we took the photo of him smiling on the stairs the same night he got diagnosed with his ear infection). He did vomit some and was a little fussy but all and all it was hard to notice he was sick. I was glad I took him to the doctors though. I wanted him to be all better before we left. He had a cold for two weeks before we took him to the doctors. We don't always want to rush to the doctors because we understand kids are developing their immune system and they are going to get sick. But obviously if he continues to act sick and we think something is wrong we take him to the doctors right away.

We have to finish getting everything ready for the trip. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day and then we leave Sunday morning. We are really going to miss Austin.

Happy Birthday Brian (8 months)

Last Saturday was Brian’s birthday. He took off work on Friday to spend the day with Austin and I. We had a lot of fun. We went to breakfast at Brian’s favorite place, Wally Waffles. I was excited because I got a pumpkin waffle. After breakfast we went out to Medina to a consignment sale. I got Austin lots of clothes and Brian picked him out some toys.




Once we got home, Brian decided to fix our washer for me. I was really happy. Austin tried to help too.


Saturday we took Austin to swim class. Brian is the one in the pool with Austin. Austin loves water. He has so much fun. During swim class, Brian was told to blow in Austin’s face while Austin goes under water. Austin did not know what to think but he did not cry. Austin is good at splashing water around.


Saturday night we had a wedding to attend. My mom was nice enough to watch Austin for us. Kids were invited to the wedding but we decided we wanted a nice date night. My mom did not mind at all so we went and had a good time. It was nice to spend an evening with Brian. Brian had a great birthday.

Austin is so fun at this age. He interacts with us all day long. He is almost always happy. However if he is not he definitely lets you know. Austin is more talkative too. He can now say da-da. He does not understand what it means but he can say it. I love it!

We are busy these days with Austin. I use to think we were busy before Austin. I have a new appreciation for busy. Our busiest time is the evenings. I have to make dinner. When I make dinner now, Austin has a pan and a wooden spoon. It’s amazing the pan and spoon keeps in entertained. It really helps because if he is not playing with that he is crawling all over the house. That makes making dinner a little difficult. We eat at 6pm.

Austin eats much better these days. However we have learned that we have to keep feeding him right after each bite. Little time for breaks because if there are too many breaks he is no longer interested in eating. He likes bananas, prunes, and pears the best. He is not a fan of green beans, peas, and carrots. He really does not like meats because he gags on that right now.

After dinner we clean up the kitchen and go for our walk around the block. Our walk takes about half hour. Austin really enjoys our walks. We are not sure what we are going to do in the winter. After our walk it’s playtime until about 8:30pm. Then he gets his milk, story, and diaper change before going to his crib for the night. He goes to sleep around 9pm.

Recently he’s been sleeping mostly though the night. That is wonderful. He sometimes gets up for a feeding around 4am but he usually goes back to bed until 7am. There are some nights when gets up earlier and does not go to bed. It is a miserable night but luckily they are now rare.

Climbing Stairs (7 months and 3 weeks)

Last Sunday night, we went out to dinner with Grandma and my parents. We went to Steak and Shake. Austin had fun seeing everyone. They even gave Austin a hat to wear. He looked so cute. We are experts at taking him out to dinner now. I pack up is rice cereal and vegetables and fed him while we eat. I am surprised how easy it is. The puffs really help keep him entertained too. Austin has gotten much better at eating (less messy too). Now he opens his mouth when he sees food coming unless of course he does not want any.



On Labor Day, we went to the Taste of Hudson. We went last year and it was a lot of fun. Last year, I was pregnant and I would look at all the babies and think that will be us next year. And here we are, there with a baby. The weather has cooled down significantly. I had to put Austin in a jacket. We had fun though. Brian even got Austin a balloon. He really enjoyed playing with his balloon.

After the Taste of Hudson, we did our weekly grocery shopping. Austin all most always goes grocery shopping with us. Brian and I would grocery shop together before Austin and now we just bring him. He now sits in the top of the cart like a big boy. He enjoys seeing everything. This time he stayed in his stroller since we walked to the store from taste of Hudson.

On Wednesday night, I was preparing his bath water. Brian was downstairs watching Austin. Austin crawled to the stairs. Then he started to climb them. Brian yelled for me to come quick. He has been trying to climb them for a few weeks but has not been successful until Wednesday night. He climbed 4 stairs! Apparently Brian helped him lift his leg to see if he could even reach the step. Brian thought it was too far for him to stretch. Brian was wrong. He set Austin back down and then Austin (now with insight into the process) crawled right back to the stairs and did it on his own. He is growing up so fast!

Here is a funny video we made highlighting Austin's accomplishment:


This week he has been better at taking naps. I talked with daycare to find out how they do it. They give him his blanket near his face so he can cuddle with it. They also rock the crib a little bit. His crib at home is too big to rock so we can't do that but I have started giving him his blanket. I also really try to keep with the same schedule as daycare. He gets 3 naps a day. One after breakfast, one around lunch time and one around 3-4pm. The last on of the day is usually the longest of 2 hours. The other naps are usually around an hour.

This Saturday Austin starts swimming class. He enjoys water so he should like swimming. I am excited about this.

Back Home (7 months and 2 weeks)

Our trip home was uneventful. Austin did great on the plane ride home. Like returning from any vacation, it is crazy once you get home. We had to stop at the store to pick up food and get ready to return to work in the morning. With a baby, it is a little bit more challenging but since Austin is a well-tempered baby it’s not that much more difficult.



Once we got back home, we had to deal with our nightmare of our main line drain. Since we found out right before we left for vacation that it was likely collapsed we needed to get that fixed. Brian called many excavators companies along with a few plumbers to get quotes. Our first quote was extremely expensive and we were hoping for a cheaper quote.

We were getting use to the idea that our entire front yard was going to be dug up and all the work that was going to be involved in it. We were not happy but understood that it had to be done. Then we had found a local plumber. He came out and did an assessment. He was confident that our line was not collapsed. He wanted to try and snake it again. Brian and I had our reservations about this but finally agreed to let him try. About 2 hours later he had our line completely clean. We could not believe it. We were so happy! He pulled out a bunch of roots and then sent a camera through showing that the line was in perfect condition. $300 is much better than $5k - $8k.


Austin seemed to have changed a lot during our vacation. Once we got home, he was climbing up on everything. All he wanted to do was stand. He was not interested in his toys. He was really good at standing. It is cute but adds its new challenges as a parent. I really don’t want him to fall back and hit his head. So I am always next to him to protect his head. It took him about a week to figure out how to sit back down after standing. I am grateful for that.

Naptime is now difficult because he wants to stand up in his crib instead to sleeping. That drives me crazy! We have removed the ceiling video projector from the side of his crib since he was pulling it down. We also had to remove his mobile (see below). I feel a little better since he can now sit back down in his crib when he wants to. Before he could stand up in his crib, naptime was on a nice schedule and he would fall asleep within 15 minutes after putting him in his crib. That is not the case anymore. Wednesday he played the stand up and crying game for an hour. Finally I gave up. Austin of course was extremely tired later in the day. What does Mommy know though? Ha ha.



I have to say that naptime has been the biggest challenge with Austin so far. We have a great bedtime routine and he puts himself to sleep without any issues. Naptime is more challenging. I try to stick to the daycare schedule. He would take an hour morning nap, an hour lunchtime nap and 2-hour afternoon nap. This week that nap schedule has gone out the window. I tried for two days and finally have given up. I am going to let Austin tell me when he is ready for a nap. It is easy to tell because he has a meltdown. If he does not take long naps then he is just tired and cranky in the evening. If he is too cranky he will go to bed early. His bedtime has usually been 9:30pm but I think we should try and have him in bed by 9pm every night.

We have a schedule and routine for Austin but we are also flexible. We live our lives too. We are hoping to teach Austin to be a little flexible too. So far he is an easy-going baby. Let’s hope that continues.

Austin has eaten all stage-one foods. He was recently started on stage-two foods. He is not a big fan of them. He tried chicken and gravy and hated it. We are not rushing the food issue with him. All of his nutrition comes from formula. Eating at this age is just practice. He loves his rice, wheat, and oatmeal cereals. He enjoys fruits more than vegetables but will eat squash and sweet potatoes. His favorite food is probably puffs. He has become a puff eating expert. It is really cute to watch him scoop them up.

Austin eats breakfast now in the 8 o'clock hour and dinner at the 6 o'clock hour. He does not get solids for lunch yet. Eating breakfast and dinner takes about 30-60 minutes. We have learned to be patient. He does not eat as fast as we do. He eats puffs during breakfast and dinner. That helps keep him entertained.

Austin also has his two bottom teeth. They started coming in right before he was 7 months old. Teething has not been too bad. He gets cranky here and there but so far nothing terrible. Let’s hope that continues too.

Austin Cruise Day 3 (7 months)

On our last day of our cruise we were in Nassau, Bahamas. We woke up and went to breakfast in the formal dining room. We loved eating there with Austin. It worked out nicely. The staff loved him too. After breakfast, we went to the Under 2 Zoo so Austin could play. Where they usually have it set up, there was a wedding so we had to go the the kid zone. At the kid zone, we were the only ones there. It was still nice to have a large area for Austin to play.



After play time, we got off the ship to explore Nassau. Brian and I have been there several times. We knew we were not going to do much with Austin. It was hot and humid. There were no beaches near the cruise port so going swimming was not an option. We decided to walk around the city. We went to into many stores. I wanted to get Austin an outfit but I did not find any that were cute enough.

After we walked around the city for a while. We took some family pictures documenting our travels to the Bahamas. Before Austin, Brian and I would always get a picture together everywhere we went. We have four large poster size collage pictures of all the places we have been. We have well over 100 pictures. Now we are starting a new collection with Austin.


We got back on the ship and enjoyed our afternoon. When we sailed away from the Bahamas it was sad because we knew we were on our way home. This trip was too short. We did a short trip purposely because we did not know how Austin would do. He did really well. So well, that I wanted it to be a week.

We had dinner for the last time in the formal dining room. We went for our nightly walk. Then went back to our stateroom. I packed our suitcases. Brian and I enjoyed cocoa on our balcony. It was really nice to have a balcony with Austin. Since he goes to bed early, Brian and I could spend time together on our balcony every night. We had a wonderful vacation!

Austin's Cruise Day 2 (7 months)

Today we were in Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas. It is NCL’s private island. Once Austin woke up we went to breakfast in the dining room since last night went so well. Again all the staff there was all over Austin. It is so cute. After breakfast we went to the under 2 zoo. It is a play area for children under two. It was nice to get out of our stateroom and let him play. The staterooms are small as it is let alone put a crib and stroller it in, they are really small. Austin does not have any room to play.



At the under two zoo, we met two babies with their parents. It was nice talking with them. We learned about rearranging our cabin to make more space. They kids played and had fun. Austin enjoyed crawling all around. They could not believe Austin was only about 7 months. He is big for his age. Also that he crawls so much and his able to stand with little assistance. The other babies were 12 and 20 months.


After playtime, Austin took a little nap. After his nap, we got ready to go ashore for a while. We have to tender but luckily it worked out find. He packed up the stroller and diaper bag and got on the tender boat. It was like 10-minute tender ride to shore. Once we got to shore, we went swimming.



Austin loves water. Austin was splashing like crazy. He had to get salt water in his eyes but he did not care. He kept on playing. He sat on the beach and the water would come up and splash him. He loved it. We got our picture taken in the water as a family. It was fun!



After about 15 minutes playing in the water, we got out and found some shade. We knew Austin could not be in the sun very long. We got Austin all cleaned up and sat him in his stroller in the shade. Brian and I had some lunch. Then we went back to the ship for naptime.


After naptime, we got ready for dinner. Before dinner we got some pictures taken of all of us. The wait staff in the dining room is fantastic. One waitress was even feeding Austin. We cannot believe how much attention little Austin gets. It is fun to watch. Austin seems to like it too. It seems like everyone in the dining room knows Austin.

After dinner we went for our normal evening walk. We walked around the track until Austin let us know it was bedtime. We went back and put Austin to bed. Then Brian and I sat on our balcony and ate cookies and cocoa. It was a wonderful night.

Austin’s First Cruise Day 1 (7 months)

We woke up at 3:30am to get ready for the airport. We did not get much sleep. Austin barely woke up. We got him in the car and off to my parents house we went so Dad could take us to the airport. When we got to the airport, Austin was cheerful. Oh thank goodness. We checked in and waited to board the plane. We gave him Tylenol and the eardrops so hopefully he did not scream the entire flight.

Austin did well. On the flight to Atlanta he slept for about 40 minutes. He was playing and happy the other time. Then from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale he slept most of the flight. It was perfect! Once we arrived to Fort Lauderdale, I had arranged cruise transportation to the port of Miami. It was cheaper to fly to Fort Lauderdale. It was about a 45-minute bus ride to Miami. That went well too.

When we arrived to the ship the crew loved Austin. Women were tickling his feet and talking to him. It was really cute. Austin seemed to love it. Brian and I were exhausted though. We tried to take a nap but then the muster drill woke us up after 30 minutes of sleeping.



We figured we would be eating at the buffet every night. However we noticed the main dining room was not crowded so we decided to try it. The staff there loved Austin too. Our waitresses try to give him lobster and ice cream for dinner. Obviously we did not give it to him but it was really cute. Everyone loved Austin and Austin loved all the attention. It was a lot of fun.

After dinner we went back to our small stateroom and went to bed. We were all exhausted. Unfortunately Austin woke up about an hour after going to bed screaming. We thought it was 2am but it was only 10:30pm. He must have had a bad dream. He went back to sleep after being held for a few minutes. Then he slept the rest of the night.