Happy Birthday Austin!!!

I realize that I am two days late, but I wanted to post about Austin's birthday and some of the milestones he has reached (besides being ridiculously cute!).  Seriously, Whitney's most common phrase is, "Oh my gosh, Austin, you are so cute!"  We all agree.

He loves being outdoors so we went to the zoo.  I think the tiger was his favorite, mostly because it was big and moving around, followed closely by any of the birds.  He loved watching them and listening to them make all sorts of noises. When Tom got home we had cake and presents.

When he was opening presents, Ryan suggested that we should have practiced with him a bit because he just didn't quite get what to do.  He was still excited.  He got some little people super heroes, a cell phone and his own cars.  Almost everything becomes a phone for him, the thermometer, a stick, a rock.  He puts everything up to his ear and walks around jabbering.  I attribute this to both the absence of all my sisters and the absence of Tom over the last few months.  There has been a lot more phone time.  Grandma Norby gave him the cars and he loves them.  Ryan loves them too.  I keep telling him not to take over Austin's toys.  His response is always, "I'm playing with him".  This would be true if Ryan didn't forget that Austin needed to be a part of the game too.  Notice Ryan in the background checking out the super heroes.  He was all about opening them "for Austin"!

Whitney desperately wanted to be in charge of the cake.  We decided on a pull apart turtle cake, She did a great job decorating it.  Now, we did spend some time practicing blowing out candles, but it didn't really take.  Don't let the picture fool you.  He did not blow it out, but he did make the face!

 He touched the frosting and sort of looked at it.  Then I stuck his fingers in his mouth and he was hooked.  He demolished the entire thing.  He loved the cake so much that after I started washing him off he pushed my hand away, pointed at the cake and made noises that he wanted another piece.  So, he had another one.  It was his birthday after all!

Things about Austin:

* Gives high five.
* Pants like a dog. He will even make the noise when he sees a dog.
* Calls everyone Mom and says mom when he wants something.
* Recently learned how to click his tongue.
* Blows amazing spit bubbles. Not sure if he is a natural or if someone taught him!
* Walks everywhere and is very independent about it.  He doesn't want to hold your hand, he can do it himself.
* Has 7 teeth.
* Makes amazing messes, but loves to clean up.  He keeps putting his new toys back in the gift bag when he is done playing.
* Enjoys bugging his sister and brother.
* Likes to ride in the wagon around the yard.
* Likes the sand box
* Loves the bathroom.  He likes to play with the things in the closet, under the sink, and of course the tiny covers over the bolts of the toilet.
* Became an official toddler when I caught him playing in the toilet!

He is a super happy and good baby. We know there is a problem when he is crying because he just doesn't do it that often.

This last year has been lots of fun. We all love having him in our family.