Life As We Know It: I Have a 6 Month Old!

Hard to believe that 6 months have come and gone so quickly!! It is just crazy to think that Austin is 6 months old. Before I know it, we'll be celebrating his one year old birthday. It's amazing to go back to our pictures from January and see how much he has changed. He looks so different, yet exactly the same!

A few weeks ago we had an impromptu visit to the doctor's office. That Saturday night after Austin had been asleep for several hours, he woke up screaming and crying. We couldn't figure out why but it took about two hours to get him back to sleep. Justin was still awake when he started crying and I woke up and heard him just a few minutes later. When I went into his room to see what was going on, he sounded extremely congested and hoarse. He had been fighting his sleep pretty much all day so he had been fussing and crying more than normal and I was hoping that was the reason for him sounding hoarse. To be honest, I immediately thought something was wrong with his breathing and it took a while for me to realize I was overreacting. The next morning he was still really congested but the hoarseness was gone. He did the same thing again that night and it took about an hour to get back to sleep that time. I started thinking that maybe he had an ear infection due to all the congestion and maybe that was why he was crying. I called the doctor Monday morning and took him in for a checkup. He was weighing 15 pounds 15 ounces, which was less than I was expecting and hoping for. Good news though, his ears looked great and the doc sent us on our way. Luckily he did not have any other episodes and we are still fighting the congestion, although it is much better than it was then.

He goes back for his 6 month checkup next Thursday (a little late) and I am really hoping that he has gained some more weight. I was surprised at how little he had gained since his 4 month checkup because the little guy eats!! I'm trying not to let it concern me but I would feel better if he could pack on at least another pound or two. We will start solids after the next appointment so maybe that will help!

This past weekend was a busy one. Justin's grandparents came in town from Hattiesburg so we spent Friday night and most of the day Saturday at his parents house visiting and eating.

Austin enjoyed playing with Caesar, their 120 pound lab! He has gotten to where any time he sees an animal, he starts waving his arms and squeeling, smiling and laughing! It is the cutest thing to see him get so excited over a furry friend. We have decided we might want to get a dog sooner than later :) He has always loved watching Lola, especially her big, fluffy tail. But cats are weird and when he gets excited it scares her off so he never gets to pet her. Caesar doesn't mind him at all and I look forward to the day when Austin is crawling and moving around and so that he can crawl and love all over Caesar.

Sunday we went to our friend Scott's parents house out on Logan Martin lake in Pell City. They have a pool and we were so excited to get Austin in it! He loves bath time so I knew he would love the water. He didn't get quite as excited as we were hoping and thinking he would, but he was so chilled out and laid back, so we could tell that he was enjoying it. We got him a float to sit in but it didn't work the way it was supposed to.

Maybe he needs to grow a little more. We put his legs in the leg holes but he seemed to just topple forwards or backwards if we did that. So we just let him lay back in and float around. He also enjoyed being carried around in the pool so that he could splash his arms everywhere!! I had trouble finding a hat that would fit his head and the closest thing I could find to work were these flimsy visors that barely stayed on. Oh well, it got the job done! He didn't fuss all day long and did great until someone jumped off the diving board and he accidentally got splashed. It took about 5 seconds before he got freaked out and it only took about 10 more to calm him down. It was pretty funny actually because he had been splashing himself all day and didn't seem to mind!