This picture embodies everything about our littlest one. She looks a little mischievous, but sweet, you see her hair, she doesn't care about that. She can make your heart melt and piss you off the next minute, then make you laugh again. This one is going to be trouble.
My littlest has been growing by leaps and bounds. Not just with her size, but with her ability to talk and tell us what she wants. This is good because I stay lost with females, be they are 2 or 62, and I live with all of them. Anyway the baby has started a kind of language all her own. If you hear her saying "Eye Yah!" something is hard and she can't quite get it. So she (I guess) is projecting her will with a "Eye yah!" and trying it a bit harder. Which is funny, but it can quickly end in frustration so you better not laugh too long.
This can be putting on clothes, climbing up (on something that she may/may not have permission to climb up on) something (like the sofa or bed) or it could be a toy she wants to get to do something a certain way... and it is not working for her. It is amusing and it perplexes us as well, because, how did a karate chop (the "Eye yah") become my daughter's go to phrase? If you hear it... chances are my daughter is nearby. That or you have walked into a ninja battle...
Yeah I know it sounds kinda weird, especially considering what I posted yesterday, but we can't simply stop life because one of us gets sick or even dies. I don't want to sound flippant either. But this is what my mom would want, that is to laugh. The littlest has been giving these duck faces lately. No rhyme or reason, just does it... a lot. So I took her picture and shared with the group. Yep, that's my girl.
My baby, Augustus has had 9 ear infections since she has been born. She is 17 months old. That puts us (doing the quick math) going to the doctor every other month... I'm all about making money, but good god this has to stop. She is sick with another ear infection. I'm sure big pharma and doctors love to see me coming. I'm ready for tubes. We have an appointment made. There is no movie this week, for the above reason. Sorry.
Sometimes I wish I had a camera sewn into my hand. Two times in two days my little Augustus has done something extremely cute. First thing was doing the "chicken dance" which means, her clapping wildly as she watches her sisters do it. She was all smiles, and it did good on everyone as we have all felt sick these past few days.
Second, and by no means less deserving... In the morning, just having had her diaper changed, and only half out of her pajamas (the legs out) she became my shadow. She has this thing about her. Basically, whoever gets her out of bed she loves, the other not so much. So yeah Daddy got her, and she got to me. It would have been better if I had a camera, but still, I'm all about living life not so much documenting. So she will just have to take my word for it, that I liked it...
My littlest has suddenly become very, very vocal. We thought we were raising a caveman with her grunts, but alas, she appears to have the gift of gab now. And if you tell her no, no, no... she go off muttering under her breath. Sort of like Muttley... You remember him right?
So my littlest can't decide on what nickname she likes more... Augustus is still in the running, the kid can put it away and then some. But with her walking, she has slimmed ever so slightly, and we were calling her Charlie, because she walked like Charlie Chaplin.
But that quickly turned into this kind of strut. The George Jefferson strut. I know this isn't exactly the right clip, but it is the closest I could find. Basically it is in the arm movement, though it is in the hips too.If you watched the Jeffersons, you know what I mean.
Before you know it we'll be calling her Fred Astaire or Greg Louganis... Why are they all men's names? I have no idea.
So here you can see what you get when you try to brush curly hair... it is not very pretty, it is kind of like treasure troll hair.
Yeah, Augustus has quite the shiner on her forehead. Why? Because she is learning to walk, and falls with bruises are a necessary evil in the process of it all. Thankfully, for her mom and dad, she acts like nothing happened, and so we still get scared when she walks or "dives" off of the bed or sofa. It is good worries though, she is growing up after all.
So it seems like it has been not all that long ago, but in fact it has been a whole year that my youngest came to be actually the 22, (but today we are having the party). She was rather big, the heaviest at birth of the three children I have, and there was the TTN that I have never experienced in any of my brothers and sisters or my own kids. Even made my wife's gall bladder have to be removed, the seemingly endless ear infection of the summer. But we got through it all.
This child is more loving, more snuggle-bunny than any before her. She is also louder and more vocal in her frustrations and displeasure... if she finds herself in such a predicament. She is her own person, as all kids are, it is watching her navigate this world that simply amazes me. We all made it, but actually seeing it done by someone besides yourself really is a wonder. And so Happy Birthday "Augustus". We love you and know that you love us. This is just your 1st year, but a special one nonetheless.
Our youngest... Augustus Gloop (Ok, not really, but you get my point, especially if you saw Friday's post) has developed a peculiar habit. she yells at her food. While eating, she gets mad, and proceeds to yell. Maybe she is yelling at me or her mother or her sisters or maybe she is yelling at the dog or cat, whatever she is yelling at (I still think it is her food) we all suffer from it.
I mean who doesn't love to sit down to a meal and have a baby screaming into your ear? Hopefully we can some how adjust her behavior, but until then, well I guess we will be having a screaming baby at each meal. Not exactly the September 11, post... but what can I say?
Here we see my youngest, who looks to be in a food fight. But I was there, and the only person throwing food was the one in this picture...
So my wife took my youngest to have her picture taken. Did you know it would probably be easier visiting every used car dealer on the east coast than trying to say no to sheets and sheets of your own kid looking back at you? Yes they (the photographers) play on your love for your kids... Unashamedly. So we bit the hook, hell we are only human... and we have grandmothers out there. So here it is, our angel.
Do you know how much drool a kid can make? Well a lot. Basically we have a kid that has 5 yeah, FIVE teeth coming in and on top of that she has hand, foot, and mouth disease... that she no doubt picked up from daycare. Yeah, life is complicated right now.
It is hard to live with her right now. Not that I don't want to, I'm just saying it is hard. Ok this happened right as my dog died, and thus this got pushed to the back burner. Now everyone is happy and copacetic. In fact so much so that I took a picture of my daughter (the baby) eating. It seems that she smiles so big that her head becomes too heavy and her head rocks backwards. That or she just likes doing that. Anyway here you can see she is smiling and she has a mouthful of banana. Mmmmmm Mmmmmm, that is good right there.
I have to gush over what my baby girl is doing lately. She is crawling, and crawling, and crawling some more. Which means you pick up a lot, and dig stuff back out of her mouth that you forgot to pick up. She started waiving "bye bye" and "hi" and for the first time I saw something, I don't know what it was, but while I was holding her, just me and her, I could feel, or sense, or something that she was learning me. She would smile, and give kisses... those open mouth kisses that babies give before they learn to pucker... and basically figure me out.
Yes it was learning time for me too, but I could see that she was learning far more from me than I from her... kind of. Because I could sense it, yeah, I know that puts me on a bus to "Weirdoville". But I could... I could sense what will one day be a person and she was giving me a glimpse (how ever small) of what she is going to be like. She is her own person. I know, it is strange, but it is also real. I could look into her eyes and she could look back, and there was an understanding there. It may not have been very long or complex, but it was there. It was nice, which may help me to remember moments like this when they hit the teenage years... I'm just saying.
My father-in-law is coming and this picture is our baby's first impersonation of him. Ok not really, but the resemblance does strike us. He is here for a week. My daughter is here till she at least turns 18.
So here is my kid in a wagon, at the beach. We are in New Orleans, sipping daiquiris today, but I figured you needed something, and this is one of those pictures that makes me smile every time. You'll thank me later... if you look real close, you can see me in the far off distance, building a sand castle. It is the way I roll.
Let me break it down...
Here we have the beginning, see how she is balancing on her feet?
I know, I know, I really shouldn't post on this sort of thing in this, the "Month of R" but I can't help it. This baby is so happy and really likes the green beans... I mean look, have you ever been as happy as she is with food everywhere? I wish I could be this happy...
So over the weekend, we went to the beach. Which was good, I mean for me it really depends on what beach we go to... see we kind of ditched the rolly cart, because it wasn't the right kind and it became a draggy cart, which is never fun. So until we get a new one, we said we would have to go to Hunting Island, why? Mainly because of where you park. And we have so much stuff,
Ok so we drive all the way out there. Which typically means at least one stop for some grub. We had to stop twice, Once to get some breakfast (McDonald's... Value menu) and the other for some lunch (Publix for some fresh fruit and fried chicken). Mmm, yum who doesn't like fried chicken with their fruit? This was also my youngest's first time... at least from a standpoint of actually get out into it, feeling the sand and water. So what does she do?
If you guessed eat the sand... then you are right!
It was funny how it didn't phase her at all. It was like she was eating pudding or grits. She just kept shoveling it in. Well not really, I mean we didn't let her get past the first handful, but it is not from her lack of trying. Still over all I was very pleased with us going to the beach, which is not all that often. I look forward to going again.
