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It must be genetic.

It’s official, not just Mommy’s bragging. Austen’s instructor at Gymboree suggested she move to the class for 6 months and up, even though Austen is only 5 months old. (Perhaps because she was reaching for the spinning ball during tummy time, then pushing it away, while the other kids her age just watched. Also, she caught a bubble on her hand and stared at it until it popped. When Gymbo was dancing, Austen kept trying to grab him and eat him. All the while she was smiling at the moms and babies around her.)

For a couple months now, Mommy’s been noticing that Austen does things about a month before the baby book* says the average baby does them. Examples include: holding her head 90 degrees off the ground, grabbing objects and moving them from one hand to the other, sitting, standing while supporting her own weight, rolling from her back to her stomach and vice versa.

Others have expressed doubts about Mommy’s claims but … dancing clowns speak for themselves.

* What to Expect: The First Year

Will You Be Mine?

At Champs Steakhouse for lunch, Mommy dined on Filet Mignon with Grandpa Earl. Talked turned to memories of Grandma Judi while Austen alternated between charming the waitress and lounging quietly in her stroller.

That evening, Daddy did not take Mommy out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory because the wait was 2.5 hours and they had no reservation. Austen had fun nonetheless as Mommy and Daddy ate ice cream and picked up turkey sandwiches.

Austen gave Daddy a Valentine’s Day card but none for Mommy. Daddy gave Mommy a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup with a ‘Godiva’ sticker on it, as well as a card with a cross-word puzzle inside. Mommy gave Daddy clothes from Old Navy and chocolates with caramel, his favorite.

Chicken Pox, Schmicken Pox

January 23 – Feb 6

When Austen got sick for the first time, she did it big: the chicken pox. Apparently, she just picked it up from a stranger at the grocery store or a restaurant. Mommy and Daddy were much more bothered by the illness than Austen. She was her normal happy-go-lucky self, laughing as Mommy sang to her while waiting to see the pediatrician. According to the doctor, she benefited from Mommy’s immunity, passed along through milk. She never got a fever and had only two blisters and about twenty tiny spots that healed immediately. The only bad part was that she was quarantined during a stage when she just loved people watching, smiling at everyone, and taking in the scenery.

This is picture of her playing during the height of her illness. Hardly a mark on her except a little red bump on her chest. Notice the mitts on her hand where she had a blister which Mommy and Daddy didn’t want her to pick at:

Austen goes for a walk in her baby Bjorn

Austen was doing so well with her chicken pox that she and Mommy went for a walk. (Daddy was busy getting his root canals redone.) For the entire walk, Mommy heard not a peep from little Austen: she was busy watching the cars zoom by, as well as the people we passed on the sidewalk and the ducks we came across on the nearby soccer field. After the walk, Mommy and Austen hung out on the back deck. Austen got barked at by the Labrador next door and did a little standing – she LOVES standing, preferring it to lying on her back. Notice the one thing that’s missing from baby’s winter ensemble: mittens. Mommy and Aunt Janet are both to blame for this: Mommy for not purchasing mittens and Aunt Janet for not making mittens.

Standing:

Sitting:

Imitation of Cousin Erin’s standard pose:

Austen eats!!!

Mommy spies freedom over the horizon! Yet so far the menu includes only milk and rice cereal – and soy formula once a day — until 6 months.

Video (click once on image, wait for FamousFamily.com page to appear, click on image again and wait):

Austen herself watched this video and found it quite interesting.