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When Austen is going crazy in a public place and complaining because Mommy takes something breakable or dangerous out of her hands — and everyone in the entire store is staring, wondering, “What is she doing to that cute little child to make her scream so? — Mommy enjoys joking around with Austen and telling her that she’s going to sell her to the gypsies. Austen doesn’t seem to mind. She enjoys the sound of Mommy’s voice when Mommy is being wacky. However, she does NOT like it when Mommy is frowning and saying ‘No.’

Yesterday, Mommy was trying to rest while Austen played in the master bedroom. Austen crawled up onto the bed and laid down next to Mommy, sharing a pillow and watching Elmo on TV for a few minutes. This was a first. Austen will give hugs and kisses, but she doesn’t snuggle up and sleep next to anyone.

Austen enjoys driving her ride-on toys even more now that she has learned how to use her feet for movement. She can go forwards & backwards but gets upset when she backs into a wall which uncooperatively refuses to get out of her way.

Austen has been climbing up stairs and crawling down stairs for ages but can now WALK down stairs by herself but to be safe Mommy always holds her hand. New climbing includes climbing onto and off of Mommy & Daddy’s king-sized bed and the sofas and chairs throughout the house. What does she do once on top? Jump! Dive! Dance! Run! You didn’t expect her to just sit or lie there, did you?

Austen likes to climb inside toy baskets.

After watching Mommy and Daddy cleaning up after her, Austen goes through the motions. She’ll rub a napkin on the floor, carpet, herself and even other people’s face sometimes.

While wearing jeans, Daddy showed Austen how to put a little baby ID card into her pocket. She was amazed and repeatedly took it out and put it back in. Well, she tried to put it back in but sometimes couldn’t find the pocket because her shirt covered it or it wouldn’t accept the ID card.

As Austen prepares for bedtime, during her usual cuddle time with Dada, she occasionally goes through any verbal excercise she can think of, almost as if she wants to stay awake a little longer. For example, sometimes she’ll start repeating “up, down!” several times, singing “eee-up!,” meaning clean up, and go through various animal sounds such as “moooo,” “baaaa,” “meow” and her famous deep-voiced “quack-quack!” She also sometimes starts saying “Boo” to Dada, which elicits a giggle despite Dada’s best efforts to ignore her. This leads to laughing and even loud debates when Dada tries to convince Austen that water is comprised of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, which Austen attempts to refute with unintelligle babble. In the end, she calms down and off to bed she goes.

Dancing continues to be a favorite activity. In addition to the standard butt-shaking dance, Austen has expanded her repoirtoire to include twist movements, waving her arms up and down and sometimes bobbing her head back and forth. Music with a strong beat is still her favorite but even sounds from her musical toys can help get the party started. She’s burning up for me and that’s a fact!

Austen is becomming more aware of her friends’ reactions. When one of her friends wants her drinking cup and then starts to cry because his mommy won’t let him take it, Austen sometimes offers the cup. The awareness hasn’t extended into playtime with friends. She and they usually play ndependently but near each other, often going after the toy the other is playing with since that’s the most interesting one.

Most frequently used words of the month: “Wass daaaat?!”

It’s now entirely possible to communicate with Austen. Her behavior shows that she understands many things that are said to her. You ask her to sit, and if she’s of a mind to, she sits. When Mommy tells her that she needs her nose wiped, she runs away because she doesn’t like to have her nose wiped (and attempts to wipe it herself with her sleeve). She ways “Meee” when, yes, indeed, she wants some milk. When you tell her it’s time to brush her teeth, she runs to the sink and waits for Mommy to prepare her Elmo toothbrush. When Dada tells her to give something to Mama, she goes over and offers it to Mama, although she doesn’t always complete the hand off. In everything she does, Austen acts with enthusiasm and running.

Austen can identify more of her body parts now. No, we’re not talking about private parts, Morgan. She knows head, toes, belly button, ears, mouth, nose and knees.

She’s even cuter when she shares her toys!

Austen demands quality time with Dada each and everyday.

Austen has been drinking Similac Advanced since she stopped exclusive breastfeeding, and now, after a long transitional period (mixing 30/70, 50/50, 70/30) she’s completely switched over to organic cow’s milk.

She gets bottles of milk when she wakes, before morning nap (around 10am), before afternoon nap (around 3pm) and before bed. In the middle of the night, Mommy and Daddy have been trying to give her water only — but they’re not always successful at this. Sometimes only milk will calm her.

Austen takes a liguid multi-vitamin.

Taking advantage of today’s great weather (72 degrees), Austen went to a nearby park where we ran into some geese & ducks. Austen showed her excitement by quacking all over the place. We also fed the ducks some bread. When we ran out of bread, Dada remembered he had an apple so we feed them apple, until Austen decided she wanted to eat the apple.

Here’s Austen hanging with “Mama,” a word she now frequently uses — only took 15 months! Although Mama is still occasionally but lovingly refered to as “Gaga.”