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Austen went to see Santa at Mommy’s old stomping ground, Harford Mall. It took only four shots and less than 3 minutes to get her to do the “Big smile!” Grandpa Earl took the photo to the Famous Family Christmas get-together and showed it off.

Austen had a great time at the mall. She was very amused looking around at all the stores, colorful displays, bright lights, changing environment and weather. She also sat perfectly content with Daddy while he ate an ice cream sundae at Friendly’s. When she got a little tired and started to fuss, she was easily calmed by the rocking motion of her stroller. The 5 hour excursion was a total success, including our short visit with Great Aunt Janet.

Austen started her third month sleeping in the snuggle nest in Mommy and Daddy’s bed, but when Mommy and Daddy got sick (thanks Mark) they wanted to keep Austen as far away as possible, so they decided to put her in a basinet located next to their bed – it doubles as a changing table. Austen has adjusted well to sleeping in it. Daddy is proud of her but doesn’t think Austen even notices that she’s sleeping elsewhere. The only downside is that Daddy doesn’t get to semi-cuddle with Austen during the night.

Notwithstanding her loud crying spells (that usually last less than five minutes), Austen smiles and laughs a lot, particularly when people approach her with words or a smile. Often she even initiates the smiling. So far she’s not shy like Mommy was as a child. She’s a high intensity baby with emotions that span the entire spectrum. Austen also giggles with a wide-mouth smile. This is a tricky situation however since she often smiles at Daddy during the middle-of-the-night feedings, tricking Daddy into playing, talking, and laughing with her, which is not conducive to going back to sleep. She’s a tricky little booger.

Austen is already a coach potato. Just the other day she was fixated by Ricky Martin on the Oprah show. It’s probably the lights and colors she’s interested in. She loves to look up at the flashing lights dangling from her play gym.

Toys are starting to play a roll in her life. She notices them and reaches for them, especially the rings on her play mat.

Austen just started her first baby class, a birth-to-six-months play group at Gymboree. They sing songs, stare at bubbles and do baby massages. Most of the other kids are older than Austen, but she usually manages to last the entire class (note: entire class = 30 minutes).

Swaddling is still a part of Austen’s daily life. She has trouble sleeping or napping without being swaddled. When she starts to fuss, Mommy announces, “You’re getting swaddled now!” and rocks her to sleep.

And you thought only Morgan dressed like a boy. Here’s Austen as an English dandy from the Regency Period (Read: Jane Austen’s times). The flagrant colors seem suitable to the likes of salacious Mr. Wickham.

In the book Holly gave us, The No-Cry Sleep Solution, a mother talks about her daughter Austen.

Austen has started pulling up on her swaddle blanket, sometimes chewing on it and sometimes even managing to pull it up over her face. Mommy is worried about this development so she bought a blankie toy for Austen to nibble on.

Everyone in casa de Rodey is sick! Fortunately, Austen is doing well and we have Grandma and Grandpa to take care of her (and Mommy & Daddy).

Should we sue the proprietor (Tod) or the infectious agent (Mark)?

Click on pic to see the video.

Mommy and Austen had their first real tete-a-tete today and Austen did wonderfully.  First, they dropped off Morgan’s birthday gift at the Metuchen post office.  (They probably won’t be able to make the ten-hour round trip drive to Morgan’s birthday party on the weekend.)  Then they went to Main Street to pick up bagels and to have lunch at Brewed Awakening* where Mommy ate quickly as Austen watched with big brown eyes.

After lunch, Austen went for a stroll down Main Street to Amboy Avenue in her Peg Perego baby carriage.  The weather was balmy for late November.  Stopping along the way, Mommy picked up info on a day care facility, a music school, and also a playgroup – she’s excited at the prospect of getting out of the house on weekdays.

Driving home, Mommy noticed a sign for Lucinda Court and looked in the rear view mirror to find Austen sleeping contently.

Austen barely fussed at all during the four-hour excursion and when she did she was easily calmed by jostling her stroller.  Mommy was so happy and proud.

Unfortunately, Austen became a bit cranky after she got home and had trouble eating, a strange recent phenomenon where she cries when you try to feed her even though she’s very hungry.  Eventually, she gives in and eats, which sooths her.  Up to this point, Austen has been an avid eater.  Play and other distractions are taking on a greater roll in her life; now she is at times too focused on a novelty to bother with eating.

Tomorrow, Mommy plans to make some phone calls and sign Austen up for a class at Gymboree.  While in Ayer for Thanksgiving, Austen went to Morgan’s music class at Gymboree, and Mommy became inspired to try to take Austen out for short jaunts while Daddy is at work.

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* This is the sandwich shop Mommy and Daddy went to with Grandma Judi only days before her stunning cancer diagnosis.  On that day, Grandma Judi also toured the house in Metuchen for the first and only time – it was not quite finished.  Grandpa Earl was there too.  Grandma Judi was in good spirits although her leg was bothering her.  Mommy was very enthusiastic about the house that day — much talk was of Grandma Judi’s future visits after Austen’s arrival.  Mommy also discussed pregnancy-related issues and concerns with Grandma Judi.

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Austen spent her first Thanksgiving at Morgan’s new house in Ayer, Massachusetts. She started off a little cranky, probably because of the 5-hour drive throwing off her schedule and Mommy & Daddy not realizing she was very hungry but too wound up to eat. Fortunately, Austen eventually allowed Mommy to feed her a bottle and went to sleep just before it was time to sit down for dinner.

As usual, dinner was excellent, so kudos to chefs Uncle Tod and Aunt Holly. Ample dishes, all cooked to perfection, encouraged everyone to eat all their veggies. Of course, the dessert, pumpkin cheesecake prepared by Uncle Mark, was equally great.

The four cousins had a good time playing en mass. Emma took turns “playing” with the younger ones, perfecting her “cheeeeky cheeky” tickle. Morgan was busy crawling and walking around the house — when she wasn’t sitting in her Bumbo chair watching language videos. Erin and Austen enjoyed staring at their older cousins and spent a lot to time on the play mat and in the swing.

Not to miss out on the entertainment, there was a lengthy poker game played by the daddies, Zack, Rin, and Mommy. There were some tense moments, particularly in the later hours as people became impatient with the dealer’s lollygagging. In the end, Mommy, an amateur at poker, nearly won it all before becoming too tired to go on. Surprisingly, Zack and Rin, the two poker “experts,” didn’t fare as well as they should’ve.

The night after Thanksgiving, we played poker ounce again. This was a much more relaxed version, with candy and popcorn serving as the main incentive to stay up. Emma couldn’t sleep so she was allowed to stay up with the adults … provided she remained on the sofa. This turned out to be too much of a limitation for her, especially after candy was spread out on the floor and Emma learned what really happens in the night after little girls go to bed. (Just as during the game the night before, Mommy dominated at Texas hold ‘em and quickly took out Rin and Daddy, although she felt kinda guilty about this.)

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone again for Christmas but hope they don’t expect such an extravagant culinary experience, unless Uncle Tod loses some bet at poker and ends up having to cook again. 🙂

Here are some really cute photos of the cousins (and their minders).

The remainder of the Thanksgiving photos can be found here.