New videos

Austin is starting to become semi-mobile. He is starting to roll a bit, sometimes becoming lazy and stopping half-way (and staying like that). I can't resist just tapping him to help him flip all the way over.

Today, I put him in his crib for a nap and he was fussing a bit (not unusual). I left him for a few minutes to fuss himself to sleep. Well, his fussiness became louder and louder. I went to check on him and he had turned 90 degrees from where I had left him. His little feet were kicking the bars on the side of the crib. When he was wiggling, his feet were poking through the bars and kicking the wall. All along, his arm was stuck underneath his body. He didn't know how to free it from under him. I managed to get him on video in this mess of a position. You can view it at the following link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GZTEXVvyX8o

It's Christmas time...

Ahhhh....I just LOVE this time of year. Come December 1st, I didn't hesitate to pull out all our Christmas gear and start filling the house with Santa's, stockings, decorations, and all the rest. Arthur just loves how our house is like a walking Christmas museum. I hope our little man grows up to enjoy and love Christmas as much as his mom does. I hope he doesn't turn into the Christmas Grinch like his daddy!!

Growing up, we had all kinds of Christmas traditions. I suppose it stemmed from our mom who just loved this time of year too. Our home growing up was always full of Christmas decorations and a huge tree with lots of gifts underneath. My mom made this massive nativity scene out of ceramics. It was like a special feature that always went up in the living room. No matter how much (or how little) space we had there, she always found room for that. It was beautiful.

When we were really little, we would get together with my mom's 9 brothers & sisters and all their kids. Someone would dress up as Santa and hand out gifts to the kiddos. It was so much fun having all the BIG family together like that.

My parents use to take us to Christmas mass on Saturdays (normally) as it was shorter than Sunday's mass. When we got home from church, we were allowed to open ONE gift. We had to hold out until the morning to open all the rest. It was so much fun waking up and seeing all the gifts from SANTA!! I just can't wait for Austin to be old enough to understand Christmas and SANTA!

This year, we bought the book 'The Night Before Christmas'. One tradition we're going to start in our little family is reading this book to our little ones on Christmas eve (and the lead-up to Christmas too if they want). As for the church part, well we'll just leave that as a special treat to enjoy when we go to Texas for the holidays!

Happy Holidays from the Ioannou family!!
(Thanks to Lisa for the idea of posting Christmas childhood memories!)

I love my BUMBO seat!!

Austin got his own little seat last month. He just loves sitting in it and looking all around. If his belly wasn't so big (and getting in the way), I reckon his seat would have teeth marks by now. Our little man is putting EVERYTHING into his mouth these days. Some shots of Austin in his Bumbo are below. He's 4 months old here (17 weeks).

Here he is as he reads a football magazine with dad:

Enjoying daytime TV:

Posing for mom's 'cheesy' XMAS photos:

Boot scootin' baby

Austin really enjoys playing on his playmat. He can bat at the hanging animals for a long time before cracking the shits. He also LOVES to stare at himself in the little mirror. Hmmmm...early signs of vanity maybe? Surely NOT!!

We normally put a blanket over the back half of the playmat so that he can look at the clouds on that when he looks up. It's also a way to prevent him from staring at the television which is also behind the playmat. Well, yesterday, I put the little man down on his back with his head towards the front of the mirror to allow him to gaze deeply into his own eyes. I walked away for a minute and when I returned, I found this!

Our boot scootin' baby moved all the way up the playmat towards the top and yanked down the blanket. His boyish personality is really starting to shine. What's next???

I'm FOURTEEN weeks old!!

Austin was checked by the health nurse yesterday for his 3 month appointment. He weighed in at a whopping 6.6kg (14.5 pounds!) and 63cm (24.8 inches)!! He truly is a little buda!

Here are some shots we took that afternoon (Nov 12). This is the first time we've gotten so many smiles on camera at one time!!

SUPERBABY!

Our little man turned 13 weeks old today. Tomorrow (Nov 5th) is his three month birthday. He's growing up so quickly.

Here is a video we took today. It's amazing what we come up with to keep this kid occupied! I think we enjoy some of these things more than he does.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU_Iix_GOKg

I think Austin worked up an appetite after his superbaby ride. Check him out as he gnaws on his dad's arm!

Austin's first Halloween

Today was Austin's very first Halloween. We carved and decorated a couple of pumpkins, got all dressed up in his costume (as a baseball player) and had lots of candy all set to hand out to the kiddies. We know that Australians aren't really interested in Halloween. But, surely the neighborhood kids would make some effort for FREE candy!! Austin was ecstatic and couldn't wait for the big night ahead.

We had our first knock on the door at about 5:00 while Austin was eating. By the time I managed to pull him away from his food, the person had left. I was certain that it had to be some early trick-or-treaters. So, we walked out to the front of the house in search of them. We looked everywhere until we saw a door-to-door salesman leaving a neighbors house. This was the first disappointment of the evening.

The second knock on the door (and last) was around 6:30. I jumped up at lightening speed to grab the door before the trick-or-treaters had a chance to escape. When I opened the door, I saw our 80 year old neighbor. I instantly thought how strange it was that he would be trick-or-treating and WITHOUT a costume nonetheless. What does he think this is?!? As he proceeded to ask for Arthur's help to change a light-bulb, my heart sunk as I realised that he wasn't coming around for treats. It wasn't even a trick. He didn't even acknowledge the pumpkins on the front steps to the house.

Well, as if the night couldn't be anymore disappointing, I smelled something really fowl as I was holding Austin. I realised that he had a big POO. The kid hadn't gone in almost five days. Why did he have to pick Halloween (while dressed up in his costume) to finally go!?!! Well, I sat up to take him to the bedroom to change his nappy. As I peeled him off me, I saw that the poo had leaked out of his nappy and was already soaked through his costume and onto my shirt. I guess that's what HE thought of Halloween.

I'm not giving up. Next year, we will have a 'normal' Halloween...even if I have to pay the neighborhood kids to come to our house to do some trick-or-treating!!

Happy Halloween!!!

Future Kangaroos supporter??

Our little man is destined to be a Kangaroos supporter....or at least that's what his dad says. Below are some shots of Austin in his firts Kangaroos outfit, taken at 11 weeks old. Could the expressions on his face be an indication of what he thinks of the Kangaroos?

Thanks FRANCO!!!

Frank & Eva came by the day Austin turned 8 weeks old. Frank brought his fancy schmancy camera and took some great photos of our little bub. A few of the shots are below.

Videos

Check out some of Austin's videos at the following links:

Speaking (8 weeks old): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHK3DWT16EU
Watching Mr. Flutterbug (6 weeks old): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2hO2iPWdOo
Just chillin' (6 weeks old): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R21aMj9yGo

Our little boy is growing, growing, growing...

I can't believe how much Austin has grown. Even in the last week, he seems to have just shot right up. I've had to 'retire' a bunch of his clothes which no longer fit him. He's even wearing some 6 month clothing because he's too long for the smaller sizes. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I reckon our little man is going to be tall like his daddy (PLEASE GOD!!!). I know, some brands run smaller than others...I don't care. I'm still going to brag that my son is fitting into big boy sizes at 2 months of age! ;-)

We went to the pediatrician last week (8 weeks of age) and he said that Austin is doing great. He weighed in at a whopping 5.2 kg (11.5 lb)!!

I was at the supermarket the other day and the check-out lady asked me how old Austin was. She was shocked when I told her he was only 6 weeks. She said she thought he looked more like 3 months. Then, she said "are you breastfeeding". Not knowing where she's going with this conversation, I reluctantly (and in almost a whisper) said "yes". She then blurted out (in front of heap of other customers in line) "you must have really good milk!!". What am I supposed to say to that..."uh, thanks???".

Here are some shots taken on his two month birthday (Oct 5th):

Thank RITU for discovering Flutterbug!!

Austin used to hate it when we changed his diaper. He would scream bloody murder whenever we got anywhere near his change table. It was really embarrassing because our neighbors could hear him and they were probably wondering what we're doing to the poor baby. When it was at its worst, he would scream so loud that he would even start choking! So, needless to say, we really needed to find a solution to that because it's hard enough to change his dirty diapers when his crap is flowing out all over the place. Add a screaming baby on top of it and it was a really messy job.

Well, our friend Ritu discovered this amazing toy which her daughter loves. So, we figured it was worth a shot to see if Austin would also love it. Anything was worth a try at this point. I was at my wits end getting his crap all over my hands as I tried to control the kiddo while he kicked and screamed. Don't get me wrong...I adore my son, but there's only so much crap I can handle!!

This toy is called Flutterbug. We put it above his change table and guess what?!! He adores it!! Austin can't get enough of Mr. Flutterbug. He even gets upset (grunts a bit) when we forget to wind it up (which plays music and makes his wings turn). So, thank you RITU for sharing your discovery with us!!

Unfortunately, he now kicks his legs out of excitement while watching Mr. Flutterbug. So, my days of dealing with flying crap aren't over yet! I have a feeling they're just beginning.

Below are some shots of little Austin (taken Oct 3rd -> 8 weeks old) as he watches Mr. Flutterbug.

Tummy time

Austin has amazing neck muscles. Check out these shots taken during tummy time yesterday (6 weeks old).

Our Little Prince

Well, the time has finally come where our little prince has finally managed to take over our bedroom!! It took 5 weeks, but he did it! This kid makes more noise when he sleeps than a drunken sailor. I've been told that his 'grunting' noises will start to settle when he gets closer to 3 months. Apparently those noises are normal as babies try to get used to their digestive systems. He also grunts when he's trying to escape his swaddle. So, hopefully he'll get over that soon.

Arthur moved to the guest bedroom so that he could get better sleep at night in preparation for work the next day (plus, he was sick for a while so was banished from us). I finally decided that I would try to sleep on the couch (just oustide our bedroom) to see if I could sleep better too. This sleep deprivation was starting to drive me NUTS! Well, the first night I went to the couch, I managed almost 5 hours of straight sleep (so did Austin)!! I had gone to sleep about 10 PM that night. I woke about 3 AM for a feed and then again at 6:30 AM for the next feed. It was amazing. I felt like a new woman the next day!!

You're probably asking "why don't they put him in his own room?". Well, he's been sleeping in a bassinette in our bedroom. Yes, we could EASILY roll that thing into his room which is a stone's throw away. But that makes too much sense....doesn't it??!!

It's amazing what sacrifices we'll make when it means more sleep.

Lounging on mom & dad's bed (6 weeks old)...

Baby Houdini

Every time we put Austin down for a sleep, we swaddle him. The main reason is because he still has the newborn 'startle reflex' which wakes him when his arms go flying. So, we wrap him snugly to keep his arms by his side which helps him sleep better. Well, this kid has earned the nickname of Baby Houdini because no matter how snugly we wrap him, he always manages to escape! His little arms are always out and up by his head!!

Recently, I went to check on Baby Houdini when he was napping because he was doing his typical grunting noises. His eyes were still shut and his arms were still in the swaddle! I thought "BRILLIANT! He's finally not escaping!!". So, I leaned over to shift him a bit. I put my hand under his shoulder and it was loose!!! I SHIT myself!!! I thought he had dislocated his shoulder while trying to escape the swaddle!!!! So, needless to say, I ripped the swaddle off him with lightening speed. His long sleeve was still by his side the way it was when I had swaddled him. Tears were forming in my eyes as I thought I caused my poor baby to rip his arm out of its socket or something horrible. So, I lifted the sleeve and realised it was empty. What's going on?!! As I investigated further, I realised that he managed to pull his arm out of the long sleeve and his little hand was up near his shoulder (still inside his clothing)!!! I have no idea how Baby Houdini did it. It's going to be a secret that will never be revealed!

4 weeks old

It's hard to believe our little man is already 4 weeks old (5 weeks tomorrow)!!! Here are some recent shots.

Trying to figure out how this sling thing works.


With dad on father's day (yes, dad's day is in September over in Oz).


Tummy time


HELLO!


Watching Mr Flutterbug (mobile to distract him while changing him).


Mr. Commando

Three weeks old!

Well, it's hard to believe our little man is already 3 weeks old! Time is flying by. However, unfortunately, it seems to go in mega-slow-motion when it's time to wake for those nasty night-time feeds. Thankfully, he's given us a tiny little break the last couple of nights by sleeping a little bit longer between feeds. Please let this be the start of a new routine!!!!!

Last night, I decided to let daddy do one of the night-time feeds (at 1:00 AM) so I could get a bit of sleep! Previously, I figured it was only fair that I do those feeds & nappy changes since he has to work during the week. Well, enough is enough. It's the weekend and he doesn't work weekends. So, he's entitled to baby-duty just like me!!

Well, either daddy is very "smart" or he just really has no clue. Needless to say, he won't be doing another one of those night-time feeds for a while. Poor little Austin was miserable for some reason and Arthur just couldn't settle him. So, while I was SUPPOSED to be sleeping (the whole point behind getting Arthur to do that feed), I couldn't help but hear this poor little guy screaming bloody murder right outside our bedroom door. I finally got out of bed to find Arthur shaking the poor kid to try to settle him while loudly making a SHHHH-SHHHH-SHHHH sound. No wonder the kid was screaming. His dad was scaring the crap out of him. I offered to take over, but Arthur was adamant that he could handle it. So, I returned to bed feeling like my husband was in for a rude awakening. Moments later, Arthur came into the bedroom and jumped into bed...with no baby in sight. I asked him what he did with Austin and why didn't he bring him back into the room to sleep in his bassinet! Arthur just mumbled "your mom has him". I jumped out of bed and found my mom settling the baby by rocking him gently. I ended up taking over because he would have to go back to sleep in our room anyway.

So, needless to say, this episode ended up taking more of my energy and time than if I had just done the feed myself. Arthur will definitely be in for some "lessons" over the next short while until he gets it because damnit he WILL get it!!

Below are some recent shots of our precious little bub.

Holding on for dear life as daddy drives us through the city


Watching daddy's football team on television


3 weeks old!!
Isn't he cute in his little track suit!?!


Wearing the cool Stevie Ray Vaughan onesie that Auntie Brenda made


Like father like son (wearing matching Stevie shirts)

PICTURES!!!!

3 days old

(after coming out of the special care nursery for treatment of his jaundice)

4 days old




5 days old





6 days old

(next to a photo of his cousin in the same onesie)

One week birthday

8 days old

9 days old

With grandma:

When this kid is hungry, you better not hesitate to feed him!!

Sucking mommy's pinky finger with a good grip so it doesn't go anywhere!

10 days old