Milestones

I love being a mom, there’s no doubt about it. Sure, I get frustrated when I don’t know what’s bothering Austin and I’m often severely deprived of sleep. However, I wouldn’t change anything that comes with being Austin’s mom. Being a mom to a child with special needs has brought on an entirely different meaning to milestones that most parents take for granted.
When we went to the grocery store on Saturday Austin sat in the basket like a big boy…for the first time! My parents bought him one of those cart covers in August and we tried it out. He wasn’t ready at 6 months, so I decided to just put it away until he was ready. He still cannot sit longer than 30 seconds independently. Due to Austin’s insane separation anxiety, I HAD to take him to the grocery store with me. And I had to get a lot, so the stroller was out of the question. Much to my surprise, he sat in the cart pretty well. He slides and leans to the side at times. Between my big purse and his jacket, he sat in the basket like a pro. HE WAS SO HAPPY TOO! I could feel the tears coming as I watched him smile because he could actually see me while we were in the store. Luckily, I managed to distract myself with the shopping list in my head and controlled my happy tears.
While Austin is still working on sitting independently, he’s almost to the point of sitting up on his own when he’s on his back. YES. I know it’s crazy…it’s like he skipped a step some where along the way. I hate to break it to him, but he has to master sitting on his own before he can sit up on his own. I really do try to focus on what Austin is doing, rather than what he’s not.
Austin eats ANYTHING and EVERYTHING you put on his high chair tray. He prefers to feed himself. Cheerios, Gerber Crunchies (think puffy cheetos), gold fish, waffles, pancakes, etc. The kid loves to eat. Our only issue is that he stuffs too much food in his mouth at once. Oh yeah, and he double fists his crunchies. We haven’t had any choking because he actually eats is pretty fast. But still…not a good habit, so we’re working on “one at a time.” I believe we’re pretty much over the jarred baby food. I’ve just been pureeing fruit, veggies…pretty much everything. He loves it! The only jarred food I do still have to buy is the meat. He’s very picky about meat.


The weather has been CRAZY lately. We were iced/snowed in from Tuesday through Friday. We were definitely going stir crazy. This gave us time to work on decorations for Austin’s SUPERMAN birthday! I’m not even close to being finished, but here’s a sneak peak:

Location is marked out for privacy purposes, obviously.

His 1st Birthday is right around the corner. It doesn’t even seem possible. This year has taught me so much…about life, faith and myself. It sounds corny, but I’m forever changed because of Austin. And it’s all for the better. He’s taught me so much. Those previous 25 years aren’t even comparable verses what I’ve learned during the past year.

Now, If I can just fix Austin’s separation anxiety…we’ll have it made. Let me know if you have any tips.

Blessings,
K