Milestones: 22 Months Old

Our adorable 22 Month old!

In two months this kid will be two years old but I swear it feels like he is already there! He has quite the strong personality and is learning how to get what he wants with fun tantrums. But beside that stubborn, infuriating personality is the sweetest little boy you will ever meet! I love the picture above because it shows that adorable sweet side to Austin that we all know and love. I always feel terrible after losing my patience with him because he suddenly turns into the kid in this picture and I realize how sweet and innocent he still is, even if he isn't acting like it at the moment.

Austin has exceeded our expectations with his baby sister and is actually doing a fantastic job at being a big brother! He throws diapers in the trash for us, loves taking baths with her, gives her lots of kisses, and gets concerned when he hears her cry. He isn't always so wonderful, like yesterday when he threw a dinosaur squeeky toy at her face, but what more can you expect from an almost two year old?

Now that we have two kids, we have had to change up our bedtime routine a bit. After we said prayers, I used to rock Austin and sing songs to him while he drank a bottle and Josh would go downstairs and tidy up the house. Now I usually have a crying baby to care for so that old routine wasn't going to work any more. So now Josh gives Austin a bath while I bathe Eve, or just get her fed and in her jammies. Then we all go into Austin's room and sing songs together while Josh rocks Austin and I hold Eve. We say a prayer, do a round of kisses, and we say "I love you buddy" after which Austin mimicks us with the sweetest baby voice :). Austin calls this routine, "Rock you" and if we don't do it, he will start screaming "ROCK YOU! ROCK YOU!" until we do. It is the funniest thing!

Since Eve was born a month ago, Austin and Josh have found this deep rooted bond and they are now even closer than ever! I think it has to do with me being so busy with the baby which makes me feel bad, but at the same time, happy that they are getting this special time together. Austin is Josh's greatest fan! He mimicks everything Josh does and is always talking about his Dad. In every picture he points out, "Daddy!" and makes us laugh when we see him sitting on the love sac biting his nails while watching TV, exactly the way Josh does! Their favorite thing to do together is dance so Josh bought The Night at the Roxbury CD, as well as NSYNC's Greatest Hits and they had a little dance party! It was so stinking cute to watch! Josh was a total dork and Austin tried copying every move he made as if they were the coolest moves ever! I love that about Josh, he's not afraid to be silly with the kids :). 

Basically, the pictures below say everything about this past month with Austin. He is an energetic ball of fun and every day he makes us better people. Whether it is by teaching us patience, or by being the sweetest example of innocence and Christ-like love. Our lives wouldn't be the same without him.

Having fun in the ball pit with our friends at Fun Plus Run!

This kid was in heaven!

We Moms kept yelling, "Don't throw the balls!" but of course they didn't listen....

Oh Austin, how we love your silly face!

Every morning Austin runs to find the baby, gives her a kiss, and says "good morning!"

These two are going to be good friends.

We went to Town Square while Daddy had a week off work and played in their kids area! All that playing called for a smoothie break.

And some pretzel bites.... his whole mouth is stuffed with them! Austin got this balloon from the clowns that were putting on a show and had a great time with it!

We chased birds....

He also rode on the train! He loved it I promise..... he just wouldn't smile for the camera.

There were lots of fun toys to play with! I was surprised he didn't want to play in the water though.

The train was his favorite and he talked about it for days.

We loved having Dad around for a whole week!

Taking a wagon ride to the splash pad.

Playing in the water with Daddy!

Morning snuggles with Momma.

Hanging out on Mom and Dad's bed with Eve. Look at those long legs! He is growing so tall!

Play date with his best friend (twin) Emmett.

I was busy tidying up the house when I realized it was unusually silent. I started panicking and ran to see what was up. I found Austin lying on the floor next to Eve, playing with her :).

Totally melted my heart!

More splash pad fun!

When you live in the desert, all of your activities are centered around water.

Taking a break with a good book in the baby swing ;).

Such a silly goose!

This kid loves ice cream (like his Mom) so we did Family Home Evening at Dairy Queen! As you can see, he was very excited about it!

Hanging out at the pool with Mom and Grandma.

Grandma is Austin's favorite person!

....I think that's because she is so fun!!

Lounging in the shade with Mom and Evelyne and eating cookies :).

Passed out before bed time on the love sac! We wore him out that week!

Playing with Grandpa Porter. He loved this game but Grandpa's back didn't like it so much.....

Playing at the park with Mom, 2 weeks after baby sister was born!

Fixing his broken chair. This kid loves tools!

I have to constantly keep Austin busy or he turns naughty so we made cookies this day! Yummy!

Trying out our new double stroller. Every time we go to the park Austin has to bring the basketball!

Austin had fun picking what he thought were flowers in the grass at the park and running over to give them to Momma :). It was so cute!