Losin' It

Yes, Austin is prone to lose it - meaning his temper - from time to time. But he's also losing something else: his hair.

The poor little guy is already taking after his father by going prematurely bald. And he has acne.

But we try to ignore those not-so-graceful signs of aging. Instead, we think he gets more adorable everyday. I finally got a picture of him smiling:

He's probably just pooping, but he looks cute anyway, especially in his little blue pants and booties.

We've hit some milestones in the past few weeks.

Austin is taking the occasional bottle with no problems. We're practicing for our big date on Sunday when Aunt Pat babysits while Michael and I see Flight of the Conchords in LA. I got a pedicure on Monday and a haircut yesterday while Michael stayed with the baby. Unfortunately, Michael had to give Austin a bottle from a bus bench when Austin lost it while on a walk. Both survived.

I started taking Austin to a Mommy Matters class last week. We've been twice now and it's going pretty well. The class is at the hospital just a few blocks from the house, so I'm able to walk with him. Austin is the youngest in the class, so he's also the fussiest. I had to cut off lunch with the other moms because Austin insisted on being held while the other babies peacefully napped or quietly sat in their strollers. Sigh. I'm sure he'll catch up soon.

Yesterday, we learned about the importance of tummy time. The instructor suggested putting the baby on a ball. I tried it this morning. Look how well he did! He's really holding up his head.

This week, we've had a few visitors: my friend, Erika, brought over lunch on Tuesday. Aunts Susan and Pat also came by. Here's Aunt Susan with Austin, who slept in her arms for more than an hour:

I didn't get a picture with Aunt Pat, but I did get a picture of the results of her work. She was practicing calming down the baby in advance of her babysitting gig. She shushed, swaddled and put him on his side -- and it worked! Thank you, Dr. Karp.

OK, I better finish up this blog entry before he wakes up from this nap.

One more thing: Congratulations to Crissi and Jason on the birth of their baby boy -Austin's new cousin.