Dear Nana,

It's been one of those days... I wish you were here.

Dear Nana,

Daddy started his new job yesterday.  He said he's really going to love it.  He's been working up in Seattle with his boss, which means (you guessed it) Mom and I have been home alone.  I miss Daddy a whole lot when he's not here, but I think Mom misses him even more.  Today we were going so stir crazy at home that she loaded me up and we headed to the mall just to walk around for a little while.  I've been going easy on Mom this week since Daddy's not here to help.  I've taken a 2 hour nap in the afternoon for the last three days!  And I've been sleeping for at least 6 hours straight at night.  I think Mom's really happy with me.  We go in for my four month appointment tomorrow.  Mom says I have to have immunizations.  Don't worry, though, I'm not scared, Nana.  Mom says it only feels like a quick pinch and then it's all over.  Mom said she'll call you after my appointment to fill you in on my "stats."

I know I talked about this yesterday, but Mom's really got to start watching me closer sometimes.  I can almost wiggle my way out of anything.  And I'm starting to roll.  Mom's really happy for me, but she also said that once I'm mobile there's no turning back. 

Dear Nana,

Mom put me in my swing the other day so she could do a quick tidy of the house.  I wasn't actually angry, but I sure wanted out of that swing!  Since Mom wouldn't come get me out I decided to try to get out for myself.  As soon as Mom noticed my squished little body sliding out of the seat she came to rescue me.  My evil little plan worked!!  Though I heard Mom say "I guess we'll have to start using the seat belt" when she picked me up.  Now I'll have to figure out how to get out of that!

Dear Nana,

Tonight was an eventful night.  Like I mentioned earlier, Mom and Daddy had a wedding to go to this evening.  Aunt Kalen agreed to babysit me while they went.  Mom (and probably Aunt Kalen, too) was a little nervous about this, but Mema and Grandpa Forsberg are on a vacation in Hawaii.  Mom was mostly nervous because she thought I would stress Aunt Kalen out, not that Aunt Kalen couldn't do a good job.  So, she fed me and put me to sleep before they left.  And guess what...a half an hour later I woke up screaming.  Absolutely screaming.

Aunt Kalen tried everything to calm me down.  She held me, changed me, swaddled me, unswaddled me, rocked me.  Finally she decided to warm up some milk, but she couldn't find the bottle that we leave at Mema's house.  And all the while, I was screaming my head off.  It wasn't long before Aunt Kalen started crying too.  That's when she called Daddy.  And, in less than 10 minutes, Mom and Daddy were home again.

Mom found the bottle and fed me.  I don't think I was really hungry, but the bottle helped calm me down.  I felt much better with Mom holding me and softing me.  She's really good at softing.  And, in just a matter of minutes, I forgot what I had been brutally screaming about.

After I finished my bottle I pooped some nasty green stuff, so Mom thinks I probably had a bit of an upset stomach, which woke me up from my nap early and caused all the screaming.  I forgave Aunt Kalen and (more importantly) she forgave me.  And I was happy as a clam.

Mom wasn't too disappointed that they had to come home early.  The ceremony was already over.  She was mostly sad that she missed out on the cake!

Just moments after my  MEGA meltdown.

Dear Nana,

Hey, look what I can (almost) do!!

Dear Nana,

Today has been a busy day, Nana.  It's a Wednesday, which means cleaning day.  Mom and I cleaned both bathrooms and swept, mopped, and vacuumed the floors.  Truthfully, Mom did most of the work.  But I helped by happily kicking around in my Johnny Jump Up.  Notice the bib in the picture.  It's for "drool control."

This evening Mom and I went to a small bachelorette party for one of the ladies that Mom used to work with at the school.  She's getting married this Saturday.  Mom says I won't be able to go to the wedding.  She says I won't be missing out on much, though, because it'll most likely be pretty boring.  She did promise to eat a big slice of wedding cake for me to enjoy!

Now I am absolutely exhausted.  I haven't taken a decent nap yet today, and I am very overly tired by now.  I'll go to be soon, but you better believe I'm going to whine about it first!  I love you Nana!

Dear Nana,

Happy First Day of Fall (for you...not for me until tomorrow)!  Can you believe that summer is officially over?  Mom says that fall is a beautiful time of year.  I wouldn't know yet because this is my first one (of course!).  I am glad it hasn't been so hot lately.  When it's hot I just sweat and sweat!

Mom and I haven't done anything fun today.  We spent all morning running errands, which I think is a big snore.  Luckily, Mom makes a point to run errands when I'm tired so I usually just zonk out anyway.  It's easier for both of us that way!

Mom had to trim my nails today, too.  She says I have razor sharp claws!  She has to trim them almost every week.  Sometimes I cooperate with her, but today she nearly had to strap me down to get them trimmed!

I did get to help Mom make dinner (Hawaiian teriyaki sandwiches, which I will have for my midnight snack!), and I even spent a few minutes in my exersaucer.  And, Mom promised that we'd go for a walk as a family tonight.  So, all in all, it'll turn out to be a pretty good day.

What did you do today, Nana?

Dear Nana,

We sure had a busy week, Nana.  We drove up to Nana and Papa Spader's house on Tuesday night because Daddy had a final interview on Wednesday morning.  We planned on driving home Wednesday afternoon, but Daddy got a call from another company that wanted him to interview him on Thursday, so we stayed another night (yay!!).  We left to drive home after his interview on Thursday morning, but after we had been on the road for 2 hours that company called him back to see if he could do the next interview the very next day.  So....we turned around and drove another 2 hours back to Nana and Papa Spader's house.  Whew!  Mom and Daddy actually decided that company wasn't very good, so he didn't go to the interview.  And, we really headed back home Friday morning.  Mom had to go buy more diapers and do laundry every day because we only brought enough for one night!  I had lots of fun though.  I got to see Aunt Shelby, Aunt Susie, Cousin Carmen, Cousin Parker, and Cousin Justin.  We had a fun time playing.  And Nana Spader made me another blanket!  I was so happy.  It has monkeys on it.  It's my new favorite.

P.S. I know Mom already told you, but Daddy didn't get the job he had interviewed for on Wednesday.  That is okay, though, because Mom and Daddy had already decided that the job he accepted a few weeks ago was the best on for our family.  And, you know what that means, I will be living in your house, Nana!!  I know you won't be there, but I know you will come visit.  And I am so excited!!  We will be able to spend so much time together!  I'm the luckiest grandbaby in the world!

Dear Nana,

Guess what?!?!  I have toes!!  I just discovered them, and I LOVE them!  I am almost always staring at them or holding on to them.  Mom calls them piggies, and she says I should be very proud because I have the cutest little piggies she's every seen.  She tells me that you have piggies too, Nana?  Is that true?  Aren't toes kind of funny?  I think they're also a kind of delicious, but I can't reach them to my mouth as often as I'd like because I have such a long body (says  Mom).  Mom says there are lots of things I'll be able to do because of my little piggies and that I should be so grateful for them.  Either way, I'm happy I found them!

And look what else I've found....

Dear Nana,

I just saw on your blog that you got to feed a baby tiger!  So cool!!  I think a tiger is a pretty good temporary substitute for me.  Mom says that sometimes when I get really angry I act like a baby tiger.  If I'm old enough, can I hold a baby tiger when we come to Thailand?

Mom's been trying to give me more tummy time lately.  She says it's "good for my development."  I'm starting to like it more now...but only for like five minutes.  Today Mom took pictures for pretty much the whole five minutes...sheesh!  She said she was getting some cute ones for you, though, so I obliged.

Dear Nana,

The good news is that my conjunctivitis is all cleared up.  The  bad news is that the Cougs lost their game on Saturday.  Daddy and I kind of expected a loss, but it is still too bad.

Today we had a usual Sunday.  We went to church and I slept through all of Sacrament meeting. There's just something about the hymns that puts me right to sleep.  Mom had to teach Relief Society so I got to go to Elder's quorum with Daddy.  I only lasted about 10 minutes before I got really bored and tired.  So then we had to spend the rest of the meeting in the hallway, which I was much happier with.

But guess what we did after church, Nana?  We took a family nap!  All four of us  (Mom, Dad, Baxter and me) in the same bed!  I loved it so much.  I was so cozy that I slept for a good hour and a half.  Mom says we're going to try to make this a Sunday ritual so we can all get caught up on our sleep.  Don't you just love a good Sunday nap?

This evening we tried to go pick blackberries, but we didn't have ANY luck.  The spot we usually go to pick had been treated with some sort of weed killer.  Mom was pretty sad.  She was hoping to have a cobbler.  I, on the other hand, eat the same thing for every meal so I wasn't too upset.  Do they have blackberries in Thailand?  Do they have other fruits and vegetables that I might like?

Dear Nana,

So guess what?  I have conjunctivitis.  Yep, that's right, pink eye.  Pretty crappy, huh?  I'm actually taking it pretty well.  I've been as happy as usual, with just hint of fussiness.  But that's just because my eye is bothering me.  And I've wanted Mom to snuggle and hold me for most of the day.  She's happily obliged.  In fact, she says she's selfishly a little happy that I don't feel good because I've been much more snuggly.

We had to go to the doctor to get some antibiotic eye drops.  He says it should clear up in a couple days with regular use of the eye drops.   Mom tried to get a picture of my eye (of course).  She says you can't really tell from the picture how red my eye really was.  But, she says, it's a cute picture anyway.  It's my left eye.

Guess what else?  Dad brought me back a BYU shirt when he went to Utah!  Don't you love the little cougar on it?!  Mom says I look like a true fan (even though I'm making kind of a scared face).  I can't wait to watch the game this Saturday with Dad.  I don't think Mom's looking forward to it as much, though.  Women....

I love you and miss you!

Dear Nana,

I love my baths.  Mom gives me one pretty much every night before I go to sleep.  I love to kick around like crazy in the water.  I love the splashing sound I make.  Tonight Mom even let me stay in the water until it got cold!  I am so lucky!  We have a pretty good bath time routine.  Here's how it goes...

Step One: The actual bath (to wash the stinks off me..as Mom says).
Step Two: Snuggle up in my towel.
Step Three: Check ourselves out in the mirror or a minute.  (This is probably my second favorite part -- the bath being the first.)
Step Four: Lotion up.
Step Five: Do the 'do (as in the hairdo).
Step Six: Put on the jammies!
Step Seven: Get swaddled and binkied.
Step Eight: Go to sleep. (Mom's favorite part!)

Mom says she wishes she could send my after-bath smell to you on the blog.  She says it's irresistible.  Mom also told me that we're going to start reading a book or two in between step seven and eight.  The doctor says we should be reading a couple books a day...even though I'm still so little.  I can't wait for that!  I'm getting tired of Mom telling me the story of the Three Little Pigs.  She's told it to me like 5 times in the last two days!  She says it works like magic to put me to sleep though.

Dear Nana,

You must be really busy this weekend because I haven't heard from you about your birthday.  I'm so eager to know what you did!  I hope you had lots of fun.  Daddy was in Utah this weekend to go to the BYU game for his birthday.  And guess what?!  They won!  Daddy was really excited.  He says it's even more impressive because the team this year is pretty young.  I can't wait to go to a game.  Mom says I can maybe go next year.

Something else exciting happened this weekend.  I got a bumbo seat!  And it's lime green!  It's a little chair that will help me sit up since I can't sit up on my own quite yet.  I love it!  I don't like to lay down on my back anymore because I can't see anything.  But in my bumbo seat I can watch everything that's going on.  This morning I watched Baxter roll and stretch on the living room floor.  He's such a crazy dog!  Mom even got a tray for my bumbo seat that we'll be able to put toys or Cheerios on when I get a little older.  Isn't it neat Nana?

It feel like such a big boy when I'm sitting in it.  I love it!

Dear Nana,

Happy birthday!!  How will you celebrate?  I wish I were there to celebrate with you, though Mom probably wouldn't let me have cake anyway.  How does it feel to be 50?  I don't have much to offer as a birthday gift.  All I provide are smiles and drool...and a few other more disgusting things.  I though about giving you 50 "Austin Faces," but I got tired after only 10.  You'll have to just enjoy them 5 times over!  I love you so much Nana.  Maybe you'll be back in time to help me celebrate my first birthday.  Wouldn't that be great?!

Dear Nana,

It's been a rough couple of days for us.  I know I said before that Mom thought I was going through a  growth spurt, but now she REALLY thinks I am.  The last few days I've been eating like a monster at least every two hours (even at night time) and I've been incredibly tired, but very unwilling to sleep.  Luckily, I think the worst of it is over.  I had a more normal night of sleep last night (and Mom showered me with kisses in the morning because she was able to get four-hour stretch of sleep!). 

We've just been doing the usual things around here.  I don't think Mom and I have left the house since Monday....except to take Baxter out.  It's been rainy here anyway.  There is something I do everyday, though, that I absolutely love....cooking with Mom!

Every once in a while when Mom makes dinner I'm taking a nap.  But usually I'm wide awake and happy.  Mom puts me in my bouncy seat on the counter and I just watch her cook dinner.  I love it!  Mom talks to me the whole time.  I think she's trying to teach me what she is doing.  I just smile and talk back to her.  It's one of my most favorite times of the day.

P.S. Here I am in my bouncy seat about a month ago.  See, I've grown!