Austin is 4 years old

These are just a few pictures taken over the past few weeks of Austin and his friends. He's growing up into such a big boy. 

Isn't it great to see brothers playing together in harmony?

Austin was so excited to open his birthday presents.

Austin riding a buffalo at the zoo.

Austin blowing out his candles. We just had a few friends/neighbors over to play in the yard and have cupcakes. Austin had a blast.

Jaylin went to the zoo with us. What a thoughtful face!

Austin playing with his friends Iain and Kimberlyn at the church playground.

I'm so proud of Austin. We started teaching him his letters this summer, and he recognizes most of his uppercase and some of the lower case. He also knows their sounds thanks to The Letter Factory, a DVD made by LeapFrog. I would definitely recommend it for all you mothers of preschoolers. You can check it out from the Louisville Library for free.

My Mom bought Austin some preschool home school curriculum from sonlight.com, so we have been reading a lot lately. We also bought some basic workbooks, so I hope to start working those into our day in the next few months. It's definitely a challenge for us to develop a schedule. With Joseph working at night, me working part-time and having a new baby (I know, David isn't exactly new anymore, but he is still a lot of work.), each day looks a little different for us. Austin has never been on a very rigid schedule, so having a more predictable routine is something I hope to work on this year. We may or may not home school Austin in the future, but I guess you can say we are home schooling for preschool this year. We will see how it goes this year at home and weigh our options are when it comes time for Austin to go to Kindergarten.

Mmm... yogurt

A few weeks ago, I had a thought regarding babies and messy hands. David loves to help feed himself, and he doesn't seem to mind at all when he gets baby food or, in this case, yogurt all over his hands, face and booster chair. I, on the other hand, cannot stand to get baby food or other wet, sticky substances on me. I feel the need to immediately wash my hands. Austin is 4, and, for the most part, he likes having clean hands as well. When does this transition occur? I can't remember when Austin went from not caring about messy hands to wanting to stay clean.

Looks like finger paint.

I like making a mess with my baby food. Don't you?

I like chewing on the rag after Mom cleans me up. 

Working in the yard

A few weeks ago, we visited my parents in Tennessee, and Austin took a fancy to my Dad's wheelbarrow. So, my brother Ben decided to put Austin to work picking up sticks in the yard. Since Austin has been raised in the city, something as simple as yard work is actually fun for him. It's great to see him be able to run and play outside at my parent's house.

Austin gets all kinds of adventures when he visits Tennessee. My Dad took him to the back of the property (almost 10 acres) in his jeep, and it was like going on a safari because there were weeds and brush all around them as tall as the jeep. Great memories.

Adventures with a Crawler

When David started crawling, climbing through here was his favorite activity.

Well, aren't you a happy little child.

Peek-a-boo

What a cutie! (Side note: We like this brand of diapers pretty well, Member's Mark from Sams Club. Huggies is my first choice, but these seem to be the best store brands I have found. You can get a huge box for about $25)

Catch me if you can!

Netflix

Who needs cable when you can have Netflix?

David

All About Austin

Austin loves popcorn

He can ride a tricycle and recently learned to ride a bike with training wheels.

Note the little critter crawling under the table behind Austin.

When Brother is Away...

Baby will play... with brother's toys, of course.

Joseph took Austin to see Toy Story 3 this afternoon, so David had free reign over the living room while they were away. Austin is very protective of his stuff, so David jumped at the opportunity to play with his cars.

Birthday

My mom posted this picture on facebook today in light of my birthday. I imagine I was about Austin's age.

Nice and Cozy