Eventually all girls will have cooties, but until I realize that, I've been happily hanging out with several beautiful laides. Here's me and Laila catching up on some reruns of Curious George (I love that show!) Notice how my socks match Laila's sleeves!

Also, here's me with my Washington DC buddies Lilly & Molly. (Lilly has the blue hat. Molly the pink one)

How to fight the cabin fever...

It's been really cold this winter in Chicago, and Mommy & I have had to stay indoors quite a lot. To stay in shape, I've been using Daddy's TRX fitness equipment to help build my muscles:

Also, with all this time indoors, I've had to get really creative with my time. I also realized that there is this whole world out there of stuff to play with if I could just explore the house a bit better vertically. For instance, I started out on the floor, and under the bed, I found Mommy's secret stash of wrapping paper and ribbons. I was having a great time, until Mommy caught me. :(

So, with the ribbons now offlimits, I started exploring elsewhere. With a the help of a styrofoam box, I was able to reach new heights, like over the ledge for some avocado and kiwi. Of course, Mommy stopped me as soon as I reached for the liquor!

All these boundaries! Daddy was really concerned about me catching a cabin fever. I don't know what that is, but it must be pretty easy to catch because Mommy says Daddy gets cabin fever all the time. Apparently, to fight off cabin fever, you scare it with music. Daddy has also been teaching me to create my own music with the guitar. This usually keeps me entertained for at least a few minutes...

Hannukkah - 2009

By the time the 8th night of Hannukah came around, I was all about this holiday. And what's not to like ... fried food, lighting candles, and ... PRESENTS!

If you listen closely, you can hear me saying "Happy Chanukkah!" in this video:

And we lit the candles...

and we posed after the candles were lit...

How Austin spends his extra calories...

After dinner, when i have a few extra calories, I just need to jam...

Note: That's right ladies ... the bib says "Chick Magnet"

Halloween 2009

This year for Halloween, I dressed up as Batman. Although a bit more comfortable than last year's spider costume, I'm now starting to put a theory together about Halloween characteristics. I can honestly say that the holiday has two characteristics ... lots of fun, and uncomfortable costumes.
When I first got into mine this year, I was not a happy camper ... but once things got underway, I was beginning to enjoy. Ofcourse, all comic book heroes need to fuel up before a night of trick or treat. My fuel of choice - Graham Cracker!
Once fueled, I was ready to go, and we started on our way, Spidey bucket in hand...I met up with my good buddy, Aaron Hall...
He was dressed up as a dinosaur, although his dino-hood would never stay up quite right. (see the running theme of 'Halloween costume uncomfort'!)

So, the thing about Batman is that as a young boy, Batman lost his mommy. I wanted to make sure this Batman showed Mommy how much he appreciates her. As mommy knows, I don't give out my smiles easily, but I made an exception here...
Of course, after I got all the loot - it was back to the "Batcave" to check out the bounty! By the look on my face, I think I did a pretty good job!

Austin in Nashville

So, Mommy and I went to Nashville to visit Daddy. He had a company meeting down there. We also met up with Bebe and Zayde. There's lots of things to do in Nashville...

...Staring contests with Bebe...
...Shopping
...Playing at the Parthenon (the replica in Nashville, not the real one in Greece)...Hanging out with Zayde in our Texas gear...
But the one fun thing that I did not enjoy was my first carousel ride. Here's a video of that experience...

My First Haircut

So Mommy decided that it was time to get me a haircut. I was rather enjoying my hair, but she insisted. We went to one of those 'kid-friendly' barber shops where they put Sesame Street on the TV, have lots of toys, and you get your haircut in a race car. All of these distractions so that I wouldn't focus on losing my beautiful blonde locks, but I'm way smarter than that!

At first, I fought the whole experience...

Then, I pleaded for help ...

Finally, I resigned to the experience with indignation ...

But, i could hold back my displeasure no more when the lady put the hair gel in!!!! ...

Once it was all said and done, I guess it was ok, but I'm not looking forward to going back!