The Hendrix Family: Two and a half

"Hold him a little longer

Rock him a little more

Tell him another story

(you've only told him four)

Let him sleep on your shoulder

Rejoice in his happy smile

He is only two and a half

For such a little while!"

Austin is already two and a half this month and it just doesn't seem fair! I look at Teague & it seems like just yesterday Austin was that size. I so wish I could just bottle him up & stop time. I always ask him if he will stay two forever and even though he says, "yes" he just keeps growing! He is a great kid. He is so sweet & super polite. He is not shy at all & will talk your ear off if you come to visit. He loves to be around people & is a lot like my dad because he likes to be the center of attention. :) He is always happy. He is very smart & constantly amazes us with his memory. He can recall details of things that happened months before. His imagination is really starting to take off. I love to sit and listen to him talk because I never know what he is going to say next and he is constantly making us laugh. I wish I could video tape him every second of every day so I could capture every little moment. Here are some cute things he has said or done lately:

*He'll climb up on the couch next to me & say, "Get over here & snuggle with your mama."

*A while ago Luke & I were sitting in the backyard & he climbed up on the chair, put his hands together under his chin and said, "So mom, how are you doing?"

*He loves to snuggle at bedtime & talk about his day. He'll say, "So, how was your day?" When you ask him how his day was he says, "It was pretty awesome."

*If he is looking for something he will say, "Have you ever seen my ____?"

*He is getting very independent & likes to do things for himself. If he can't reach something he will run upstairs & get his step stool.

*He got the wheat thins out of the cupboard & when I told him that he couldn't have any because we were going to have dinner soon he said, "I could probably have just one."

*When I tell him we're going to eat he says, "What we gonna have?"

*He loves music & loves to sing! He & Luke listen to some of Luke's favorite bands & Austin can sing quite a few of the songs. He has had some of them memorized for months now. He will grab our guitar hero guitar out of the closet, sit on the stairs, & sing.

*He loves books & loves it when we read to him.

*A few months ago Austin found an earwig crawling on the floor. Instead of killing it, Luke picked it up & said, "Hey! It's Larry! How you doing Larry?" He told Austin that they needed to put Larry outside so he could go back to his family. To this day whenever Austin sees an earwig he yells, "It's Larry!"

*He lifts his hands up as if asking a question & says, "Why are you so cute? What am I going to do with you? I'll just kiss you I guess."

*He will do anything for a starburst.

*He gets a treat when he wakes up dry, without having any accidents. If he is awake & it's the middle of the day, he'll say, "Would you like a treat cuz you've been such a good boy?"

*When he is hungry he says, "What can I fix for ya darlin?"
*I swear he has OCD. A while ago he took his shorts off in his room & threw them into his bottom drawer. Right after that I took him in the bathroom to potty. When he came back into his room he ran right over to his dresser, pulled open his drawer, & neatly folded his shorts. He said, "There, that's much better."

He loves to play outside. His favorite thing do is ride his bike in the backyard.

Playing T-Ball with his dad in the backyard

He loves to help his dad with the yard work.

Wearing Luke's gloves

One of his favorite places to go is to the park.

He loves all of his animals...

...but Puppy is his favorite. :)

A couple months ago he was supposed to be "napping" upstairs. When I went to check on him I found him in Teague's crib with all of his animals!

With his new freedom of a twin bed instead of a crib, we decided to put up baby gates outside of his bedroom door. He still has access to the bathroom, he just doesn't have free roam of the upstairs anymore. As soon as we put up the gates, he got bored & started napping again! He'll occasionally fall asleep outside of his bedroom door.