Mr. Tough Guy

Do you see the 6 scratches on Austin's forehead? They are his second boo-boo for the week and we are only half way through. (And shortly after this photo was taken, he almost got a third by trying to climb out of the tub ;-)The first was a set of red swollen marks on his cheek that were there when I picked him up from nursery on Sunday. He didn't even fuss enough to alert the nursery workers to the fact that he was hurt, so I have no clue how it happened. The current scratches aren't as bad, but I still have no clue how they happened. He was fine when he woke up this morning. For the next 2 hours he was in my sight at all times....never cried once during his adventures around the living room...then I went to give him a bath and noticed the scratches. Hmmm. Apparently he gets so caught up in what he is doing that he just doesn't notice when he gets hurt. That makes me nervous because along with the toughness, he seems to have no fear. My brother was like that when he was little, and I cannot count the number of times my parents had to take him to the ER for stitches. (He will try to make it sound like I was the cause of those stitches, but other than one set, which I did cause - on accident! , they were usually a result of his pretending to be Superman and "flying" off furniture ;-)

Apparently, in an effort to soften his tough guy image, Austin has suddenly starting taking a pacifier after 8 months.

His top 2 teeth broke through this weekend, and seemed to cause a lot more pain compared to the lower ones. He was chewing on everything! During one of his explorations, he discovered the pacifier that we keep with his carseat, and decided it would make a nice chew toy. Now, it accompanies him all over the house.

My favorite side effect of teething (not that I enjoy my baby boy hurting at all), is that he has been very cuddly. Walker and I have both gotten to enjoy a few naps curled up with our little man in the rocking chair over the holidays. Priceless!