Austin Lee Tulley

This may sound strange, but I can remember the details of the back of Austin's head better than anything else about him. He liked to sit up with me holding him up on my lap. He didn't like to lay back and cuddle he like to be sitting up so he could see what was going on all the time. I remember that his hair was thinner on the back of his head that on the top, and shorter. His head wasn't flat on the back, but one side seemed a little flatter than the other. He slept on his back and I think he preferred to turn his head to the right when he was sleeping, hense the tad bit flatter spot on the back, right side of his head. At his hair/neck line, he had what looked like a rash to me, but the pediatrician said it was normal and was like a birthmark. He had it from the day he was born till the day he died. I miss looking at the back of his head and I often wonder if he would still have thinner hair in the back, if the small flat spot would there, and if the red rash/birthmark would still be there....

Thanksgiving without you - this is definitley now how I envisioned Thanksgiving would be this year. Even with all the saddness this year has brought, before the saddness was complete happiness and Thanksgiving is a time to remember the happiness and to be thankful for the time we had together. This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for your smile. Your smile reflected more than just happiness - it was an excited kind of smile, like you were thinking, "wow, lets do that again!" I don't know at what point it is that children stop having that smile that just lights up their whole face, but I am thankful that I have your smile imprinted on my heart.... I will never forget.

I remember going to the Chinese Buffet to eat with my mom and Austin. We sat a a table right next to an older couple. The lady talked to us quite a bit. My mom was holding Austin and he had drool dripping down his chin. The lady said to my mom, "Eww, he's got goo in his mouth!" You should have seen the look on my mom's face. I think she was ready to knock the woman out! I think the smell of the good food was making Austin drool! haha.

Austin liked to suck on my thumb... better than sucking on a pacifier. Sometimes he would even suck on the side of my hand.

Okay so we all know we need to be extra careful when changing a little boy's diaper, but those of you who are mommies to boys know that we all get at least a sprinkle or two while changing a diaper. I think Austin 'sprinkled' on mommy more than once or twice though... and poop, well that's a whole new story. One time, i was changing his diaper and he pooped and it splattered all over the wall a few feet away! Boy, those breastfed babies sure do have some force behiind their poo's.

 

Austin also loved to poo in the bathtub. 90% of the time he would poo in the bath and I would need to get him outm empty the tub, rinse it out, and start all over again. Once he pooped three times during a single bathing sesson! Wow, it has now been almost 5 months that Austin has been gone and it seems like just yesterday that I was running his bath water for him.