Over the next few months, Mr. Austin will be working on getting ready for a comic book convention in Chicago, so the updating, if any, will be done by Mrs. Austin. After the con, she will also be taking a photography class and the quality of pictures you see here will just floor you. Really.

For those that frequent this little log, we thank you for your continued patronage and apologize for the loss of old articles or pictures. The grandparents of Lil Miss Austin have plenty of emailed pics and they are the most important.

In passing I'd like to mention we went to Alegria last weekend and it was stellar. For those who haven't seen a Cirque du Soleil of any kind, might we suggest checking them out. The music and the pagentry more than make up for any naysayers who are afraid of clowns or aren't into theater. It really is a treat of sights and sounds.

Now onto the updates. Lil Miss Austin is finally learning to sleep in a bed, not a cage. We've removed the front of her crib and are working on letting her get in and out of bed on her own, and yes, falling out on her own. It's only been going on for a couple weeks and in that time she's fallen out a handful of times. Before you cal the CPA on us, it's a natural thing to go through. As long as there have been beds, people have fallen out of them. If if were more of a problem, there would be beds closer to the ground or floors with mattresses built in. Moving on.

She has been really good so far. One of the more adorable aspects has been her getting up and coming to the door, uncertain if she should come out. Imagine sitting in the living room and hearing the creak of a door, look down the hallway to see the door opened just a crack, then close suddenly as a little person on the other side sees you and realizes they may be in trouble. We end up calling down the hallway to her and she slowly opens the door and waddles out, sometimes still asleep. It more than makes up for the pooping in the bathtub and tantrums at the mall.

Well, the other day, the two parents were awoke by a small cry, but not a wail so we were unsure what to do. After a few moments, I decided to check on her to make sure she was ok. We have hardwood floors, so we've put large throw pillows below her bed in case she falls out. Falling on carpet is one thing. I open the door to find that she's not in her bed. I start looking around the room to see if she's wandered off, then back out into the hallway to see if she's slipped by me. Nothing. That's when I turn the light on and see this.






I mean really, how can you not love kids.

She was under there with her blankets and stuffed critters, almost like she had gone down there on purpose. Well, after a few minutes we put her back, not wanting her to sleep on the cold floor, but I was tempted to leave her there as it was kind of obvious she was terribly comfortable.