Our silly boy :)
And I just look at this one and wonder... when did my baby turn into a little boy?
Other improvements/changes/growth we're seeing:
1. Asher is finally back to taking a decent nap of 2 to 2 1/2 hours rather than that measly 45 minute nap he was taking last month.
2. He's got 11 teeth now. His 4 front teeth on top and bottom and 3 molars farther back.
3. Asher's up to at least 30 "words" that he says. (He points and makes the same sound for the object every time he says it, but it's not exactly intelligible to others. :) He'll say something like "ca" for clock and car. "Key" for cookie (graham crackers) and believe it or not, key. He'll say "ga" for garbage. "Di" for diaper. And many more of the same type of word parts, for juice, shoes, teeth, eyes, no - which usually sounds more like na or nah-nee, etc., etc., etc.
4. He's started perking up all excited-like when he understands something I say in conversation with others and gestures that he knows what I'm talking about. For example, I was talking with Eric about something having to do with toothbrushes the other day, and Asher looked up at me with an excited look on his face and pantomimed brushing his teeth. :) He's joining in our conversations already! :)
5. Speaking of which, he constantly surprises me by how much he understands and follows through on things I ask of him. I didn't expect him to understand so much already. 1st time parenting, I guess. Just amazed at everything such a new, little person can do!
6. Those of you who are our friends on facebook know that Asher's made a smooth transition towards falling asleep on his own! After rocking him to sleep his entire life, we decided it was time he learn to put himself to sleep. I still do all the regular routine with plenty of snuggling and then lay him down drowsy. The 1st night he only cried 11 minutes, the 2nd and 3rd nights less than a minute, and now we're averaging about 5 minutes or less. Not exactly painful, as I'd feared it might be! We're praising God for our sweet boy!
And he knows it too! Lately he's been giving us this look out of the corner of his eyes, saying "Look at me, I'm being cute." This doesn't capture it perfectly but you get the idea. Such a funny kid.:)
Anyway, he now "helps" me push the laundry basket from the living room to the laundry room, put clothes in the dryer and take them out, unload the silverware from the dishwasher (handing me one utensil at a time while I hurriedly put away everything else), he'll play around me while I put clothes away and tidy our bedrooms, and then we're able to play much more of our day. :) It's also helped alot now that he's getting older and napping less to get out of the house more for things like story time at the library, tot town (an indoor park for toddlers and preschoolers put together by our city's parks and rec dept. in the winter), and of course grocery shopping, and other errands around town. It helps with the winter cooped-in feeling, and also minimizes our mess making at home! Let me just say though that we CANNOT wait for spring and summer to be here! To go on walks, play in the yard and at the park, go to the pool, etc, etc. especially since he wasn't walking last summer and is now almost running. It'll be soo much fun, and we just can't wait! :)
He's also the best dancer I've ever seen. ;) He's been dancing to music for quite some time, but we just finally got around to capturing it on video!
And it's just that much better in person. :)
Well that's Asher at 16 months, or well a snap shot of him anyway!
Sorry we've been a bad bloggers these last few months. Asher's going down to one nap a day has really cut down on my free time for such things as this. But I've got a few ideas in mind for this upcoming week though, so I promise to keep trying. :)
Happy weekend!
#Meagan
