Well, I didn't think we'd find ourselves in the hospital again so soon. Poor little Asher has another respitory infection. You may remember we spent five days in the hosital last March when he had RSV, then there was an unrelated surgery in July, another minor surgery in January, and now our poor little guy has pnemonia. All being unrelated I know we're blessed he's not facing some chronic illness, but we sure haven't expected this path God's taken us down in learning to trust our son's health and well-being completely to HIS care. There's nothing quite like seeing your otherwise healthy three month old put on oxygen, your 8 month old be taken screaming from your arms back to the operating room and watch him come out of anesthesia, or holding down your squirmy 17 month old while they dig around in his tiny arm to find an vein for an IV while he's screaming and sweating a fever over 103 degrees. It's challenged us as parents, but we are blessed God holds his hand, and ours each and every day. (And we are thankful for modern medicine!)
I've got a whole slew of posts on the back burner, half written, but as my title of today's posts so aptly declares, "Life is not always as one plans." We've been living an absolute whirlwind since Easter, it seems. I'll do my best to at least get the post of him in his adorable little Easter suit, egg dying and hunting (and all that cuteness) up on here later today. :)
Since Easter, we've planned and celebrated Eric's 29th Birthday, planned and unfortunately had to postpone (on account of Asher in the hospital) a family baby shower for my little sister's first (due in a couple weeks!), finished planning for, laundering for, packing for, AND taking a ten day vacation WITH Asher and my parents to Costa Rica (where I lived and worked for a year and a half in my single days), spent one day back at home trying to do laundry and buy the basics at the grocery store while also comforting a sick little boy (who I didn't realize was quite as sick as he was!), and now are on day three here at the hospital. Fun times. It really has been up until this last week!
Anyway, the little guy is stirring, so I'd better go. Here's a few teasers for putting up with my prolific writing above without a single photo, and our month and a half long drought on the posting front.
To come:
Easter...
Asher's 17 Month post...
(oops, sorry, guess those pics are still on the camera at home!)
Costa Rica... gorgeous country, gorgeous weather, wonderful time!
And maybe we'll post a couple pics of him being such a trooper in the hospital. :) Sorry, I don't have any pics of that now, all of those are on the phone which is deader than a doornail at the moment, and I'm without a charger here until Eric can relieve me for a trip home.
We continue to appreciate your prayers as Asher continues to heal! (We were admitted Wednesday afternoon sometime shortly after our 1:30 doctor's appointment, and he's been on the mend rapidly since! We have hope we'll be able to go home sometime this afternoon. The doctor will be in sometime over lunch to check his progess!) Anyway, thanks again for your prayers!
So this post has been hanging out half written for at least a month now. I know I mentioned in our 15 month post that Asher started hugging and cuddling his stuffed animals. It warms my heart everytime I see him doing so. :) Anyway, I didn't have any pics of it to include in that post (now a month and a half ago!), so I asked Eric to try and get some for me. It was well worth the effort for this adorable slide show. While the pictures even were taken a month ago, I think you'll still enjoy. :)
That last ones my favorite, I think. :) As for the kisses, somewhere along the way, Asher ceased waving goodbye and now only blows kisses. So anyone and everyone, from the cashier at the grocery store to the random stranger walking down the street, gets blown kisses anytime they say "bye bye" to him. They, of course, think it's adorable. And I enjoy everyone thinking he's adorable, so I guess it works for now. :)
Have a great weekend and we'll do our best to get his Easter pics posted before the 4th of July. :)
This month has been full of a lot of gradual change and improvement of Asher's skills, but looking back over the past month, I don't feel like I have a lot to say that I didn't say last month.... just that now he does all those things... better. :) He's a better walker (almost runner), he understands more, communicates better, says more words, has a stronger sense of independence, and throws MORE in not only the garbage can, but the toilet now too! Growth in every area... not always good, but it provides good stories, I guess. :) Anyway, without further jabber ('cause there's plenty more of that in this post!), here's Asher's 16 month pic(s) in the yellow chair!
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.:)
In other news, I'm feeling like he's actually "able" to help around the house now, or more willing to play independently for longer stretches. Either way, I've been much more able to keep up with things around the house and consquently been more at peace, felt like I have more time to play, and just all around enjoy being a stay at home mom more than I have the last few months. (I've never not enjoyed the mom part... just sometimes overwhelmed with the being at home all day part- needing to entertain while unable to deal with the mess around me that was making me a little stressed from time to time.) I know my housekeeping is not as important as building into him... but regardless mess can equal stress, and not being able to keep up can be very frustrating and discouraging.
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. :)
So I wrote this post on Valentine's Day last week, but didn't get the pics and videos uploaded until now... so sorry, we went a whole month again before posting. Disregard most of the next paragraph, Asher is in fact 15 months today. Woo hoo! :) Here's his pic in the yellow chair -
And a couple more crazy shots for good measure! :)
Here's Asher learning to surf. :) I know it's still a week away from Asher's 15 month update, but he's just in such a fun stage right now, I can't wait to share what he's been up to lately! :) Besides, for those who follow, grandmas and what not, I suppose we should blog more than once a month anyway... :) (Well, sorry, I didn't!)
Asher now walks more than he crawls. He still has to pull up on something to get into a standing position but I don't think that'll last much longer. (He just started standing up on his own in the middle of the room.) It is still sooo much fun to see him come toddling around the corner. :) He's getting sturdier and faster on his two feet everyday! And can FINALLY get himself safely down the stairs and off furniture without trying to head dive (most of the time!).
Case in point.
Man, is getting a picture in the yellow chair getting hard!
These past few weeks, neurons have been connecting like crazy, I think, because something in that little head just started to click with understanding and responding to language. He loves books in a whole new way. He's started bringing us books and crawling up in our laps for us to read them to him... all the time! He's able to point to a number of familiar objects now in books when asked, such as: banana, ball, doggie, hat, shoes, etc. Actions that I do with him when reading a specific book, he's started doing independently at the right time when daddy's reading that same book to him! :) Sooo cute! :) He's able to respond to and follow through on some very simply commands - go get your shoes (he'll walk to where we keep them), let's get some milk - he'll head to the kitchen, and twice now, he's followed through when asked to put something in the garbage can, even from the other room! (We have to watch really closely now though, because he's started throwing away everything! How do you teach your kid what is and is not acceptable to put in the garbage can?) :)
He knows many of his body parts and will point to them when asked. He has started "reading" books to himself - not just looking at them, but babbling as he turns each page.
He's also entered the stage of immitation, BIG time. He'd much rather be following me around doing what I'm doing than playing by himself... which can be difficult at times, because he'll break down crying ALOT when I don't let him help me with something (like washing the knives, or straighten my hair. :) ) Though I recently discovered that that crying decreases dramatically if I pull over a chair or step stool and let him be up with me at my level, so he can see counter height and be a part of what I'm doing. He had quite a blast up at the counter with the q-tips this morning, and it was the first time in weeks that I'd been able to fix my hair without a crying boy clinging to my legs! Success! :) The cutest part was that he watched me intently while I used one to clean out my ears, and two seconds later, what do you know, but he's jamming a q-tip in his own ear... oops.... really gotta be careful now with what he sees me do! :)
One of our new faves in the realm of imitation:
So helpful in the kitchen too! :) (Only way I can get anything done!) Love our new smock from IKEA! Though it should fit until he's 6 or 7! :)
He also started playing differently with a little more imagination. Stuffed animals now get hugged and squealed over and all are affectionately called "doggie." He's sooo sweet and loving. :) We put a blanket over the new kids table grandma and grandpa Anderson gave us for his birthday, and he's been having a blast playing fort under it! Drags toys in and sits under there playing! :) A couple of times when the blanket has been off he's crawled over to it, and tried to lift it up, asking for us to put it back on. :)
Note his sudden change at the end of the video and his sudden motivation to go go go... daddy just walked in the door from work. :)
Like I said, just a super fun stage right now! Even though half our days are full of tearful breakdowns because he'll get frustrated he can't do something, reach something, move something, etc, or because I won't let him do what he wants (walk down the stairs, play in the cupboard with glass), or because I won't give him another graham cracker, or make him stop playing to take a nap or stop playing to change a poopy diaper, etc, etc, etc. :) I'm afraid we're going to have a tantrum thrower on our hands before too many more months have passed. Prayers, please, as we proceed with that! But who knows, he's still a super super sweet little guy. He just has a new awareness of his wants, desires, and abilities. Of course there's still the super fun other half the day, full of his laughter and amazement. :)
And can we just take a moment to rejoice in the fact that he is now consistently (finally!) sleeping a full 12 hours every night without a peep! :) If only nap time was so nice... I'll occassionally get a 2-3 hour nap, but more often than not, I'm fighting tooth and nail to get him to take more than one 45 minute nap a day. I always try for a second nap if it's not at least an hour, but nap time has been the toughest, not ever feeling like I really get much of a break to get anything done! 45 minutes a day doesn't really cut it.
Anyway, this has become ridiculously long! Thanks to those of you who've stuck with me till the end! :) I'll work on making it more shorter posts this upcoming month.
Wishing you a wonderful day! And may your children nap longer than mine. :)
This evening I was hanging out with Asher while Meagan was at a meeting. I was sitting on the couch, with Asher standing to the side drinking some water from his sippy cup. He dropped his sippy on the couch, leaving a nickel-sized wet spot. It was no big deal to me, but it caught his attention. He started to vocalize and motion toward the kitchen. I didn't know exactly what he was motioning to, but I figured I'd assume, so I said "don't worry, it's small, we don't need a towel". He then stepped away, walking to the backside of our kitchen counter, directly under the paper towels. He continued to vocalize and point toward the paper towels. Already baffled, I stepped up and ripped him off a piece of paper towel to see what he'd do with it. I retook my place on the couch, and watched as he toddled back over to the couch and began to wipe at the wet spot with the paper towel!
I guess it just goes to show how much this little guy is watching us. And of course, it only helped to reinforce the thought that every parent has - my kid is a genius! True or not, I was pretty impressed tonight. And Meagan didn't believe me when she got home.
So it's been very busy around these parts in the new year, so we haven't been the greatest at getting things put on the blog. There have been a bunch of pictures that we've wanted to get up, but never did, so I'm now taking the time to throw them all up here. Enjoy :)
It took a few tries to get a decent pic with Santa...
