14 months

I know, I know, it's been a really long time since we've posted. Our little guy really has been keeping us busy!  But... here we are today!  :)  Can you believe Asher is 14 months old already?!

Have you missed his pics in the yellow chair? The long wait is over. Feast your eyes on our cutey pie.

 

Did you note all the teeth above?! :)  Here he is with a little more normalish face. :)    

 

And, the yellow chair pics are getting a little more dangerous than they used to be, as you can see below.

 

Well the biggest news, I guess, is that our little guy is finally on the go.  He started walking about 2 weeks ago, and is getting braver every day.  Walking a little farther before falling, stepping out more often of his own initiative from the furniture and what not.  It's a lot of fun to see him toddling into the kitchen to find me.  It surprises me everytime, because it's still so new, and because more often than not, he still chooses to crawl.  But, man, is he a super fast crawler!  :)   We'll post a video tomorrow of him walking! ( I was going to post it tonight but it's too late to wait on the download.) So check back then!

 

He's climbing the scale, weighing in at 23.5 lbs at his last Dr's visit a couple weeks ago.

 

He still jabbers ALL the time.   But he now is attempting real words... emphasis on attempting.  "Da" now stands for light, ball, and sock.  We only know what he's referring to by looking at what he's pointing at.  His favorite activity these days is turning light switches on and off, so when I'm carrying him up and down the stairs its a constant string of "da, da, da" and straining to reach the light.  He would do it all day if I'd let him.    He tries to put on his own socks and shoes, without much success but he at least knows where they go.  He understands soo much these days.  When I'm talking about his pjs, he grabs them and looks down at them.  Our fave is when we say "your hair looks sooo nice," he runs his hand across his head.  So cute! :)

 

I think I mentioned that he now feeds himself most everything, he keeps getting better and better with his spoon.  He eats about anything and everything!  He's a great little eater.  He's been weaned since Christmas and it was super smooth and easy for him.  He LOVES his whole milk! :) 

 

Anyway,  Eric's dragging me off to bed. ;)  Sooo, if there's anything I've forgotten I'll finish up tomorrow with the walking video. 

 

#Meagan

One year of Asher

Well, it seems as though Tuesday has become a bit more of a habit than I'd like to admit.... Cause here it is Tuesday again and the first day this week since last Tuesday that I'm blogging.  At least it'll help you keep up with your habits. :)   Here's a bit of reminiscing over Asher's weekly pictures that debuted at Asher's birthday party.  I don't think it needs much more explanation than that. 

Didn't Eric do an awesome job?!  This ones a keeper... that is my hubby, my baby... and this video. :) 

#Meagan

One year of blessings!

So in light of it being Thanksgiving this week, we thought it fitting that he wear his Thanksgiving shirt for this his last weekly picture.  Asher celebrates his first birthday on Thanksgiving day.  (Eric and I will be celebrating surviving our first year of parenthood.) 

We are overwhelmingly thankful for our little guy.  But since this is just our weekly post, I'll keep it to that, and we'll get sentimental when we do his birthday post later this week(though I can't promise it'll go up on Thursday!).

Asher's had quite the week.  He finally started sleeping through the night again, not regularly, but he's done so maybe three or four nights this week!  Woohoo for progress in the sleep department! 

We were reluctant about giving Asher a pacifier when he was born, but we caved and he quickly became dependent on it for falling asleep.  He only got it at nap time/bed time but he "needed" it.  Eric and I always said that as soon as he figured out how to put it in his mouth on his own it would be over.  But I think he must have heard and understood because he still puts it in his mouth backwards. We've been all worried that it was going to be a huge ordeal to do away with it. But, anyway, long story short a few days ago he just decided he didn't want it anymore, and for the last several days has been going down without a second thought for it.  We put them away for good.  A HUGE relief that it wasn't a major issue with him.  Just got lucky, I guess!  

Asher also took his first "steps" this week.   I don't know if you can really call them steps or not, but he took 2-3 between Eric and I sitting on the floor.  But I really think it was more of a controlled fall.  :)   He walks around furniture, and even along the wall sometimes, like a pro, but he doesn't have any balance on his two feet yet, because he still can't stand independent of something to hold on to.  But suffice it to say, we're getting closer to that day. 

We're down to only one nursing a day.  Asher's doing great, and while I was at first emotional and reluctant to begin the weaning process, I am now revelling in the regained freedom to wear whatever I want without regard to how easy it is to nurse in, as well as the fact that daddy can do a whole lot more of the care if I'm otherwise occupied, to name a few!  

Hmm... there was something else... oh, yeah,  Asher started saying "daddy"!!!  No, not dada.  He's been saying that for months.  He actually calls Eric 'Dadee!  Though sometimes it sounds like daggy or even gaggy, it's Eric he's talking about morning, noon, and night!  That boy LOVES his daddy! 

So his Thanksgiving shirt is quite appropriate. :)   We're very thankful for daddy 'round these parts!  

So that's it.  Don't go through too much withdrawl next Tuesday, please.  We'll keep posting, and we may even do as our friends do and post monthly pictures in the yellow chair from here on out.   But keep your eyes out for our pics from his first birthday later this week!

See ya all soon.  And have a very merry Thanksgiving!

#Meagan

Bookworm

Well, can you tell we're getting close to one year of weekly pictures?  We keep getting things posted later and later :P  Asher is continuously active, with his most recent affinity for climbing the stairs.  Whenever he gets a moment, he loves to make a b-line straight for the stairs, so we're always on watch.  We also purchased a gate for the top of the stairs, because he loves to make a b-line for the top of the stairs too.  However, he doesn't climb down the stairs, he just makes an attempt to fly down them.  His speed is still now match for ours, but I feel much better having that gate in place.

Here's his picture for the week, with him enjoying a book.  He loves to have us read to him, and he loves to "read" to himself, though he generally ends up with the book upside down :)

Enjoy!

Birthday next week!  We're looking forward to having family around and we'll be sure to post plenty of pictures.

#Eric

Progress! :)

Hello all!  Happy Tuesday!  Time for Asher's weekly picture.  We're down to the last few as he'll be 1 in just over two weeks.  No tears now.  We'll keep posting pictures.  Maybe just on a Monday or Thursday or whatever day suits. 

Anyway... here's an update for ya.  This week Asher started trying to crawl up the stairs. Unfortunately, he also has no fear of trying to crawl right off the bed, the couch, or the TOP stair.  It rather scares me to death that he doesn't even hesitate!  Since we had a later crawler, we kind of postponed the purchasing of a baby gate, and well, now we're rather desperate, 'cause, man, is he fast!!!  Time to go shopping ASAP.

In other news, Asher's finally making some positive gains towards getting over his separation anxiety!  He's made it through three weeks in a row to date in the church nursery without my having to go get him! Yay, Asher!

Sleep is also getting better. The night before last night he was only up once for 20 minutes.  And after going in and laying him back down from standing up, he put himself back to sleep.  Last night wasn't so great, but we're getting there!  It's just good to see some success in the "no more middle of night feeding/rocking back to sleep" department.  A few pats on the back are finally doing the trick! 

Praise God for his answers to prayers and that he cares even about our little concerns.
 
Here's our little reader/drool factory.  :)

#Meagan

A day late...again

Sorry to everyone who checked our blog yesterday for the weekly pic to find... nothing.  I don't know what else to say, except that it just didn't get done.

For those of you who want to know, sleep seems to be getting a little better.  We've been doing a modified "cry it out" for the last three nights.  "Modified" because I stand in there next to him the whole time and constantly lay him back down every three seconds when he stands back up.  It seems to be working, though.  The first night he screamed for about 45 minutes but last night we were down to only about 20 minutes!  When he's finally worn out, the last thing he does before finally putting himself to sleep is talking to himself.  It's cute as can be.  But last night it got even cuter, because it also included laughing at something.   Made me feel like what we're doing is okay, if the last thing he does before falling asleep is a little chuckling. :)

In other news, Asher has graduated on to a few new things.  He's crawling up on his knees now instead of army crawling.  Also when we "walk" around the house holding his hands, he can now do it holding on to only one hand... when he's feeling brave.  It's a good sign that he's gaining some balance on his two feet.  He's also almost exclusively feeding himself.  Goodbye purees!

Our little guy is now 11 months and 1 week.  That birthday is just around the corner!  So hard to believe it's almost been a year already!

Here he is.  Oh and don't forget to check back tomorrow, because seriously, I am soooo so so so so excited about his Halloween costume.  One more so.

And just for giggles, here's one of our outtakes :)

#Meagan

Sleep, I miss you.

It's been a rough week in the sleep department.  About a month or two ago, I realized Asher was waking up on a very regular schedule in the middle of the night because he had gotten into the habit of being nursed at those times.  So I spent 4 horrible nights of being up a bazillion times trying to wean him off of nursing at night, and after those 4 nights, believe it or not, we had a glorious month of him sleeping through the night. 

Then a couple of weeks ago, Asher came down with a nasty cold, and was sooo congested and had such a rough sounding throat that the only thing that would soothe him and decongest him was nursing.  I didn't mind it, because he was obviously sick, but as the cold healed, I was starting to notice him getting back onto that regular waking up schedule, so I decided it was time to cut the nighttime nursing again. 

But this time it's been a WHOLE different ballgame, because Asher has in the past month or so (since doing this last time), learned how to pull up to standing in his crib, but does not yet know how to get back down.  So whereas before, I could lay him down and leave him to fuss for a bit in his crib and he'd put himself back to sleep within a few minutes, now, within seconds he's screaming at the top of his lungs, standing, clinging to the bars.  I can't just leave him to fuss anymore... and we've gotten some bonks and bumps already from accidental tumbles against the crib bars. Which of course, just make matters (crying) worse.  :( 

Sooo long story short, Saturday night I was up with him from 1:45 - 3:50.  Sunday night I was up with him from 11:30 - 1:00, and then last night, oh horror of all nights, I was up with him from 11:50 - 3:20, then he woke back up at 4:00 (when I finally caved and nursed him), and then he was up for the day at 6:20. Eric tries so hard to be helpful in the night but Asher who loves his daddy  so much during the day, screams anytime daddy takes him at night.  So sad. :(

My awesome husband, however, voluntarily took a 1/2 day of vacation this morning to play with our child so this sleep deprived mommy could sleep!  It was wonderful, and I am soo grateful.   I still have hope every night, though, that tonight will be the night that this craziness ends, and that he'll go back to sleeping through the night,  but then I also have this horrible fear that in breaking the nighttime nursing habit, we're also somehow creating a new "be awake forever" habit.  Not a fun exchange, and it really leaves us clueless about how to proceed.  Because sitting awake for 3 1/2 hours every night, simply isn't an option (obviously!).

Anyway, sorry for my rambled jumbled emotions spilling out all over the place.  We're tired over here.  But God spoke to me tonight reminding me that he is still in control of even this, and that making poor sleep habits, while draining for us, don't really count as bad parenting, because while we're exhausted, sleep habits are not exactly an eternity issue, if that makes any sense.  For what it's worth, it gave me a little bit of my endurance back to make it through this phase.  Everything is just a phase... at least, that's what I keep telling myself! 

So without boring you further, here's Asher's weekly pic.  We love him dearly, even when we're falling apart all over the place in the middle of the night.  

And just because I'm soooo grateful for Eric today, I'm breaking with weekly tradtion and giving you a couple of daddy pictures from the last few days that absolutely melt my heart. :) I think you'll agree.

Seriously, can these two look anymore alike?  I mean they're even sitting in the exact same way!  Check our their profiles... daddy and his mini-me.  Asher loves, loves, loves music!

And he loves his daddy!

Enjoy your sleep for us!  And keep us in your prayers if you would!  :)

#Meagan

On the go!

Asher is 100% ready to walk!  Just can't do it independently yet, but that day will be here before we know it!  Asher's favorite activity this past week has been walking around the house holding on to our hands... and then cries anytime we stop.  We'll post a video here shortly... of him walking, not crying.  ;)  (I know, I know, we still haven't even gotten the crawling video up, but we will!) 

Anyway, today he pulled up on the laundry basket and started pushing it around the living room - until it started tipping over on him.  I put something heavy in it, but then he couldn't push it anymore.  :)    We're going to borrow one of those push around toys from a friend to try out for a while, cause it's killing our backs to help him walk.   We looked at them at Walmart last night and the ones they had were $45 and we decided it just wasn't worth buying him anything big... especially with a 1st birthday and Christmas just around the corner... and he'll probably be walking independently before then anyway, at the rate he's going! 

It's a blast though "following" him around the house and seeing where he wants to go.  He's not been brave enough to crawl out of our sight so far, so it's interesting to see where his two feet take him... most often to the bathtub.  Oh boy, does he LOVE bathtime!   Good thing we're not in the habit of leaving water in the tub... he's also become a fan of unrolling the toilet paper... who knew one could have so much fun in the bathroom. 

Anyway, I'm getting rambly.  Here's our pic of the week!  

 Scars healing up nicely, and yes, we know these socks are too small. ;)

Here's a pic of Asher doing a magic trick. :)

 

And here's his best rocker face to go with his rock star outfit from Great Grandma Scherer...  Grandma knows her boys... daddy secretly wishes he could be a rock star too! ;)   

#Meagan

Overalls

It's been a busy start to the week already, so we're getting this one out late. Asher is continuing to develop, with improved crawling, taking steps while holding on to us, scooting backward into a sitting position, and continued babbling. A new joy for me as I come home from work is his reaction when he first sees me walk in. I really want to get a video of it, so we'll see what we can do. Here's our boy, with his harvest overalls on.

 

And a couple more for good measure. 

 

 

Here's an overalls comparison.  I know what you're thinking, but yep, it's the same kid.

 

 

                                10 1/2 months                                                              2 weeks

This kid's a blast.

#Eric

Weekly pic- 10 months, 1 week (Sorry, can't think of a title)

Happy Tuesday everyone!  

Quick qualifier on our last post about coloring.  A friend commented on our last post saying "I've never thought about giving my babies crayons, because doesn't he put them in his mouth?"  Good point, but ummm... guess I forgot to mention, Asher doesn't put things in his mouth.  HUGE blessing when it comes to toys and not worrying about what's on the floor.  HUGE issue when we try to get him to feed himself!   He can pick those cheerios up with the most perfect pincer grasp, but he's yet to put a single one in his mouth.  And he LOVES cheerios.  Here's a list of the things Asher puts by himself into his mouth:
   1. His fingers. 

I guess any day that could change and he'll surprise me and have a big piece of something gross in his mouth off the ground... but for now, we try to remember to appreciate the blessing side of it when we're at the dinner table! 

In other news, he continues to increase his mobility.  He army crawls all the way across the living room floor now.  Though he often gets stuck under the coffee table crying 'cause he can't get out without continuously bonking his head. Poor guy. It's fun seeing him scoot all over the place, though! :)

 Enjoy the pic!  Oh and check out the two little teeth!!!!

#Meagan

10 months already?!

Our baby boy will be 10 months on Saturday!  That's hard to believe!   His newest accomplishments include discovering volume (his babbling I think just got twice as loud), coloring (yes, he colors by himself and adores it! I have the best story about that that I'll share soon), getting a second tooth (he's now got both bottom teeth sprouting), and as of this morning started "crawling" (by which I mean scooting)!  He's an absolute delight!   

The extreme stranger/separation anxiety rages on, which doesn't affect me much during the daily goings on, but there is no handing him off to anyone when we're outside of the house unless we want him to cry until he can't breathe.  Makes it difficult to leave him with a sitter, but thankfully he'll do "okay" with familiar people in our own home.  A good thing since I'm on jury duty this month and next.  Nursery on Sunday mornings, though, definitely not okay.  I think it's been three months since I've been able to sit through an entire church service... alas, I comfort myself by remembering that everything is just a phase...

We're starting to brainstorm Halloween costumes and 1st birthday party plans (can that really be just around the corner?!?) ...it's going to be a fun fall!

 

The adorable outfit he's wearing is marked 3-6 months... but during that phase of his life it was pretty huge on him (and he is/was not a small boy).  I was worried that by the time cool weather returned he'd have grown out of it and barely gotten to wear it, but to my surprise, it fits perfectly!  Thanks again to Aunt Lyndsey and Uncle Brandon!  He's worn it once before for a Tuesday pic, click here to see! It's worth a peek to see how much he's changed! :)   

 

Happy Tuesday!  Get out and enjoy the cool weather!

#Meagan 

Late yet again

Well, another busy week has yielded another late post, so sorry!   Asher continues to get bigger and bigger, and look like more and more of a little boy.  Enjoy :)

 

 

By the way, did you know my eyes are blue...

 

 

#Eric

Last minute Tuesday pic

 

A picture is worth a thousand words... what to say... I do not know.  It's getting late and my cleverness is running thin, and I can't think of anything to write.  But isn't he adorable?!   

Asher looking around me to smile at Eric being silly behind me...  I'm just not as funny, I guess. :)   So cute!   

                                    
#Meagan

Careful...

...I bite!  Well, he now has the potential to, at least! :) 

Yes, Asher has finally gotten his first tooth.  Well, I say "finally" because he's into his 9th month, but in all reality, I've been just fine with those toothless gums!  :)  We can see it and feel it, but it's not really visible in pics yet... so don't strain your eyes.  It's only about a tenth of an inch out of the gums.  :) 

Asher's running pretty much right on the text book schedule with the large motor skills... not early, not late... though we've said it once, we've said it a hundred times, that we think he's workin' on the verbal stuff first, and is doing pretty awesome with the small motor skills...  Anyway, here's the highlights of the week: 

1.  The tooth.
2. He started actually sucking on his sippy cup...after giving it to him at every meal, every single day for the last three months only to have him just chew on the darn thing... we're singing hallelujahs over this one!
3.  Today he made his first attempt at forward motion crawling... we thought he might skip that stage entirely, since he's hated tummy time most of his life and has been pulling up on furniture for over a month... but alas, it seems he might still crawl after all.  :) 

Anyway... here's the pic of the week @ 9 months, 1 week.  Such a joy!

And I'm off...!  Can't take my eyes off this kid for a second anymore when he's in this chair... he was almost on his feet leaning off the chair before I got to him!  All boy for sure.  :)

 

#Meagan

Sleepy boy

We decided to take our weekly pictures first thing this morning.  He was happy as a lark, but it still took a while to get this smile...

Most of the first few pictures we took looked more like this... just not quite awake yet. :)  Makes me laugh every time I look at it!  :)  

Anyway, we're thrilled that it's finally cooling down.  There were very few days in July when we wanted to brave the heat and venture outdoors.  So we're definitely soaking up the cool mornings and getting out for walks and to just laze in the yard!  It got down to the 40s here in the early morning hours and the house this morning was pretty cool so we got dressed all snuggly-like.  Welcome early fall!  But I doubt we'll get to leave the sweatshirts on too long... it is still August in Iowa after all. :) 

Asher is going to be nine months tomorrow!  I continue to remain in disbelief over how fast time is going, how big he is getting, how fast he is growing.  BUT with that, he's just continued to be more fun everyday - since the day he was born, I think! :)   We just get to see more of his little personality and he is more interactive all the time! I'll give you a more thorough update on him tomorrow though.  I've got a nine month blog post idea in the works!  So you'll just have to wait until then! :)

Happy Tuesday!

#Meagan

Crazy day

It's a crazy day 'round here so this is going to be short. 

For one, we were at the State Fair yesterday (which was super fun and we got some awesome pics that I'll share tomorrow!) but it always throws my week off a bit when we're gone on a Monday. Things that I usually do on Monday (like laundry and grocery shopping) don't get done and disasters happen... like no clean undies.... oops :)  Sorry if that was too much infomation.  But there was definitely some speed laundry going on this mornin'!   

Secondly, we started a simple project this weekend that I thought might take an hour that morphed into a much larger project that's cluttering my entire upstairs and which I'm STILL trying to wrap up.  Why does that always happen with my projects???

Thirdly, we're hosting our bible study tonight, so I'd better get back to tidying the house and folding laundry so people don't have to sit on the piles of clean clothes that are all over our couch! 

So, anyway, here's Asher's pic of the week - check that off the super long to-do list for the day!  I know I'll appreciate having these pictures in the long run, and most the time I love taking them, but some Tuesday mornings (like this one) it feels like just one more thing to do!  Though he's as adorable as always...

Can't wait to share our pics from the fair so be sure to check back tomorrow!!!

#Meagan

Mobile Baby

Well at 8 1/2 months our baby is finally mobile.  He recently decided he was no longer content to just sit stationary all day.  We're super excited he's learning and developing, but now that the day is here we're also starting to understand why everyone told us to enjoy he pre-mobile days.  :)

You may have seen the video Eric posted last week of him starting to pull up, but since then, he's also gotten up on his knees, and actually -yes, Asher (who has always HATED tummy time) - rolled ALL the way across the living room floor to get to daddy. :)  He's pulling up on more things everyday and is getting closer to crawling too! 

Such a blast.  :)  

Happy Tuesday!

#Meagan

We have to do this AGAIN, mom???

We've been out of town today so we took a real quick photo shoot of a borderline fussy baby before we left. :)  At least we posted a bunch of videos the other day so you can watch (or re-watch) those if you want a little more from today's weekly picture post. :)

Asher continues to get more fun all the time.  He's starting to mimic us (clapping, among other gestures- pointing, tapping his fingernails on the table, etc.) He adds more consonants to his vocabulary every day, it actually sounds like he's talking half the time (if only we could understand him!), and as you saw in the video, he's discovering VOLUME!  

After being a VERY stationary baby for the last 8 months he is finally starting to move of his own accord - attempting to pull up on things, getting up on his knees, etc.  It's so fun to see, but also strikes a little bit of terror in my heart wondering how I'm going to adjust to a mobile child after being a little spoiled to still be able to plop my 8 month old down on the floor and not worry about him going anywhere when I'm in the shower.  We'll figure out how to adjust somehow.  :)

Anyway, here's his pic! 

Against tradion of the weekly picture post, I just couldn't help not posting this pic we took last night... pure JOY!  :)  Thanks Aunt Heidi for passing down your kids' lamb chair to us.  It's a new fave! :)

 #Meagan

  

Moving along

This weekend was the wedding of Meagan's sister Bethany, and it was a wonderful, beautiful event.  Many congratulations go out to the newly wedded couple, who I'm sure are now having tons of fun on their honeymooon.  This was Asher's first wedding, and much to my relief he fell asleep right before the ceremony started, and woke up to the applause after the announcement of the couple.  Perfect timing to say the least.  We'll try to scrounge up some pictures from the weekend.  No guarantees. 

Anyway, without further ado, here's the picture of the week.  This kid is a blast.

In other news, Asher is now clapping too.  We've got a great video that we'll post soon.

Later!

#Eric



A few old fashioned things

We got this old fashioned outfit from a baby shower a while back.  Eric thinks it makes him look like a girl, so we haven't worn it much, but if you think about it, back in the day all babies wore dresses and girlie looking clothes, so I guess it kind of makes sense that it might make him look feminine.  To Asher's benefit at least it's blue, and I, personally, think it's cute.  Anyway, I'm running out of clothing choices for the weekly picture because we're not quite in the next size yet, and for some reason I don't really want to post him in the same outfit twice.  So there you have it, you've seen our entire 6-9 month wardrobe. If his clothes look a little baggy next week, well, now you know why. :)  

I was also inspired to put him in this little outfit, because we visited our local auction house this weekend and I snagged some really cool, really old pieces of furniture for cheap. I was going to share them here; my old fashioned furniture finds with Asher in his old fashioned outfit... but as this is supposed to be a weekly post about Asher, I'll save that for tomorrow. 

Let me just say that EVERYONE loved Asher at the auction.  I don't know how many compliments I got about how good of a baby he was, how contented, how quiet, how cute. He smiled a ton, slept through half of it, and didn't make any more of a peep than a few happy squeals. :)  Granted the median age of attendees was probably 60 and most were grandparents, it's always nice to hear nice things about your kid. And I love how portable he is!  There really isn't much we can't do... though that is changing at night time.  Bedtime routines and being at home for them are more important for Asher than they used to be... anyway... that's a different story.

Hard to believe our little guy will be 8 months on Sunday!   

#Meagan