Putting 2012 and Asher to bed!

We were hit with monster colds this past week.  Asher had a double ear infection with a bulging ear drum, Jed had extra fluid in his ears and I lost my sense of taste and smell. In fact, as I am writing this, I still cannot taste or smell. Anyway, the good news is that we are all on the mend. 

With that said, we are still struggling with a child who refuses to sleep, but like one of Jed's friends said, "Did you really think you were going to be the only parent that didn't have a sleep issue with their baby?" We now realize that a lack of sleep is just part of the journey we must take as parents. In the meantime, we have had extra cuddle time with Asher which we have tried to enjoy even if it is at odd hours of the night.

It was a wonderful year.  We have enjoyed listening to Asher's language explode in the last few weeks. He says so many words now that we stopped counting. In 2012, Asher learned to walk, run, and talk. He also learned how to crawl out of his crib, play with his new friends at Toddlers on the Hill, and give kisses and hugs.

Here are some great shots of our sweet baby that didn't make the blog cut this year, but are still so much fun to "oohh" and "aahh" over!

Playing in a park with the Pittsburgh skyline-November

Grandpa and Asher are very cool in their shades!

Having fun in the sand in Florida-November

Playing with cousins in Rochester-December

Farewell 2012!

Why Can't I Eat Cat Food?

Asher couldn't wait to become a 2 year old and wanted to know what the hype was all about so, he decided that it was time to start playing the part.  This means that he has given his Mommy and Daddy a run for their money.  He constantly climbs and gets into everything, opens all kinds of doors with locks, and is a little bit naughty which has left us to shake our heads and begin the timeout routine. 

Timeout usually consists of one of us taking him to a wall near our dining room and telling him what he has done. We were surprised at how well Asher adapted to this new routine. He looked like a person being frisked by the cops and immediately started negotiating with us. It was hard to contain our laughter, but we needed to take back our house from our rambunctious little one and set some rules.

Here is a video that we plan on showing his girlfriend one day! Enjoy!

Climbing is exhausting for EVERYONE!

 

 

We decided to go to Rochester, NY to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah with our cousins.  Unfortunately, this marked the last time our son would nap or sleep in the crib. While he was in Rochester, he learned how to crawl out of the crib and that experience has changed our life entirely. We have converted the crib to a bed, but Asher no long naps or sleeps through the night. We hope this is a phase, but we are very tired and becoming increasingly annoyed with our once excellent sleep angel.  We have tried to find humor with our situation and have started keeping a score card that we update. So far, Asher is winning!

 

 

 

 

 Anyway, here are two videos we took while in Rochester of him scaling gym equipment meant for children over 5. Jed had to run up and catch him. 

 

 



I know my ABC's

Asher's passion since he was 17 months old has been letters.  For the last month or two he has mastered recognition of all 26 letters, oh my!  The only way we can get him in the tub is with the magical alphabet. Every kid has their thing, we never thought it would be letters. Asher continues to amaze us! See bath time below. Also, notice his line up of the bath toys, we did not do this!

Daddy Diamond (Grandpa) comes to town

Grandpa Diamond came to town for my birthday and to see the family. It was so nice to have him all to ourselves. Asher had a lot of fun playing with him. They had pillow fights, daily chocolate milk and pumpkin chai runs, and lots of play time in the park.

Our daily routine was to head to the coffee shop--Asher loved it!

Asher wants to be just like Grandpa and sit on the bench.

National Arboretum

A few weeks ago we took advantage of the nice weather DC brings us in  the Fall and headed to the National Arboretum. What a pretty place to hang out and it is only a few miles away from our home. Here are some snapshots from the day.

Asher is fascinated with running water and fountains!

With Bubbie at the old Capitol columns

Toddlers on the Hill

Asher started attending Toddlers on the Hill, a toddler Montessori  playgroup. The group meets two days a week for three hours at a time. Asher loves it and is learning to work with others, put materials away when he is finished, and play in a space that is truly meant for his age group.  Toddlers on the Hill ROCKS!!! Check out the video at the end.

testing out the crayons...

loves the chime

Asher's buddies on a train. He is the third from the back.

 

Catching Up!

I would have blogged a few more times in October, but then Frankenstorm hit, so Jed, Asher, and I decided to make a quick getaway to Florida to relax and bypass the stormy weather.  We are now back and I realized that so much happened in October that I needed to play catch up with this blog.
This will be part 1 of the end of October adventures. So, expect some more blog action in the near future. 

Asher, Bubbie, and I headed to the petting zoo in Reston, Virginia in mid October.  Asher loved the ducks and cows and we loved the spider hat!

 

What do you see, Asher?

On a walk with Bubbie



Peeking through the bench...

Batman Takes on Music Class

Asher started music class at the end of September. He goes every Saturday at 9am.  It is great for all of us because we get out of the house and start our day. Asher loves it except that he is always trying to find the nearest exit. Ásher's Daddy seems to think it is because he knows the songs are really lame.  I told him, "Shhh, that's nonsense...Asher is just all boy!" There's a video at the end of this post, where you can weigh in on our little debate.

Bubbie cuddles

Loves the musical instruments, HATES giving them back.

Batman in music class? Who knew?

Rockin out with Grandpa Neil!

Asher had a fantastic first half of October. We have been so busy that I have had a hard time staying up with the blog.  He spent a lot of quality time with his Bubbie and even rocked out at the local pizza joint with his Grandpa Neil a week ago.  Here is a video and picture that are way too cute to pass up.  Rock On Little Asher!

 

For the Love of Reading

Today, Asher woke up extra early and I wasn't ready to start the day, so I brought him into bed with me.  He settled down and at 7am nudged me and said, "Ma-Ma"with a big smile.  That was it-- my heart melted, he gave me the best greeting a mom could ask for in the morning.  Over the last few weeks, Asher has started calling us by Ma-Ma and Da-da. We know he is a little late in the game on saying these lovely words, but it was so worth the wait and the anticipation.
He is also fascinated with colors and letters. He loves pointing out letters and looks at me to name them. He also repeats colors after I have said them. It must be because of the new book we are reading, Little Blue and Little Yellow. I read that book to Asher at least 10 times today, I am not kidding. 

Uh-Oh maybe this isn't a good place to store some of the books?

Asher climbed up on this rocker to look at some of his books.

He has a little boo-boo on his nose right now and I promise it is not from falling off the rocker.

Finally, found a book that he wants.

Sitting down in the chair to read. I was relieved to see that he had made it down safely.

See the train in the background? You can sit on that, but now Asher associates everything that moves with something he can sit on. Love it!

Caught you sitting on your car little Asher!

Today, we got a birth announcement from a good friend. Asher took the announcement and smiled really wide when he saw the baby and then kissed the picture while I ran to get the camera. The picture above is him showing his new found friendship with baby Graham.

Finally, I thought I would end the September showcase with a little picture of Asher at the very end of August possibly the beginning of September. For some reason, I didn't add this earlier, but find it too cute to pass up now.

Almost Fall

Fall is only two days away, but you wouldn't know that in DC.  In my opinion, the best time of the year to travel to DC is in the Fall.  No humidity and sunny skies the only downside are those pesky mosquitoes that seem to LOVE Asher's chubby knees, arms, and cheeks.  Asher took advantage of the weather and played, and played, and played some more. It helped to have Nana, I mean, Grandma here to visit.

Beep! Beep! Goes the car

 Today we had so much fun at the SEC building. We played outside in their little park for about an hour and then headed to Union Station for a chocolate milk.  What a day!

Dance, dance, like you've got ants in your pants.

Asher loves to climb on the bench by himself.

You can just tell what he is thinking--He is super proud of his ability to sit like a big boy.

He is checking out my camera while I am taking pictures. This is Asher's curious facial expression.

Summer Fun!

Last week Asher stayed busy by going to the zoo for the first time and hanging out with friends at the pool.  Here are the snapshots from our amazing weekend.

Even though we were at the National Zoo he liked the kid farm the best.

He wasn't afraid of the donkeys

 However, he was afraid of all the other animals, especially the orangutans. He let out a huge yelp when he thought one was coming after him. Luckily, Daddy was there to save him.


Next, it was off to the pool with our friends Rachel and Emma. Asher loved splashing in the pool and was being very silly.

Rachel and Emma enjoying the sunshine!

My little lobster