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

Yellow and Blue Make Green- Art and Asher Don't Mix

Asher has signed up for a 5 session art class at a former Art teacher's home. He has already been to 2 and needless to say, we think Asher loves leaving the class more than he enjoys going. Oh well, it provides Mommy and Daddy with something to laugh about.


He was scared of the finger paint and the play room at the art class, really the entire experience.

Happy to be in Mama's arms. We are both messy with paint.

Asher says, "Let's blow this art stand and head home, I've had it!"

July Recap

What a month it has been. We sure have enjoyed this summer as a family. It is so much different from last year when Asher took 3 naps a day forcing us to stay indoors. Now, he is down to two naps a day and we are trying so very hard to reduce it to one. In the meantime, he has had fun going to JW Tumbles, the playground, out to lunch with his mommy, and to the speech therapist.  Asher even got a special treat this month, Nana spent 4 days with him while we went to Bermuda for our first trip away since we had our little man.

Asher's words/phrases are now: "What's is that?" and "Do you see it?".  He can also sign the following words: cat, hat, dog,eat, milk, more, outside, cracker, and sun. We are still working on Mom and Dad but in the meantime, he enjoys pretending to pick his nose to try to make us laugh. Asher is all BOY!

Wearing his hat backwards, our cool kid!

While we were in Bermuda, Nana taught him "Ring around the Rosies". He likes it when you say, "We all fall down!"

He sure is concentrating...

on the Ipad of course.

Not so sure about this waterpark.

Splish Splash goes the toes

warming up to the idea

Having fun with Daddy!

Playtime in Pittsburgh

Over the past 5 days we have spent some time in Pittsburgh. Boy, did we play! We had so much fun we really did not want to go home. Asher showed us how much he enjoys running or toddling around the park. He also showed us how much he loves to climb steep things such as hills and stairs. One thing is for certain, he definitely did not inherit the love of all things steep from me. Watch out World, Asher is on the move!

On a stroll with Nana and he is even holding her hand!

A little swing time is in order!

On the move...

 Pure joy

 I saw how much fun everyone was having so I had to get in on the act.

I love the way Asher is looking at me in this picture.

Asher had so much fun on the slide, he wanted to climb back up.

Asher's first Merry-Go-Round

Nana and I got in a little debate about what to call Asher's first ride. Was it a carousel or a merry-go-round? Just so you know, Nana was right. A merry-go-round has all different animals and a carousel only has horses. I learned something new!


Meanwhile, Grandpa Neil had to join the fun! Asher asserted his independent streak with his Grandpa by refusing to hold his hand. He also tried to dodge us all in the park and even went through Grandpa's legs. Wow, he does not want our help!

A little shoulder time is always important with every visit.

Can you guess who has had enough with the paparazzi in this photo?