Asher: thirteen months

Growth/ development

Asher is big! He's like a tank, and his chubby thighs are just irresistibly sweet! No official height or weight this month, but his shoe size is 5 and he wears 12-18 month clothing. He STILL only has five teeth! I can't believe how long it's been since he last got a tooth! 

He can stand on his own, and walk while pushing a toy. He isn't too interested in walking, though, because crawling is soooooo much faster. Our boy is really growing in the communication realm lately, babbling to himself and making all sorts of sounds and noises and gestures to get his point across. He's also started to use some baby sign language, which is awesome. 

This month Asher cut down on his bottles a lot! He drinks 2-3 bottles of milk a day; it's mostly whole cow's milk with some pumped breastmilk mixed in. I would say his total milk intake is between 15-18 ounces (with only 4-8 ounces being breastmilk) -- personally, I wish he didn't drink so much cow's milk because our diet has a fair amount of dairy in it and I don't want to overload his system with dairy. It's something I will continue to work on-- giving him lots of healthy meals to fill his belly with a well-rounded diet enough that he doesn't ask for milk bottles as often. He doesn't seem bothered by the milk at all, his system is handling it just fine. We'll see what the next month is like. 

Sleep/ schedule

Though he consistently wakes up too early for our liking, Asher has settled into life as a pretty good sleeper. He almost always sleeps from 7ish till 6ish. His naps are regular and almost always 1.5 hours each (morning roughly 8-9:30, adjusted based on his wake up time that day and afternoon roughly 1:15-2:45pm). 

Every once in a while Asher stirs or cries in the night but he usually puts himself back to sleep quickly. If he's woken up in the 4-5am range, though, he doesn't settle back easily even though he's exhausted. We often give him a small bottle of milk to help him relax and he will go back to sleep for a few more hours- this usually happens once or twice a month. 

Communication

Says: Dada, hiii, hot, dog 

Signs: more, all done, thank you 

Also points (and grunts!! Loudly! Until we understand him!), waves hello/ goodbye, gives high fives, and blows kisses (the most adorable thing on the planet!). Hilariously, his motion for signing "thank you" is the same as his motion for blowing kisses. Makes me giggle :) 

Food

Eats three meals and at least two snacks a day. Just started using a loaded fork and spoon this month! He loves eating this way, must feel proud to be such a big boy. 

Likes black and kidney beans, smoothies, quiche, frozen peas, corn on the cob, anything sweet (banana or zucchini muffins), pasta, pizza, shredded pork, and whole fruit (don't even think about cutting up that pear, banana, or apple! He wants the whole dang thing to gnaw on!). 

Doesn't like cut up fruit, whole pieces of chicken or beef, and chickpeas. 

Activity

Asher loves being outside. He will be completely miserable, clingy, and fussy, but then we take him out into the yard and he's a total peach. He also loves exploring, climbing, and taking things out/ putting them back in. He likes to read books, play with cars, ride in the stroller, climb onto Charlotte's kitchen stool, open cabinet doors, and feel various textures. 

Asher adores his big sister and is really starting to be quite a Daddy's boy. He is snuggly and silly and our family just can't get enough of his sweet little self. Happy 13 months, baby boy! We love you so much! 

Life around here lately, 3

Charlotte is 32 months old (almost three years!) and Asher is one. I'm almost 32 ;) 

We're on day 7 of cloudy/ rainy and cool weather. Fortunately, we've had a pocket of sun here and there, and it's not constantly raining, which is a big relief. I'm in a much better place physically and emotionally than I was one year ago at this time (with a brand new baby, in a house that wasn't our own!), and the icky weather isn't getting me down as much as I was afraid it might. We've managed to have some play dates and swing on the swings and visit the library. All those fun bits help us manage the rain fairly well. 

Both children are in really fun stages right now. 

Charlotte is constantly creating... painting, coloring, making dinner parties for her stuffed animals, using play dough to create cookies for a snack, setting up a restaurant in our new play house, and just making things in general. She's also making really significant conversations lately. She's asking about Bible stories we read, and questioning song lyrics that we sing. She's noticing tiny details in books, and asking a million questions a day. I love chatting with her, and teaching her things. Sometimes the listening is exhausting, and I struggle to really truly pay attention and engage. Working on that. 

Asher is constantly exploring... He crawls all over the house, checking everything out. He loves to take things out of the recycling bin and touch every object. He likes to crawl into the bathroom, and if the lid isn't closed, he tries to explore the contents of the toilet! Ick. Using a push toy, he can walk down the hallway or across the living room. He's always cruising from one chair to the next, or from the  couch to someone's nearby arm/leg. If there's a door open, Asher immediately bolts to get outside. He's had a lot of clothing changes lately, and I'm doing a lot of laundry since his pants get completely covered in mud the second he's outside! It's worth it, though, because he is unbelievably happy playing in the yard and crawling along the driveway. 

Asher is ONE / twelve months!

Happy first birthday to my sweet, fun, handsome boy! We love you and are so proud of you! 

Growth/ development: Asher weighs 24 pounds, is 31 inches tall (same as Charlotte at one!), and his head is 19 inches. He wears size four diapers and most of his clothing is 12-18 month range. His 12 months pants and onesies are wayyyyy too small, but we are temporarily squeezing him into 12 month PJs. :) He still only has five teeth-- we keep expecting the sixth one to appear, but it hasn't yet. 

Asher can cruise from one object to another and is constantly standing up to play. He crawls like a speeding bullet and can get wherever he wants to go, at any time. We borrowed a push toy from our friends and Asher can walk across the living room while pushing the toy. He gets so excited and his joy just breaks my heart! 

This month, Asher developed his waving and clapping skills. He also learned to give high fives-- so cute! He says, "Hiiiii," "Dada," and "Chock" (which sometimes means truck, and other times means who knows what?! :) )

Sleep/ schedule: Asher consistently sleeps through the night- usually from about 7pm to 6am!!! Sometimes he stirs and Joel goes in to talk and comfort him for a second, but that's very rare. He also wakes up before 6 at least once a week-- and sometimes wakes up closer to five... ugh! His naps are pretty consistent-- from about 7:45/8 until 9/10am. His second nap is usually from 1-2:30/3pm. 

Asher still drinks 5-6 bottles of breast milk each day. I've dropped down to three pumping sessions but that's still producing enough for his needs. His total breast milk intake has dropped, and he's definitely eating more solids than he did a few weeks ago. However, he really enjoys his bottles and seems to use the bottle drinking time to relax, particularly before naps and bedtime. I'm hoping to ease back from breas tmilk even more, by replacing a few ounces per day with whole cow's milk. I don't want to sub all his bottles with cow's milk, because I want him to be hungry for actual food. It's a bit of a dilemma for me. 

Asher likes: Being outside, playing near Charlotte, reading books, picking up/throwing dirt, taking things out of baskets/bowls, putting things back in (he JUST started this activity and it's adorable!), picking up small objects, playing wild games with his sister and dad, his monkey lovey, putting things in his mouth, and exploring machinery like the stroller, push toys, bike tire pump, and front controls in the van. 

Asher doesn't like: being overtired, waiting to eat, being away from Mom too long, and when Charlotte tells him "No" or pushes him away. 

Big things this month: It's been such fun watching Asher grow and learn. This month Asher had a visit from his maternal grandparents, tried some new foods, and enjoyed a LOT of time playing in the dirt. We love him so much, and thank God for the good gift of our sweet, toddler boy!