Asher: eighteen months

[This was written last spring, when Asher was 18 months old. It's being published an entire month after his second birthday. Poor, neglected little guy!!! :(  ]

In classic reality for the second child, I've gone almost two full months without posting an update on Asher's growth and life. The 17 month post will never be, so I'm jumping into the 18 month post, just a couple of weeks late. Ha!

Growth/ development: Asher's a walking, running, talking machine! It took him so long to learn to walk, but he picked up running in about ten minutes. It's hard to keep up with him as he wanders all over the house, and in the yard, and down the road to splash through puddles and peek at the pig in our neighbors' backyard.

At his checkup last week, Asher weighed 27 pounds and was 33 3/4 inches tall. He didn't gain much weight since his last checkup, but he grew a lot taller! Since birth, Asher's been seeing one of the doctors at our local family practice. Sadly, that doctor left the practice and this month Asher saw someone different for the first time. He didn't seem to notice (or mind) a single bit, but I feel really sad about the loss of this relationship and am not as satisfied with the new doctor. Bummer.


Sleep/ schedule: Asher switched to one nap just in time, because at the end of February our family rhythms changed with the addition of an afternoon babysitting job. I leave the house at 2pm with both kids, so Asher's nap needs to happen before that. He usually wakes up for the day between 6 and 7, then goes down for his nap between 11:30 and 12. If not woken up, Asher will often nap for 2.5 hours, but on school days I always have to wake him up to get out the door for baby-sitting.

He goes to bed around 7pm, sometimes closer to 7:30 if he's taken a solid nap and doesn't seem fussy. Other than sleep times, Asher doesn't have any specific schedule. He mostly spends time playing independently, exploring, and wandering around making messes. His bedtime routine is very simple and he almost always goes to sleep quickly and easily.

Communication: We can't believe how much Asher talks! It would be impossible for me to list how many words he uses-- far more than Charlotte did at this age. Both Joel and I are surprised by how much he can say, maybe because we expected him to develop his vocabulary slowly since he is a boy. But we were wrong! Some of his favorite (or most used!) words include: Char-Char, Daddy, Momma, ba-ba (bottle!! still!! haha!), ME!, MINE!, NO!, yes, please, see, ball, keys, car, Bible, book, dog, cheese, and drive. He knows many animal names and can make a lot of their sounds. My personal favorite is his imitation of an elephant, which includes waving his hand up into the air like an elephant's trunk while snorting out a gust of air!

Likes: Being outside, holding keys, pretending to drive cars and open doors with keys, picking up rocks, pushing toys (such as the baby stroller or shopping cart), opening and closing doors, sitting in our laps to read books, being near Charlotte, wandering down the street to check out the pig, splashing through puddles, water of any kind, using the pretend faucet in our play kitchen, stacking/ knocking over towers, hugging stuffed animals, listening to songs on YouTube, dancing, looking at picture books, hugging, kissing, snuggling, and identifying objects and animals. He is THE MOST FUN little boy on the planet. 18 months is such an awesome  age!!!

Dislikes: Being told NO, being made to sit down or be strapped into the car seat, food that doesn't interest him at that exact second, not drinking from a bottle all day every day (HA!), having toys taken by his sister, and not being allowed to watch his favorite music videos over and over and over again. He also doesn't like having to come inside before he's ready! This has proven to be a real challenge, as the weather for the last four months has been unbearably rainy. Charlotte loves to play inside and can keep herself pretty well occupied inside for most of the day, while Asher gets antsy and frustrated if he can't go out. I have a hard time balancing their needs and their varying interests in these current stages of development. 

It blows my mind how much joy one little guy can bring to our world. We love you, Asher Bash. Sooo many hugs and kisses!

Asher: sixteen months

Growth/ development: Asher's fifteen month checkup was in the middle of last month. That day, he weighed 26 pounds, 6 ounces. He was 30 1/4 inches tall. He's at the very top of the growth chart for height, and average for weight. Since he started walking this month, he's slimmed down some :) If he's wearing a cloth diaper, 18 month onesies are too tight. He can still wear pants in the 18 month size, as well as 24 month. He wears size 5 shoes and has 8 teeth. Still seems to be working on molars, as he is drooling like crazy and constantly putting his fingers in his mouth. He seems extra fussy this month, as well.

Asher is finally walking! I'd say he walks 85% of the time, and crawls the last 15%... mostly on unstable ground like playground mulch and garden soil. Or when he's very upset or exhausted. He is pretty steady on his feet these days, and can carry things while walking and turn around to walk another way. He gets this proud look on his face. It's the cutest!

Communication: Asher has a lot to say. He babbles a lot, and when he talks to his grandparents on FaceTime, he goes on and on as if he's been wanting to chat with them! He will point and gesture with his hands, and raise his voice to make a point, though we rarely know what that point might be!

He still has the same signs, but the number of words he says seems to be multiplying rapidly. I can't even keep track of how many words he knows. The ones he says most frequently are: Noooooo, Daddy, ba-ba (ball, bottle), car-car, baby, Hiiiii, Bye-bye, choo choo, and Mama.

Sleep/ schedule: While he's doing a solid job on his one nap (2-3 hours daily), Asher's night sleep wasn't great this month. He rarely sleeps all the way through the night, often waking in the 2-5 am range, fully awake and fussing. If we give him a warm bottle and put him back to bed, he will usually sleep until 7 or 7:15am. It's a bad habit, but I'm using the excuse that our whole morning is better if he sleeps until 7, as opposed to waking for the day at 6am. His nap is almost always at noon, but we adjust it slightly based on his morning wake time.

Food: Asher's kind of unreliable about his eating, still. He LOVES to drink whole milk from a bottle, which kind of drives me crazy, though I'm not willing to go cold turkey on the bottles because I know the comfort helps him settle for sleep and I'm too exhausted to mess with his sleep.

Some of his favorite foods are black beans, cheese, steamed baby carrots, bread (and pizza!!!), yogurt, smoothies, meat sauce, and all kinds of fruit.

Activity: As always, this little man stays busy! He adores being outside, and just started liking to swing again. He will whine at the door, saying "Wheeee" and pointing at the swing until we take him out to play. He likes to be pushed fast. He also loves to explore the yard and open the doors and windows on our play house. If Charlotte is nearby playing, Asher will be happy to hang out and do his own thing. He also loves to wrestle and snuggle and read books. He's such a sweet, communicative guy. We adore him! 

Asher: fifteen months

Asher's fifteen month birthday is also the start of a new year: 2017! What a big year this has been for our little guy. We can't imagine life without him. 

Growth/ development

After his fifteen month well check in January, I will add his height and weight. He wears the same size 5 shoes that he's been wearing, 18 month clothing (And sometimes 24 month clothing, especially if he has a cloth diaper on!), and has seven teeth. He's been drooling hardcore for the last month. It makes me wonder if he's working on molars, but none have appeared yet. 

He went from a few tentative steps at the beginning of the month to full on toddling just before the New Year. It seems that if he's playing a game, or holding onto something (like a ball, or Christmas wrapping paper), he's more confident to walk longer distances, such as across the room. 

Communication

Asher regularly uses the signs for more, please, and all done. When he signs "please," he also says the word. 

We can't believe how much this guy talks!! His words include: please, cheese, cracker, keys, hot, hat, more, hi, buh bye, bath, bottle (baba), no no no, garbage truck, tractor, choo choo, and juice. 

He knows the sounds for lion, duck, horse, sheep, cow, pig, and dog. Sometimes he meows like a cat. Ha. 

Sleep/ schedule

Despite two cross country (and cross time zones) trips this month, Asher was a champion sleeper. Most nights he slept 12-13 hours straight. A few nights he woke up once for a bottle, then quickly put himself back to sleep. 

He also transitioned to one nap this month. He handles the day best if his nap is around 12pm, and he usually sleeps 1.5 to 3 hours, depending on the day and circumstances. He took a lot of naps in different places this month, but handled them all very well. We are grateful for this good little sleeper, especially considering how poorly he slept for his first nine months AND that his big sister is now sleeping far worse than she has in her whole life. Oy! 

Food 

Asher's appetite varies greatly from day to day and from meal to meal. It's hard to get an accurate understanding of how much / when he wants to eat, since we've been traveling and out of our routine so much this month. Some of his favorite things to eat are mashed potatoes, clementines, berries, ham/ pork, and bread of any kind. He loves to snack, and he loves to drink milk from bottles. 

Activity

Asher is such an active, rough and tumble guy. He is so busy, always on the move!! He loves to explore, especially outside. He is a social butterfly, and enjoys playing with Charlotte and hanging out with friends and his family. He loves to wrestle with Joel and plays sort of rough with Charlotte (sometimes it's well received, sometimes... Not so much ;) )

Fifteen months is such a fun age! So much to learn, so much to do, and so many words to babble! 

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! 

Asher: ten months old

Growth/ development: Two weeks ago, at 9.5 months, Asher weighed 22 pounds, 4 ounces and was 30.5 inches tall. His head was about 18.5 inches in circumference. He wears size four diapers and size 12-18 month clothing. Because he wears cloth diapers, he needs extra big clothing. :)

This month Asher has been taking bottles consistently, and seems totally happy to get pumped milk from the bottle, instead of only nursing. It's been a long six weeks of trying to heal my skin where his teeth cut, but hopefully things are on the mend. I would really love to get back to nursing regularly, but we will see. For now, I think we will try to keep nursing for the first feeding of the day, but during the day and at bedtime it just seems easier to do bottles. 

Asher is a crazy fast crawler! He figured it out on vacation in Colorado, and hasn't looked back. I love to hear his little hands clapping the hardwood floors as he maneuvers around the house. 

He's also mastered pulling himself up! He loves to stand in the bathtub, and next to the couch, and on the play kitchen. He can't always get himself back down easily, though, which presents a problem when he's standing sobbing in his crib:

Sleep/schedule: Drumroll, please.... Asher no longer nurses at night!!!! It only took nine months ;) but it's totally amazing. He doesn't even wake up most nights, but if he does cry, Joel goes in and talks quietly to him for a minute and comes back to bed. Night weaning/ sleep training this month was a lot easier than I expected, and I'm so relieved!

Asher is still going to bed around 7pm. He wakes up pretty early (usually around 6am), and he takes his first nap around 8am. His second nap is almost always around 1pm. Both his naps are consistently at least1.5 hours, but sometimes they are two full hours!!

Asher likes: crawling!!!, standing up, following Charlotte around the house, touching things, dumping out toys, WATER!!, snuggling/ hugging, chewing everything, "reading" books, and so many more things. He is a really happy, easygoing baby. 

Asher doesn't like; diaper changes, getting dressed, waiting for milk, and getting his sleep sack on. The moments before sleep time are his worst all day! It's kind of hilarious to me, because it's like: "dude, you've been getting zipped into your sleep sack multiple times a day for your whole life... Get used to it!" :) 

Parenting: this month has been a whirlwind!! I think the word change sums up Asher's tenth month of life. One week he started crawling, the next week he night weaned, and the next week he started dropping nursing sessions!! It feels like a lot to me, and I've been pretty emotional about how fast it's all gone. I also feel really, really sad to be giving up nursing him already. I love this baby so much and it breaks my heart to not get as much quiet time with him as I used to have. 

Asher is a totally delightful little boy; he lights up our world!! 

Asher: eight months old

Growth/development: Asher still isn't quite crawling but he can scoot backward quickly and he loves to spin around in circles on his belly. He can go from sitting to laying on his tummy. He never stays on his back-- always immediately rolls to his belly. I remember Charlotte rolling every which way at eight months, but Asher is pretty content to hang out in one place.

He has his two bottom middle teeth now, and it seems as if a top tooth is on its way. Even with his Amber necklace, Asher has been drooling a bit this week. 

We don't have an official measurement for Asher, but he weighs about 21 pounds.

Schedule/sleep: This month Asher dropped his third nap, so we have had some hard days where he is miserably tired before bedtime. Some days he goes to bed at 6:15 pm because he's exhausted! Unfortunately, this is a vicious cycle because then he wakes up multiple times at night and then is ready for the day before 6 the next morning. 

Asher nurses 6-9 times a day, roughly every two-three hours during the daytime. He eats solids at dinner and sometimes for snacks. He's very interested in trying whatever anyone else is eating, but does NOT like to eat food when he is tired! He gets frustrated really easily and just drops it all on his tray-- poor babe! 

Asher loves: his momma, Charlotte, and his dad. He's started to show serious excitement when Joel comes home from work-- kicking, bouncing, waving his arms, and grinning the biggest grin. It's freaking adorable. 

Asher also loves being with other kids, drinking cold water from a glass, swinging C playing with non toys such as cloth, paper, whisks, running watches, toothpaste tubes, etc. He loves loves loves his stuffed monkeys and snuggles them so tightly when he goes to sleep. 

Asher doesn't like: waking up at night on his back, being left alone, being hungry or tired. 

Parenting: being Asher's mom is a total delight. Naturally, there are many challenges... The biggest being sleep deprivation. The second biggest being that he is the second child and so much of my time and energy are spent parenting Charlotte, too. I have had a lot of doubt lately about whether I'm doing a good job, or whether choices I make for him are the absolute best. 

This kid, though...? He is amazing! His sweet smiles and giggles make me think I could have a million more babies. 

We love you so much, eight month old boy! 

Asher eats

Do you guys like Instagram as much as I do? I seriously love it! It's so fun for me to scroll back through the photos I've posted over the last year or so... My kids changing before my eyes, memories of mundane days gone by... 

Anyway, I use #ashereats on my Instagram account to document some of the things we are feeding our boy these days. It's so cute to see him eating his dinner with the family like a cool, big guy. 

BLW (baby led weaning) has been so great this time around! The gagging doesn't startle me very much because I'm confident that he will work out whatever food he can't swallow. I can't believe how nice it is to eat dinner with my hands free. 

Who am I kidding? I have a toddler-- my hands aren't really free! BUT by giving Asher bits and pieces of whatever we are eating, there's no spooning mush into his mouth. I can eat dinner with my own two hands and help Charlotte and (sometimes) chat with Joel, all while Asher happily gnaws on his own food. 

Asher currently has 1.5 teeth, so he isn't ripping things apart fully, but we find bits in his diaper so I feel confident he is getting some good nutrients. We don't have any allergies in our family so I haven't felt the need to wait in between trying foods. 

Here are some things he's been eating lately (sorry, Dad, I know you think these posts are boring with a capital B!).

Steamed broccoli, steamed green beans, steamed baby carrots, steamed zucchini (he was not interested at all!), cucumber slices, peas, raw spinach (gagged and didn't like it), Apple, mandarin slice, pear slice, avocado, roasted asparagus, roasted potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, Cheerios, rotini with meat sauce, rotini with pesto, cheddar cheese stick, bbq chicken, roasted chicken, turkey burger strip, hamburger strip, pork carnitas, jasmine rice, and baked French fries. 

When I serve him meat, I give it in a chunk about the size of my thumb. That way he can grab hold and suck the juices out; sometimes he gnaws off a piece, too. He LOVES chicken, pork, and beef. He's way more into meat than I remember Charlotte being. She was all about the fruit; Asher doesn't seem to be quite as enthused as she was. Anyway, it's fun to notice differences between the two :) 

[One thing I want to point out is that Asher is always sitting fully upright when we give him solid food. I think this is specifically important in regards to ensuring that a baby's gag reflex is activated... Sometimes high chairs recline, but that's not safe when babies are eating solids this way.]