Asher is now two months and counting and as of February, our family is now two years and counting. February was a fun month because we were able to get out and enjoy life.
One beautiful sunny winter day I took all three boys to a local nature reserve and went on a really long walk. It was so warm we could unzip our fleeces. That's saying a lot. If you look closely you can see Mt. Rainer in Asher's background. No clouds there either. Ahhhhh...I love that view.
Asher is turning out to be quite the happy baby. We say hi and are constantly greeted by his bright and content nature. He now weighs 13lbs.
February 10th was our family birthday. Just over two years ago the kids came home and Paul and I went from being just the two of us for nine years to a family of five. Here we are two years later with a baby as well and more dreams and plans coming into fruition. It is remarkable to experience after being together so long. We celebrated our two year birthday with the kids by getting Japanese food and desserts form a local German bakery. The kids LOVE almost all foreign food which is wonderful because so do Paul and I. They felt special this year because they told friends at school about their family birthday and none of their friends had one to tell them about. They came home asking us why none of their friends have a family b-day...even though they knew why. They were just excited about the whole thing.
This little brother outfit is one of the kids favorite. They recently requested I put it on Asher but when I did, it no longer fit. Man this kid grows fast!
Sage thinks it's so funny how Asher will try and eat body parts that don't have any milk when he starts to get hungry. He cracks up every time it happens. Sage got a good laugh out of this one...when Asher tried to eat his nose.
I've started pumping my milk and Asher is doing great with a bottle. Here is his first feeding with his Papa. We wondered how it would go and he drank 4 ounces in 4 minutes and still wanted more so I fed him after Paul was done. We were a little nervous he'd always want to eat that much. Luckily he hasn't wanted that much for other bottle feedings.
Sage and Xavier are just being funny here. Pretending they are Asher and I with Xavier's water bottle. Silly boys!
Happy Valentine's Day everyone. I hope you had a fabulous day. Here Sage is getting his cards ready for a school party. This year the kids had special cards for someone they had a crush on.
The kids all got Valentine's Day cards from family in the mail. They LOVE getting treats from loved ones. They were SUPER jazzed about these. Thanks everyone! We made them wait until V-day to open them.
Look at all the candy! It was like Halloween on V-Day. The kids were so amped up on sugar.
This was such a sweet moment. We had the first sunny day in awhile and the kids got home from school and wanted a snack while sitting in the sunshine. It was their idea. They just hung out talking in the warmth of the sun for over an hour. They even called up a neighbor to join them. So it goes in the PNW after so much rain.
I can't believe how big Xavier is getting. My little boy is catching up to me in height. Pretty amazing. He towers over Sage and Haven now. He really likes that he's so tall because he was small for so long.
Paul took the boys to the batting cages for the first time. This was another no rain day adventure and since Paul and I aren't baseball fans it was funny to think they had never done this before. They loved it. Paul also took them on a climbing wall. They got half way up and then got a little scared because it was so high. They are up for the adventure again and already want to try and do it again..this time by making it to the top.
The kids help out with Asher a lot. They will help get things for me if I need them, they will clean up his spit up on their own if they see it, they will try and help him not fuss if he starts making noises, they will give him a pacifier if he looks hungry and needs to be held off for a little while. They just keep on helping. Here is Sage feeding Asher for the first time. All the kids tried it.
At two months Asher loves pushing off of his feet and using his legs to keep his body up. He wants to know what's going on all around him and will stop nursing to see what's going on. He follows Clover's movement and will arch his back and head to the point of no return just to see something he's determined to look at. His curiosity is a joy to watch. I love how he will still turn to the IPod docking station to figure out where the music is coming from. He also likes the kids ruckus. Just the other day he was fascinated with them having a push up and sit up competition. He sleeps in quiet and calm and in the high volume of the other three. If he thinks he's missing out on the fun he starts to fuss and as soon as he joins everyone and can see what's happening, he's content again.
More standing on his legs.
The kids are having more and more fun with Asher as he gets bigger. He now recognizes them, smiles at them, watches them...they love how he grabs hold of their fingers and doesn't let go.
Asher always plays with his fingers and hands. He grabs them like an old man and doesn't let go. It cracks us up.
We took a long drive one weekend day to the Oregon coast. There was no rain and hardly any wind. Even though it was in the mid 40s it was a beautiful winter day. We had a lot of fun together. Haven stayed at home with her Auntie because long day trips are still rough for her.
Look at that coastline and my three handsome boys. The boys had their first caramel apples. It's amazing what they still haven't tried. I'm happy there are still some firsts out there for them to experience.
Xavier and Sage loved flying kites on the beach. They are so simple in what makes them happy. I hope Asher follows their lead.
There was an arcade at the beach that had bumper cars. We realized the boys had never been on them before. In their words they are AWESOME!!!
Asher is a pretty content kid. He hardly cries, sleeps 6-7 hours straight every night. He wakes up to eat and doesn't cry and then goes back to sleep for another couple hours. If he doesn't like being in one place we just move him to another and he's normally great. He'll hang in his table top bouncer...(I love dressing him in winter clothes. Growing up in S. Cal I never thought about it but little baby beanies, socks, warm clothes..he's fun to dress in them.)
He'll hang in the baby bjorn for hours...(see those clasped hands)
He'll hang in the baby swing for hours...sometimes while moving and sometimes while it's still
He'll hang in is car seat and stroller...he's a great jogging companion and runs errands with me pretty smoothly. Until he wants to eat of course.
He'll hang out in bed with me while he's sleeping.
...or while he's awake.
He'll also hang out in either of his cribs.
Thank you so much everyone for all your gifts of support. We are using everything and it has been so helpful in taking care of Asher. He's a delight to have in our family. I know this is a long post but for Grandparents afar, they love seeing pictures as Asher changes so much and they miss seeing him change.
