Asher the basketball star

Future Architect?

We were just introduced to the Building Museum. Oh yeah. We'll be back.

Asher and the Turkey

Yes that's right. Asher is drinking a smoothie with his Turkey. In a wine glass. That's the holiday spirit.

Holiday Card

I think we have found a winner for our holiday card this year.

Terrible Twos?

And apparently we have another 8 months until the terrible twos officially hit.

CRAZY BABY!

The randomness of this photo reminded me of another great photo we took last April...

Bubbe's Visit - Cuddles

Bubbe's Visit - Photo Shoot

Bubbe's Visit - Papaya!

Bubbe's Visit - Beauty Parlor

Bubbe's Visit - Parade!

Monster in the kitchen

Monsters Rock!

Richmond Visit

Visions of a couch potato

I'm ready for my bath

"No really, where's the water? C'mon already."


It's funny to try to figure out how Asher's mind works. We'll be in the living room playing with blocks when he jumps up, runs to the bedroom and comes back with my glasses and wants me to put them on him. Or we'll get home and before we have even put our stuff down he has raced down the hallway and jumped into the tub. He's definitely got a mind of his own.

Rockstar

Kid Museum 1

Yoga in the morning

TEN years!

As of today, Deenesh and I have been a couple for 10 years. What wonderful years. I feel so lucky to be with someone that I still love and enjoy being with so much. Good thing we both chose UW for grad school!

We went to the zoo today. I'm not sure yet if Deenesh knew the anniversary was why I took time away from school today. I'll let you know.

Asher loves Nanas

Asher loves bananas. Almost as much as he loves phones.

We were really good about keeping the phones away from him for a while, although now he knows all their hiding places and is getting much more wily about figuring out how to climb up to them.

I think we finally caved about the phones when he started bringing them to us when they rang. Since this included squeezing through the opening between the side table and the bookcase and back around the lamp, it was hard to resist letting him hold the beloved phone afterwards. He was so earnest it was hard to explain to him that you didn't want to answer it because it was a telemarketer. (Although I think my new plan will be to answer to telemarketer and just let them talk to Asher for a while).

So we've caved and now Asher has (limited) access to the phones. (For a while we were able to distract him by keeping our old phones charged and by talking on them a lot - but he's too clever for that now).

So a couple of weeks ago I decided to indulge him and I called my mom to talk to him. Because really you need a Grandma to tolerate loud babbling, button pushing, occasional hang-ups and disjointed conversations. (Although I am excited about this new telemarketer idea. I'm actually excited about the next telemarketer that calls). (Oh, and I will give a shout-out to Robert, who also endures these calls when Deenesh needs someone to talk with Asher).

So, back to the story.

Since he likes to pass the phone back and forth between us I put my mom on speaker phone while they chat. My mom talks with him, and tells him that she's his "Nana", and then she starts explaining that a "Nana" is different from a banana, which she knows is very confusing because they are both called "nanas" and as she is explaining these nuances to him, Asher puts the phone down, walks across the room and climbs up the chair to get himself a banana. Apparently he thought the woman on the phone had an excellent suggestion.

And perhaps this means he likes Nanas better then phones after all.

Some things aren't learned

Apparently, some things aren’t learned.

Example 1: Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
I recently spent 2 ½ days at the American Society of Criminology conference in Philadelphia. When I returned and Asher saw me, he yelled “Mama!” and RAN into my arms for a great big hug. A much bigger reaction than what I get when I pick him up from daycare or come home. So clearly, he recognized that I had been gone longer than usual and he missed me more because of it..

Example 2: Showing off
Last night some friends came into town and spent the night. While we were chatting Asher went and got the juggling balls and handed them to his dad. As soon as Deenesh started juggling, Asher turned around (so he couldn’t even see the juggling) and gave our friend a satisfied look. She and I both burst into laughter. His look so clearly said, “Yeah, see what my dad can do?”

Kids these days

No doubt about it, Asher is a youtube addict.

He will frequently quite loudly demand that we open up the laptop and find videos for him to watch. We watch songs from Sesame Street and by the muppets, we watch funny videos about dogs and cats (to which he enjoys pointing to the screen and proclaiming them "dog" and "cat). We watch the Wiggles and other kid songs.

I once showed him a video of a laughing baby.

I thought it was hilarious.

Asher thought it was dumb. Really dumb.

But there's one band that he loves above all others. And from that band, he is quite clear about his favorite clip.

Here he is requesting it to be repeated after it ends (if you listen closely, the first "word" he says is "again". I know it doesn't sound much like "again", but I promise you, I am not making it up). (The clip is about 30 seconds)



Can you guess what his favorite video is that he is requesting?

It makes sense that this would be his favorite video. After all, in Asher's world the sound "Ba" can be used for ball, balloon (of which our apartment complex has several hundred scattered about and he points out each and every one) and (elevator) button.

If you feel like wasting time on youtube, here is one of my favorites for kids.

Of course, there's also this clip, but so far Asher doesn't seem to be an Hammer fan. Now where can I get myself a pair of pants like that?

I hope you always love yourself this much

Today Asher saw himself in the mirror and he gave himself a huge kiss. And then he gave himself a dozen more.


And I thought to myself that I hope he always loves himself as much as he does now. He has no self-doubts, no concerns about his body image, no concerns about if he is smart enough or athletic enough or funny enough or popular enough. He is just himself.


And he seems to know enough to love it.

Tag! You're it!

School Spirit?

I know this picture will shock many of you as no one ever suspected me of having school spirit. This year’s costume idea was inspired by my sister-in-law’s blog post last year. She challenged that there's nothing scarier than a newborn baby.

I beg to differ. Toddlers are very scary. NO ONE should have that much energy.




FEAR THE TURTLE!!!



Happy Halloween