Introducing Baby Kiera

 Kiera checks out Asher 

 Asher checks out Kiera

Um, I don’t think that’s how you’re supposed to use it.

I swear when they left the house, Asher was in the trailer. See?

This was the situation when he returned. 

A friend had given us their old trailer, so Deenesh figured he’d try it out by running an errand to drop off stuff at a neighbors house.  Once they arrived, Asher revolted against the confined quarters and deigned to run the entire way home instead.  Deenesh estimates it was probably about 1/3 of a mile. 

And yes, that is an apron he is wearing.  We had just finished coloring eggs and he refused to remove it.  

Owl vs. Squirrel Update

You may remember a while back the showdown that occurred between an owl and a squirrel in our backyard.  (If not, here's the link).

http://sohonifamily.blogspot.com/2011/02/backyard-drama.html

Well, surprisingly enough the next morning it was the squirrel that remained and the owl had moved on.  Part of us was pleased since it's nice to see an underdog do well.  Besides we have it on good authority that while it may be cool to have an owl in your tree, the debris that collects below is not quite as pleasant.  *shudder*

Now we are reconsidering.  It would appear that the squirrel has visited our deck and he didn't eat our basil, but he chewed each stem down to the bottom and left the basil scattered around, wilting in the sun.  As if he was taunting us.

Perhaps he's pissed that we bought a fake, plastic owl for the deck in the hopes of discouraging his visits given our attempts to create a fruit and vegetable wonderland on our porch (after our memory of him devouring our entire crop of peaches 2 years ago days before the ripened).

Perhaps the fake owl stirred up the bad memories and once he figured out it was fake he decided to take his revenge.

Whatever his reason, it is on.  That squirrel is going down.

Sohonis vs. the squirrel.

My Child is a Genius

I wrote a bunch of letters on construction paper and let Asher cut them out with his scissors.  Asher enjoyed getting to practice his fine motor skills and I was impressed by just how many letters he knows.   He cut out all the “D”s and gave them to his Daddy, because D is for Daddy. 

His familiarity with letters reminded me that shortly after we moved back to the Red House (so he had  just recently turned 2) I put up number magnets that also included some symbols (plus, minus, division, multiplication, and equal signs).  Asher took everything down that wasn’t a number, which meant that he already recognized what was a number and what wasn’t. 

Of course, he can’t distinguish a T-Rex from a Brachiosaurus whereas one of his friends can correctly identify probably about 20 different dinosaurs, but I still figure he must be a genius.  

Mommy on Demand

When Asher woke up from his nap this past weekend he called out for me.  Deenesh went in to get him and Asher said “No, I want Mommy.”  

Deenesh said, “Oh, Mommy’s busy right now, how about I get you?”  And Asher said, “It’s okay Daddy, I just scream and then Mommy will come.  “Mommy!  Mommy!  Mommy!”  

Things Asher can tell you about his baby sister

• ·         Babies don’t have teeth
• ·         Babies cry and don’t know any words
• ·         Babies don’t eat food, they drink milk
• ·         Baby will have a car seat next to his
• ·         He’s allowed to hold her (he usually has to be reminded that 1) he must be sitting and that 2) Mommy or Daddy or Nana need to be with him)  (the other day when we were all in the car with Nana and it was mentioned that Nana would hold the baby Asher got very possessive.  Saying that Nana could not hold the baby, only Asher).  
• ·         That he is going to teach her lots of things because she won’t know how (he will bring up things he is going to show or teach his sister)
• ·         He can tell you where she will sleep, and what clothes are hers
• ·         He’s taken to specifying that she is a “baby”.  He will sometimes correct us when we call her baby sister and say, “No, not a baby sister.  A baby.”  (I think perhaps because the “sisters” that he knows are bigger, so I think in his mind babies can’t be sisters, only toddlers or bigger kids can be sisters, and babies are just babies).
• ·         He clearly thinks about her a lot because he will bring her up in conversation regularly, either what she will be doing, or how he will take care of her.  He frequently refers to her as his baby, not “ours” or “Mom’s and Dad’s”.  And he will tell people that he is getting a baby.  He seems very excited to help take care of her, and very curious about her.  The other day he moved her bassinet from the bedroom into the living room, it almost seemed as if he was trying to move her closer so she could watch him play or something. 
• ·         Last Wednesday baby girl’s special blanket, hand-knit with loving care by her Aunt Tara, arrived.  Asher was very impressed and immediately recognized that it was the “same” as his blue blankie.  Then this weekend when I was on the phone with Tara I put Asher on and said he should tell her about baby sister’s blanket.  He said “It’s amazing!  I like it big.  It’s peach like a peach tree!  Aunt Tara made it.”  (We have a peach tree on the porch, although I’m not sure he could actually identify a peach yet since we so rarely get them). 
• ·         He will also now tell people “we have to wait a long time for baby”  

Of course, he’s got a lot going on his life other than waiting around for baby sister, just today he had *shudder* allergy testing, but it’s fun to see the ways that he is getting ready for her. 

Beach Day

While Asher gets pretty upset he's not allowed to ride his bike to the beach with his Daddy (what mean parents) he's still very excited when Deenesh arrives (you can see Deenesh in the background).

And the beach is always a nice treat.

Particularly when cute ladybug decides to make an appearance.

And at the end of it all, Asher gets to help push his Daddy off for his ride back home.

Tribe Pride

Music Lover

Asher has been to two concerts.

The first was the Virginia Symphony
 

They had arts and crafts before the show

 AND the kids were able to get some hands experience with some instruments.

The second was a local concert where he knew one of the talented musicians.

That's right, he's got connections.

As sophisticated as that sounds, he spent the entirety of both performance with his hands clamped firmly over his ears (actually, he usually insisted that I do it so he could have his own hands comfortably in his lap).

I'm sure the other patrons were very impressed with the kid trying to block out the sound.

The thing is, he really enjoys the performance, he just thinks they are too loud.

Perhaps next time we will remember to take ear plugs.

Maybe not quite a genius

Asher insisted he didn't need our help to reach the balloon.  He was confident he could reach it by standing on the chair.

The child-rearing books say that we should let him make his own discoveries and do his own problem solving.

So we did.

I think it's only fair that we get to enjoy a small chuckle at his expense.

(He did quickly surmise that he could only reach it by getting his Dad to lift him up).

Did you know that?

Kids are great for making you realize what things you say since they start parroting them back to you.

Apparently I frequently ask Asher "Did you know that?"

Several times a day he will tell us something and then follow it up with "Did you know that?"

And I also say "That's too bad"

And my go to phrase for misbehavior (at least, Deenesh says this one comes from me, I'm sure he's mistaken) is "I don't like that"

Sometimes if I don't respond to something he has said, he will prompt me as to what I should have said, like "That's a good idea!"

I'm sure there are more but those are the ones I can think of right now.

A good therapist is hard to find...

Do you ever feel like your psychoanalyst just isn't giving you his full attention?

A walk in the woods

Doesn't it look like we are off for a nice hike?

It's actually just the path to the neighborhood playground.  But it's a nice view, huh?

Neighbors

What would we do without our wonderful neighbors?

Without them, we might be forced to go out and get the kid a dog. 

Fortunately, they make sure Asher gets his dog fix.  

Naptime Storytime

Today Deenesh and I were both desperately in need of a nap, and yet Asher was typically reluctant to take his nap.  We finally left him in his room and we both crashed.  Asher then came into our room, brought a chair and two books, and "read" us bedtime stories.

Obsession

Some toddler are obsessed with cars, some with trains, some with dinosaurs.

Asher is obsessed with electronics.  Specifically phones.  Obsessed.  Also with computers and cameras.

" Hey, cool phone"

 "Oh, he's still on the phone" 

 "Dude, enough with the phone already!"

I appreciate my sister for this insight.  For quite some time I just felt deficient that I hadn’t been stricter with Asher’s access to phones (which is hard since we no longer have a house phone, so it’s what we use for talking to family).   But now I realize it’s not just a failing on our part that we haven’t been stricter with our phone or computer usage for Asher that explains why other kids are better behaved around phones or computers, it is also the toddler tendency toward obsessions, which in Asher is centered around phones and computers.  

His love of computers makes sense to me, both Deenesh and I spend a lot of time on computers for work – and both of us spend a lot of time working at home in the evenings.  His love of cameras also makes sense, some people have pointed out that his mother might have her own camera obsession.  (I really don't know what they are talking about.)

But neither of us is a big phone talker or texter, so I don’t quite know how that became his obsession. 

Exhibit 1:  Asher has dozens of phones.  2 old cell phones, numerous old house phones, 1 toy cell phone, 1 tou regular phone, and an eyeglass container that he calls his “pressing phone” (Deenesh also has an eye glass holder that Asher has declared Deenesh’s pressing phone. )  (yes, that’s right.  An eyeglass container.  For about a month it was by far his favorite item in the house.  I would mock him for using an eyeglass holder for a phone except that apparently it has e-mail access – a feature I am lacking on my own phone.

Exhibit 2:  The other night Asher was on my mom’s computer and we said “Asher, do you want to go get ice cream”  and he said “No, I working”.  That’s right – we were offering to take him out for ice cream and he expressed a preference for staying on the computer.

Exhibit 3:  Asher, in the middle of bicycling with his Dad, stops, pulls his phone from his pocket, and says he needs to make a call. 

Exhibit 4:  The sheer number of photos and videos we have where Asher is straining to take the camera out of my hands. 

(This video is from last October, but trust me, we have plenty more) 

So much of the time that I pull out the camera to capture Asher doing something cute, this is what I get....

While it’s pretty stressful, and kinda a pain the butt, there is a silver lining.  I love looking at photos and videos.  Love it.  And it’s not something that Deenesh or many of my other family share.  If I pull out a photo album you see the grimaces of “let’s get this over with as soon as possible”.   But Asher’s interest in watching videos and photos on the phone and computer gives me hope that he and I will be able to share it together.

If you're feeling bored, or looking for a way to procrastinate, here are some related posts...
http://sohonifamily.blogspot.com/2009/07/grounded-from-phone-privileges.html

http://sohonifamily.blogspot.com/2010/03/camera.html

http://sohonifamily.blogspot.com/2010/02/backwards.html

http://sohonifamily.blogspot.com/2010/01/this-morning-started-out-with-bang.html

http://sohonifamily.blogspot.com/2010/01/phone-photos.html

http://sohonifamily.blogspot.com/2009/08/taras-visit-hot-days-mean-ice-cream.html