In Cahoots

Kiera’s laughs are still a precious commodity.  I can really work and work at it and get nothing.

She’s less discriminating with her brother – all he has to do is scream and he will get a laugh out of her.  (See the video as exhibit A)

Which makes it difficult when we are trying to convince him – please don’t scream near your sister.  Or please don’t bounce her seat that hard because it makes her head flop, because invariably as soon as those words are out of our mouth she gives him a great big grin and chuckle.  

Baby Feat

She may not be jumping off of diving boards, but I certainly don’t want to minimize Kiera’s feats.  Or in this case feets.  Heh heh.

Look at how she loves to bring her legs up and put the soles of her feet together. 

Adorable isn’t it?

Here's another riveting baby video.


 

This kid is AMAZING!

My heart was pounding.  I couldn't even breathe.

And I was just watching!

I couldn't believe he actually did it.  I was sure he would look down and decide against it.

But here is the proof!

First time off the diving board.  And then he just kept going back for more.

Look at the pride on that Dad's face!  

I am just so incredibly insanely proud of this child.


Here is the full video of his very first jump.  Three things I love.  1) the other little boy had to help him up the ladder 2) that Asher negotiates with his father about his exact location 3) Deenesh diving down to help him and it being unnecessary.  And, and then of course the obvious thing that I love.  That he jumped!

Am I gushing? Well, I'm okay with that.

Sibling Love

I love watching Asher and Kiera fall in love with each other.  I wish they could always get along this well. 

Kieras fascinated by her big brother.  Here's a photo of one of the first times Kiera moved her hand with purpose.  It was to touch Asher's hair. 

She loves watching him.  Here Asher is making her smile in a restaurant.

This summer, Asher planted some seeds that turned into flowers.  These are the late seeds that we planted.  He gave the very first flower that appeared to Kiera (it is on the arm of the chair).  We didn't even suggest that he give it to her.

He loves to pick out her clothes, particularly when he gets something that matches what he is wearing.  Nana bought them matching shirts with their photos on it.

His big brother shirt is one of his favorite shirts and he likes it when she wears one of her little sister shirts.  I also like this photo because they both look so suspicious of me.  

Asher looks out for his sister.  In this video Asher is explaining how he warned his little sister that it was going to be bright (because I was taking a photo with flash).  

Asher also sometimes just runs up to her to tell her that she is beautiful or pretty.  He has never had any interest in other babies, but he likes her a lot.  Here he is singing a song to her.  He started singing it out of no where and made it up himself (although I sing similar songs to both of them I've never suggested that he sing with me.) 

Of course, he only just turned 3, and he has a lot of energy to burn, so frequently in his enthusiasm he forgets to be gentle with her.  It's hard to convince him sometimes since she grins at him even when he is jumping up and down and screaming.  Here's another photo where you can see his excess energy in an extra tight squeeze.  

Snippets

When Asher or Kiera do or say something cute I try to write it down so that I will remember it, and many times I just jot it down on whatever scrap of paper is closest to me. Then I forget about it until I am cleaning up later and come across it.

Today I was cleaning up and came across this note - from probably about a month or two ago.

Asher:  "Why are making that sound Mommy?"
Me:  "I'm humming"
Asher:  "You're pretending to be a hummingbird?"

Coming across these little snippets make me smile.

First Laugh!

Today was Kiera's first real, sustained laughter.  I was covering her with kisses and it was laugh after laugh which of course promptly ceased when she saw us pull out the camera.

BUT yesterday Asher was getting entertaining her greatly and if you listen carefully in the first couple seconds of the video you can hear her give a little chuckle.

Picnic!

Officially a swimmer

Let it be known that Asher is officially a swimmer.

This past Saturday Asher learned how to swim.  His longest time was swimming for 38 seconds, and making it about 1/2 across the width of the pool.

When we went back tonight, he was able to swim for close to 3 minutes without stopping.

Here are some videos.  (Don't worry, they aren't 3 min long, they are from when he first got started)