Conversations, Binkies, and Santa Claus

It's hard to believe that Asher will be 2 in January!? But he is definitely practicing his manipulation skills and learning to let his emotions and frustration emerge. But it's fascinating to realize that he can now understand and respond to questions and statements like "how was your day?" I have already caught myself saying the ever famous, "use your words."

We have finally decided its time to get rid of the binky- so it just disappeared one night before bed. Now we knew it would be rough, but I wasn't prepared for the horrible, guilty emotions I would feel listening to him cry, and scream and plead his little heart out. There have been 3 nights of that, and one with surprisingly no crying, but he took an hour to put himself to sleep. He only asks for it occasionally now – and I tell him “it’s all gone honey, we gave it to the babies”. not sure if it helps, but we will try anything.

We went to see Santa last night for the second time. He was much less terrified this time, and actually sat on his lap. Although still a little uncertain, I said “tell Santa what you want for Christmas” and he looked at him and said “a tammamin” (spiderman). I had been prepping him, and he did great. Even thought about giving Santa a kiss on the cheek – but I think the beard scared him off – lol!

He is so fun these days, telling stories, mimicking and saying things he shouldn't. Makes me wonder how boring life would be without him. We are so blessed.

My understanding of "pride and joy"

It never ceases to amaze me how brilliant, funny and adorable my son is (if I do say so myself)! Not a day goes by that he doesn't say or do something that melts my heart, makes me laugh, or overwhelms me with pride until my eyes fill with tears; and yes, I am a total sap.

Some of my latest favorites:
- reading a dramatic point in one of his books, to which his response was "oh man!?". Maybe not amusing to you - but hilarious to me since I'd never heard him say it!
- wrestling and chasing each other around the house listening to his passionate and infectious giggle.
- teaching him his manners, to which he replies "puh-LEASE" or "tee-kooh".
- asking him how his day was only to be followed by a very long, energetic story after which the only word I understood was "play".
- trying to get him dressed while he was protesting, and he looks at me and shakes his finger and says "NO mommy!" to which I replied by laughing my ass off until he joined in at whatever was so funny.
- finally, taking him with his big brothers to go bowling, and watching the fascination as he watches, learns, and delights in his abilities. Not sure who was more proud, me or him!

He is the best part of every day, he is my passion and my obsession and I would do anything to make him happy.....which I'm sure he will figure out and manipulate soon, unless he already is??

Language Skills.....CHECK!!

Not sure how many of you watch Family Guy, but even if you don't, perhaps you've seen the commercial where the baby, Stewie, goes into his mom's room and repeatedly says her name until she screams "WHAT?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNkp4QF3we8

Well, that precious little boy of mine is practicing those techniques now that he is learning to master the art of language. He amazes me every day with the new things he has learned to say, like "knock it off" to the dog when he's doing something naughty, or asking Oma to "pull sleeve up" while he's trying to play with his toys. He is amazing. He has also figured out that other human beings have ears and can hear and most of the time understand what he's saying. Hence, if you don't respond immediately to his words, he will repeat it incessantly until you do. Typically it's things like "juice" or "more" but it can be anything. He also really loves to do it over top of other conversations - such as when you are on the phone.

But alas, he's still cute as hell and I love that he's smart as a whip. Another example: one morning recently when Oma was there helping us get ready for daycare, Asher was complaining because I put his juice in a normal sippy cup instead of his Cars sippy cup. It was one of those mornings when he'd ask for something, and if you got it for him, he'd just find something else to ask for. I haven't quite figured out why he does this. So I ignored his request for a different cup since it was about the 10th thing he wasn't satisfied with that morning. So he ran over to Oma pleading..."Cars cup Oma!" So I naturally laughed at how stinking smart he is to realize trying another person, and so I said, "Well, I see he has figured out who the sucker is around here...." to which Asher replied "Sucker? Sucker! Sucker!" and went running over to the drawer where I keep the Dum Dums. I laughed so hard, and continue to laugh as I think it over again.


He is so sweet, and smart, and fiesty - he's gotta be my kid! :) Anyway, although totally unrelated to the story above, here's the latest video. Enjoy!

Crazed Band Mom

I never used to understand moms. Most seemed ridiculous, over the top and fanatical. You know the type, the moms that walk around wearing the ugliest pseudo-letterman’s jacket that says “Band Mom” on the back; or the moms that try to reenact what their child said to them earlier in the day (mimicking the child’s voice) for your apparent amusement; and even the moms who you can’t hold a 2 minute conversation without somehow squeezing in an un-newsworthy comment about their kids latest escapade – like breakfast. What was wrong with them? Didn’t they realize how completely uninterested everyone is about whatever ridiculous story or drawing their kids produced? How did they let themselves get this far gone from reality?

My ahh-ha moment? The day my beautiful Asher was born. In a nano-second, his face was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, the squeaks he’d make were reason to call friends and family, and the daily conversations with everyone included lengthy stories on many hours he slept, or how detailed accounts of how many times (and what) he had spit-up that day. I had gone completely over the edge….but into what; ridiculousness? Nope. This was Motherhood.

Today, my crazy new-mom behavior has somewhat subsided. I no longer call my mom to have discussions on what the consistency of what the contents of his diaper were that morning (ok, sometimes I do, but not as often). But for the most part, I’ve discovered that these somewhat psychotic behaviors are part of this thing they call Motherhood. It amazes me the range of feelings, hopes and mind-set that it encompasses, majority of which I never knew were possible.

There are now so many things I do on a daily basis that would have made me cringe 5-10 years ago: wiping snot off my son’s face with my fingers, cranking Kindermusik tunes in the car and singing along - loudly, and even sacrificing a precious Saturday to pack into the Zoo, elbow-to-elbow with other child-crazed families, just to see him smile at the experience.

One thing is for sure, for all the extreme, irrational and sometimes disgusting behaviors that go along with this Motherhood thing – every single minute that I get to hear my son call me “mommy” is worth it 10 times over.

So basically, 12 years from now, I’ll see you in the stands at the football game. I’ll be the one wearing the jacket that says “Band Mom”.

Overwhelmed and undernourished

It's been a long day. I saw my Asher for about 15 minutes before I rushed off to work at 7am. It's 9pm and I just got home, and he's asleep. I've missed an entire day with him to enjoy being busy, stressed, rushed and overwhelmed. Ultimately, all I ever want to do is spend time relaxing with my family; so why do I get to do so little of that?? The only thing that gets me out of bed in the morning is knowing I'll get a little cuddle, smooching, playing and reading time with the best little guy on the block; true nourishment for my heart and soul! So on days like these where that time is virtually nonexistent, it makes me feel that much more overwhelmed and frustrates with the day; and life in general.

Thank God for the little things, the nourishment, in my life in the form of friends, family....and Asher. I'm fairly confident I would have been on the 10am bus to crazyville a long time ago if it weren't for the love and laughter they provide to help soothe my soul.

Bad mommy

I have come to the realization that I have been a bad mommy! I let nearly two years slip through my fingers, and I'm left looking at this beautiful baby boy (who's now a toddler) wondering where the time went? I have this terrible feeling of regret that I let it fly by in the blink of an eye, and I haven't written down the details of every single beautiful day I've been blessed to share with my beautiful son since he was born.

Better late than never I guess, so it's time to catch up! Here are a few photos from the past few months....

Asher 12-month photos

Asher just turned 20 months and this little boy's personality has emerged in full color! He has always been a talker (gee- I wonder which one of us he got that from) and amazes me every day with how smart he is! Whether it's words like "motorcycle" that he pronounces "pack-uh-pall" (not sure how he came up with that), or the stories he tells me from daycare like, "Lydia....pushin......down.....nice" which translates to the fact that his friend Lydia was pushing him and he fell down which was not nice. He truly loves to talk and tell stories! We even taught him to say "Go Hawkeyes" within 10 minutes of watching the first football game. Now, he says it very clearly and throws his hands up in the air excitedly when he does it (and seems to do it anytime he sees ANY football game on TV). *SNIFF* We are so proud.....

A few little facts about Asher this month:

• He loves to go get groceries or "go-shees"


• He has a very big personality, good and bad; and is definitely stubborn like his mommy/daddy.


• When he wants something, he repeats the word as many times as possible until you can't help but just give it to him....a technique that apparently works!


• He loves ice cream, and gets excited when I mention it. He sits on the couch with mommy, spoon in hand, to eat it right out of the carton!


• He loves to sing and has a talent for music! We sing a lot together, and are attending Kindermusik classes once a week, which he loves.


• He finally has hair! Unfortunately it hasn't grown in evenly. I call it his "Bozo" hair because he has the "Kelderman curls" around the sides and back, then it's sparse and straight on top. But he is truly an adorable little guy!

That's all for now. This is where I promise to update this blog more often - and I will! Hopefully it will be a great way for friends/family to catch up on what's new with Asher for the week! Thanks for reading!