Eight Months

Eight month old Asher still loves to eat, still loves to smile and he still loves to have his picture taken.
I have started making his baby food chunkier and giving him little cereal puffs to snack on.

We haven't been to the doctor lately, but I think he probably weighs around 19 lbs.

Asher has gotten more interested in his toys lately, he loves to sit in the floor and play. Of course, his favorite part of playing is putting everything in his mouth.

All of his top front teeth are coming in right now. So far only one has broken all the way through, but I think the others will be here any day now.

Asher has started pushing up on his arms and he can scoot backwards when he really wants to. He seems a little more interested in trying to crawl, but he hasn't quite figured it out yet.

The biggest challenge this month has been the appearance of some separation anxiety, mainly when Mama leaves the room. Luckily Asher is easily distracted by pretty much anything.

Asher talks more some days than others. He still sticks to the "mama" and "dada" sounds most of the time. Roger claims that Asher almost said dog and ball the other day. I'm not sure if this really did happen, but I do know that Asher loves dogs and balls, so it is a definite possibility.

Let's Go To The Zoo

While we were in Denver we spent an afternoon at the zoo with Asher. Although he was much too young to enjoy the zoo, we did have a fun day strolling around and taking in the sights. I think Asher's favorite part was getting to see all of the other kids that were at the zoo.

We went to see the birds.

A very sleepy Asher got pretty close to a duck, he was unimpressed.

He also saw some super tall giraffes.

And a super scary ostrich (you really have to look closely at the background to see the ostrich).

Then, of course, we took another family photo.

All in all it was a great first trip to the zoo for Asher.

A Picture of Asians

Asher, the American baby, born in Asia.
Mimi, the Asian elephant, born in America.

Denver Adventures

A First Class Baby

I am starting to think that Asher is a little spoiled. Every time we fly with him we get to fly in first class. When we left Indonesia we were able to fly most of the way home in first class with a tiny 3 month old Asher.

And this past week flying to and from Denver we were able to fly in first class again.

I think from now on I will always fly with Asher, that's a nice way to travel.

Adventures in Hotel Land

For most of the week Asher was in the hotel room with his Mimi while Roger and I were in meetings. We did sneak out of a few meetings and snapped these sweet pictures of Asher sleeping and playing.

Big City Sights

One night after our meetings were over we took a taxi downtown to walk around and check out the city.

While we were downtown we went by the U.S. Mint and took a few pictures.

Asher's Friends

Asher is fascinated with other kids, whether they are bigger than him or smaller than him he loves to be around them. He had a great time getting to know Maddie and recently he has gotten to see some of his other buddies.
Alex recently turned a year old and invited Asher to his birthday bash.

This is actually the best picture of the two of them that I got. Trying to get two pictures of wiggly boys is hard! Asher watched with wide eyes as Alex tore into his birthday cake and got a bunch of new toys. I had a great time eating pizza and cake and talking to my friends.

A few weeks ago Asher's cousin (well, I guess technically his second cousin) came over to celebrate Easter. She was pretty confused as to why a lot of her baby toys were at our house. Asher has been borrowing her swing, bouncy seat, exersaucer and the famous walker since we moved to America.

Asher wasn't exactly the most gracious host. He pinned her up against the wall and grabbed her hand, every time she would get loose he would chase her and catch her again. He is a genius in that walker!

Now, these two are not exactly kids, but Asher did have fun eating dinner with them a few weeks ago in Lexington.

Don't Sarah and Woody look good with a baby? I think they should look into getting one of their own!

Asher Goes to Denver

Asher is in Denver this week while his mom and dad are at their Appointment Week meetings and Appointment service. This is one big step to Asher getting to move to Bangkok. Pray for all of us this week as we find out more about our schedule for the next few months and start to work out all the details of our big move.

While we are gone enjoy a few more pictures of our super cute baby boy.

Asher and Daddy at a recent doctor's appointment.

Asher checking out that baby in the mirror, he loves that guy!

Asher getting a quick nap in on one of our recent trips.

Chuck E. Cheese

Asher has been busy celebrating birthdays this month. So far he has gone to Chuck E. Cheese for Mommy's birthday, celebrated at Alex's pizza birthday party and accompanied Mimi to her birthday dinner.
I may be a little biased, but I think he enjoyed my Chuck E. Cheese party the best. He bounced up and down the whole time we were there, he was so excited to see all of the other kids, the lights, the noises, the games. Asher did try to ride a few rides, it didn't go too well. I think he will have even more fun when he is older.

Enjoying Clifford the slow moving dog with Uncle Mel.

Smiling and bouncing in his highchair.


The whole crew in a self-portrait ala Will J.

The best part of any trip to Chuck E. Cheese is, of course, trading in your tickets for a wonderful prize. Asher traded in his tickets for a squishy basketball, perfect for teething (he got one new top tooth yesterday and has three more top teeth on the way), and carrying around as he runs wildly in his walker.

There was one part of the birthday festivities that Asher did miss out on...

The Sleep Week Conclusion

WARNING: This is another long post about Asher's sleep habits. If you don't care about this then just enjoy these pictures of our sweet boy taking a good, long nap.



Sleep Week was a success! Asher sleeps without a swaddle blanket at night, he falls asleep by himself most of the time and he has been taking longer naps. I kept trying to do exactly what Baby Wise said to do or exactly what the book by Dr. Ferber said to do, but in the end I think Asher started sleeping better because we were consistent and we did it all in moderation.

Here are my conclusions from Sleep Week:

- We quickly realized that Asher will fuss until he falls asleep, but he will not cry himself to sleep. Once he starts to scream and get really upset it is best to go and pick him up and calm him down and try again.
- He still takes short naps, but now they are closer to an hour long and when he wakes up he looks like he is well rested. He will sometimes take longer naps, but I have stopped being stressed out by his short naps.
- Asher goes to bed earlier (7:30 pm) and sleeps much more soundly, although he usually wiggles from one end of the bed to the other during the night. He is still waking up earlier than he was a few months ago (6:30 am instead of 7:15 am), but maybe that's just part of him getting bigger.
- He has a special blanket he sleeps with at night. I know I will probably regret this later, but I feel like it has helped him learn to lay in the bed and fall asleep easier.
- Asher goes down for his first nap and bedtime with no problems at all, we still have a little trouble getting him to go to sleep for his afternoon naps. I figure this will just continue to improve.

Kiss the Camera

Asher is a master walker in his walker. Everyday he runs around the house chasing dogs, exploring under the table, opening drawers and trying to get into the trash can. He loves to move. Just the other day he started giving us big, slobbery, baby kisses. This afternoon Asher was all wound up and we decided to capture some of the fun on video. Enjoy his sweet kisses and chubby little legs.

I Love My Sling

I love wearing Asher in a sling. There are many different kinds and many different brands. I have a New Native Baby Carrier, I have no idea if it is the best, but I got it for $15 from a website called Mama Bargains. I would love a cute HotSling! but they pretty expensive.

Prayer of Hannah: GIVEAWAY: A Pouch Sling!

This blog is having a giveaway for a pouch sling. To enter all you have to do is leave a comment, so go and leave a comment and hopefully you will win a sling!

I have been wearing Asher in a sling since he was a tiny newborn. I think this picture was taken when he was about a week old.


Doesn't he look sweet all curled up in there? When Asher was first born I would wear him in the sling almost every morning while I fixed myself breakfast and straightened up the house. Now that he is bigger I usually wear him on my hip or sitting up in front of me in the sling. Here is a picture from our trip to the beach. Asher rode in the sling almost the whole time we were on the beach.

Although I used to make fun of slings (click here to read about it), I am now a big fan. They are sort of difficult to get used to, but once you get the hang of it they are very easy to use and most babies love them.

a day out with daddy (by: the baby daddy)

Asher has been excited for a while about celebrating his Momma's first Mother's Day. Since he doesn't have his license yet, he needed me to drive him around to help him work on a Mother's Day surprise for his mommy. He also doesn't have a job or fine motor skills, so he needed my credit card and my assistance...but I swear it was all his idea.

Anyway, for the very first time, Asher and his Pops went out on the town all by themselves. Asher has had to babysit his Dad on several occasions, but this was the first time that they went out together without Mom!

We had a wonderful time spending some time together and working on a super cool project for Momma...but it's a secret so I can't reveal what it is until Mother's Day. But here is a picture from our day out...it's really blurry because I had to crop it heavily so you can't see the surroundings...the rest of the picture will be revealed soon enough!