Asher in Virginia - Week 5

Another week of training finished, another week closer to moving somewhere else. Here's another week of Asher in pictures.

Sunday night after "Sub-Saharan African Peoples Worship" we went down to the lake to get some photos of Asher. The light was perfect and Asher was full of smiles. By the way, Asher loved the African music and bounced and clapped the whole time we were there.

Monday evening after dinner we skyped Mimi. Asher had taken a few steps before this, but while Mimi was talking to him he stood up and walked all the way across the room. Look closely in the background of the picture and you can see Mimi on the computer screen. Some additional random trivia: this outfit is identical to the one Asher wore the first time he met Mimi at the Surabaya airport.

Tuesday afternoon after school Asher practiced pulling up. He learned to walk before he learned to stand.

Wednesday afternoon after school Asher was checking out what was going on outside of the quad. He is getting better at standing on his own, especially when there is a door to hold on to.

Thursday evening Asher and Daddy had fun while Asher cruised around the bed.

Friday evening we put Asher in a box and tried to mail him back to Kentucky. It cost too much so we decided to keep him here with us for the next 3.5 weeks.

Saturday we went to Washington, D. C. to explore our nation's capital. We visited The Capital Building and The White House. Asher was obviously very impressed by The White House even though we didn't get to go inside and we didn't meet our buddy (and fellow former Indonesian resident) Barack.

Look Who's Walking Now

We were skyping with Mimi the other night and Asher decided to stand up and walk across the room.

He took his first few steps on Saturday night, so we were not expecting him to go this far so fast. His main problem now is that he would rather run than walk and this (and his big head) makes him fall down quite often.

Now that he is sort of walking I am thinking I may need to buy him some shoes. Any suggestions?

Eleven Months

At eleven months Asher is learning more and more everyday and changing so much everyday. He loves going to daycare and doesn't cry when I drop him off. He still loves to swing and to be outside and during the times we have church with lots of people he loves to bounce up and down to the music while on top of Daddy's shoulders or in the sling.

It only took Asher 8 days of daycare to figure out to crawl and after another two weeks he is pulling up and standing by himself for a few seconds. Saturday night he took his first steps and I think in another few weeks he will be running.

He still weighs right around 20 lbs. and I'm not sure how tall he is. He is starting to outgrow some of his 6-12 months clothes and he looks really cute wearing his big, baggy 12-18 month shorts.

Asher is still a big milk drinker, but he loves to drink water out of his sippy cup. He is starting to eat a lot of table food and he can chew pretty much anything as long as it is a small bite.

I can't believe that next month he will be 1!

Asher in Virginia - Week 4

Sunday morning Asher needed a bath after his day at the beach, luckily he woke up early and we had plenty of time to play in the tub and take some pictures of Asher and his bear towel.

Monday afternoon Asher played practiced pulling up and standing. Playing guitar with Daddy is motivation for his to do almost anything.

I went to a consignment shop Tuesday afternoon and got Asher a great new toy, a walker he can push around the Quad. He loves it and he spent most of Tuesday afternoon/evening showing off how well he can walk.

On this rainy Wednesday afternoon we had to get out the rain cover for Asher's stroller. He stayed nice and dry while Roger and I got pretty wet getting to and from dinner. He loved pushing his feet up against the plastic.

Asher skipped the first part of school on Thursday and stayed home to play with me. We read lots of books and spent a long time walking around the Quad. He is super fast with his walker and loves to go running across the room.

Friday found Asher still playing with his walker, he never lets go of it, even when he falls.

Saturday night we went to visit the Johnson's at their new home in RVA. While the parents enjoyed talking and eating pizza the kids enjoyed playing with toys and wrestling. Asher saw the two girls wrestling on the floor and crawled right over and joined in the fun.

We are now at the half-way mark of our time in Virginia, I can't believe how fast these past 4 weeks have gone by. Asher is changing so much everyday!

A Friday Night in the Quad Video

Here is another video of Asher crawling and giggling and just having fun.

Some things to look for:

1. Asher is a speedy crawler these days.

2. He can stand up and balance on his own for just a few seconds.

3. The second time he falls down he actually busts his lip, but he never notices. Roger noticed at the very end of the video.

4. After he falls down the second time he gives my leg a kiss. Listen carefully and you can hear the sweet little noise he makes when he gives kisses.

Asher's New Toy

Hats and Sleepers

Now that we have settled into our life in Virginia we have gotten Asher to start falling asleep by himself again. It still involves some crying, but each night he gets better. After the crying stopped one night I went in to check on Asher and cover him up and I found that he had fallen asleep, but he was sitting up. Asher has just recently mastered the skill of going from his belly to sitting up and he is always very eager to practice. The first night I thought it was just a fluke, but every night since he has fallen asleep sitting up and I have had to go in and lay him down. We got the camera out two different times to capture his new sleeping position.

Besides sleeping in all sorts of odd positions Asher has been subjected to several shopping trips lately. Friday night we found ourselves in a Baby Gap and we came across the perfect hat (and matching mittens) to keep Asher warm during his upcoming Winter in Canada adventure. It straps onto his head so he can't get it off!

The very next day we were in the Gymboree outlet (I love shopping at outlets!) and found a baby cowboy hat. While Asher was crawling around we stuck the hat on his head and snapped a few pictures. He was so focused on the other kids in the store that he never noticed the hat.

Asher in Virginia - Week 3

Sunday afternoon after his nap, Asher wanted to see what was going on outside. He likes to walk over to the door and check out the world, sometimes the glass confuses him and he walks right into it.

After a busy Monday Asher had fun playing in the tub and I had fun playing with his hair. When he gets really excited he beats on the side of the tub, he loves the noise and the splashing that it creates.

Tuesday morning before school Asher was crawling and rolling around on the floor. He loves shoes and was enjoying playing in our big shoe pile. In order to prepare to live in another culture everyone has to remove their shoes when coming into the Quad, the result is, of course, a huge pile of shoes for Asher to play with.

Wednesday night Asher was getting ready to go to bed and he decided he needed to take one last crawl around our bed before heading to his room.

Thursday morning before school Asher was playing in the kitchen floor while we packed his bag for school. His toy of choice these days are the empty water bottles that he finds all over the place.

Friday morning before school there was fog covering our campus. Roger went outside to take some pictures of the lake and Asher and I watched from inside.

Saturday, our day of no school, found us shopping at the outlets in Williamsburg before heading across the Chesapeake Bay to Cape Charles, Virginia. Asher has been to the beach before, but his was the first time he was interested in the sand. He played in the sand and walked in the water for a long time before we cleaned up and had crab cakes for dinner.

A Walk in Pictures

Saturday Adventures

Saturdays are typically our free days during our training and we are trying to use our free days wisely and take in as many attractions as possible. This past Saturday we spent the day exploring Richmond. The bulk of our time was spent at Maymont, a beautiful park in the city.

We had fun strolling around, letting Asher chew on plants, exploring the Japanese garden and helping Asher walk.

Asher loving the easy access to huge pieces of grass.

Family photo, of course.

Strolling through the Japanese garden.

Asher exploring.

Fun in the Tub

Asher is crawling all over the place these days (video coming soon) and by the end of the day he is usually pretty dirty. One of our favorite things to do before bed is to let him play in the tub. I love it because he comes out smelling sweet and he loves it because he can splash around and play with his tub toys.

Asher in Virginia - Week 2

Our second week of orientation (and daycare) is behind us. Usually we keep looking forward to what's to come, but here's to looking back at a week of Asher in photos.

Monday afternoon Daddy had an extra meeting and Asher was playing on our bed waiting for him to get home. Roger knocked on the window and as soon as Asher saw him he broke out in a big grin and started doing his scoot/worm/crawl towards him.

Tuesday night Asher was worn out from a busy day at school, he went to bed early and I had to sneak into his room to get a picture.

Wednesday morning before school Asher and Daddy enjoyed some play time and book reading.

Thursday afternoon after school Asher found his toothbrush and spent the better part of an hour chasing it around the bed chewing on it. He loves to brush his teeth!

Friday evening after the week was finished we spent time in our quad with all of our quad-mates watching Asher crawl. During school Friday Asher mastered the real crawl and is starting to pick up speed and figure out how to go get what he wants.

Saturday afternoon we went to a local park to take pictures and play outside. It's a good thing Asher wore shoes because all he wanted to do is walk around holding our hands. His cute fake baby Crocs finally fit well enough that they will stay on his feet.

First Words

It is only fitting that Asher's first words would be bye-bye. After all this is the baby that is in his third home in the first 10 months of his life and the baby that will have lived in 4 countries by the time he reaches 18 months old.

Asher came home from daycare the other day, sat down on the bed next to me, raised his chubby little fist and waved to me while saying in his tiny little voice, "bye bye." We spent the next ten minutes waving at each other and saying bye-bye over and over again. Roger came home and got out the camera to document this momentous occasion and of course Asher stopped talking. We managed to capture the wave and if you listen very closely you can hear that sweet, tiny voice speak those sweet, tiny words.

The Worm

Asher's crawling has progressed from The Scoot to The Worm.

Enjoy the video.

Asher in Virginia - Week 1

Asher's first week in Virginia is coming to a close. I have made it my goal to take a picture of him each day during the eight weeks that we will be here.

Here is Asher's week in pictures.

We left Paducah on Sunday and drove to Richmond, Virginia. We stopped in West Virginia for Asher to stretch his legs. The motto of West Virginia is "Wild and Wonderful" and we think Asher is pretty wild and wonderful, too!

Monday we moved in to our new apartment, we have our own bedrooms, kitchen and bathroom and we share a common area with 3 families and 2 single guys. Asher settled right into his new home and enjoyed his lunch.

Tuesday we had lots of free time to get unpacked. We spent most of the day running errands and playing. Roger and Asher had lots of fun wrestling on the bed.

Wednesday was Asher's first day of daycare. I think the picture captures the experience quite well. He cried a lot when we dropped him off and he cried a lot when we picked him up. His teacher says he is improving and I think in another week he might even enjoy himself.

Thursday. Another day, another meal. Asher was enjoying an avocado for dinner after another busy day on Thursday. His teacher reported that he was "spoiled" but that he is improving and starting to have more fun.

Friday night we went for a walk and then went to the playground to swing. There are several playgrounds on campus, including one right outside of our apartment. We almost always spend time swinging right before Asher goes to bed. There are also swings at Asher's daycare. Asher didn't cry Friday when I dropped him off at daycare because he got to go straight outside to the swings.

Saturday was a day of rest for Asher, he took a great morning nap and a great afternoon nap. We tried to keep things as normal as possible for him, so we brought his bumper pad with us. His bed is smaller and in his own room (for the first time ever!), but he still sleeps well and he still looks very sweet while he sleeps.

Daycare has been good for Asher so far, he has come back to us each day full of new things. His crawling has gotten better and he has picked up some cute new tricks. I have new videos of Asher performing and I am trying to upload them. The internet here is slooooow, so check back later to see them.