School Days

The new term started last week and we sent Asher off to school again. He was so excited to get to go back and see his teachers.

The first day of school he wore his regular school uniform.

The second day of school was a sports day, so he wore his sports uniform.

His school logo is picture of Jesus with some children, so Asher refers to his sports shirt as his Jay-sus shirt and his backpack as his Jay-sus packpack. He has somehow picked up this strange accent, it's like he's an old southern preacher/rapper. Throw in the tonal sounds of Thai and he has some pretty unique ways of saying words.

Asher says....paints. Asher means...pants.

Asher says...heeer. Asher means...hair.

Asher says...Jay-sus. Asher means...Jesus.

Asher says...turn it on. Asher means...Tylenol.

Asher says...buur. Asher means...bear.

Asher says...hainds. Asher means...hands.

Anyway, he's doing good at school. When Roger picked him up he pointed out some of his friends and told us he ate noodles and chocolate. Actually he tells us that everyday, but I don't really believe him. I think they eat rice, too.

On the potty training front, Asher has been doing pretty good while ate school. I think he's only had one accident at school and I'm not sure if it was a language problem or just an accident. I tried to teach him some Thai words about going to the bathroom, but he made it pretty clear that I was not allowed to try and speak Thai with him.

Asher's First Day of School

This morning Asher got up and ate his oatmeal and got ready for his first day of school.

He was very excited about going to school, but I think it was mostly because he knew that he would get to ride a motorcycle and the train to get there.

The night before Roger made a name tag for Asher's backpack.

We managed to get a few quick pictures with Baby Jack and Mama before he ran out the door with Daddy.

He was so happy to get to go with Daddy, he smiled and skipped all the way down the street.

Asher loves to ride motorcycles, so this was the perfect way to start his day.

Roger said that Asher cried when he left him with his teacher, but a few hours later when he went to pick him up he was sitting in a circle playing with some new friends.

The Teacher's Report: He didn't cry after Roger left, he was very good, he wouldn't let anybody help him eat, he's really good at eating.

Asher's Report: School! Wash hands! Eat noodles! Motorcycle! Train! Go back to school?

Overall I would say it was a very successful first day of school. Asher will actually be going to school everyday for the next two weeks (it's summer term), but when the regular school year starts in May he will probably only go a few days a week. Also, in May he will wear the little Thai preschool uniform. He looks so sweet in it! Roger said that his backpack alone got a lot of stares today, I can't imagine what it will be like when he's in his uniform.

As for me and Baby Jack, we just hung around the house. I did some cleaning, caught up on some reports for work and enjoyed being able to walk outside to hang up laundry without finding Asher's shoes, putting on Asher's shoes and then corralling Asher out the door to "help" me. I was so excited at lunch time when Asher came running through the door and I enjoyed his pre-bedtime cuddles even more than usual tonight.

Jack's First Flight

Jack took his first airplane trip a few weeks ago when we went to Chiang Mai.

We took the new airport link train. Love it. Definitely recommend it if you are traveling in and out of Bangkok.

Baby Jack hanging out in the stroller waiting to board the plane. Of course, he was wearing The Hampton Family First Flight shirt.

Asher was soooo excited about the airplanes. He still talks about them, "Asher Boy ride airplane, take off, up sky, go Chiang Mai, go Krungthep (Thai name for Bangkok). See CLOUDS!"

Jack slept and ate and then slept some more. Easy.

Three Months

Happy 3 months Baby Jack!

I'm not sure how much Jack weighs at three months, but he definitely looks chunkier to me. He is still sleeping good and eating good. And drooling good, he's getting better and better at that.

This past month he took his first airplane ride and started sitting in the Bumbo chair. He really hasn't reached any big milestones. I keep waiting for him to roll over, but it hasn't happened yet.

Baby Jack is doing much better at bedtime (meaning that he has a bedtime and actually goes to bed before 11 pm). He goes to bed right after Asher, I feed him before I go to bed and he sleeps until close to 7 am most days. In the mornings he takes good naps, but in the afternoons he likes to be awake. I still swaddle him and put him on his back at night and he sleeps on his belly for his naps. The thing I like the best is that Jack actually falls asleep by himself for all of his naps and at night. I love getting to hold him while he gets sleepy and I love not having to rock him to sleep and hope he stays asleep when I put him in the bed.

Here's a few more pictures from Baby Jack's 3 month photo shoot. Feel free to add your own captions.

Smiles and Non-Smiles

Yes, Baby Jack has learned to smile.

It was about two weeks ago (when he was 5 weeks old) that all the sudden he just looked up and gave us a big, gummy grin.

He will pretty much smile at anybody, but he prefers to smile at Asher and Daddy.

Asher prefers not to smile for photographs.

But really, if you were busy making sure all of these cars were in the right place you wouldn't have time to smile either.

1 Month

Jack turned one month old on Monday. At his one month check-up he weighed 10 pounds (4.55 kg) and was 21.5 inches (54.5 cm) long.

So far Jack is an easy baby. He doesn't cry much and he sleeps pretty good. A few times last week he slept through most of the night and even when he doesn't sleep all night he goes right back to sleep after eating. We swaddle him at night and he seems to really like that. He is eating great and obviously gaining lots of weight. Mimi gave him a bottle for the first time while she was here. He attacked it, drank 4 oz. and then got handed over to me to eat even more.

During the day he mostly naps on the couch or in my lap. It's not that he won't sleep in his bed, it's just that I am having so much fun laying around in the afternoons holding him. We have started putting him in his bed for naps in the morning and as long as we put him on his belly he sleeps really well.

My mom brought all of the cloth diapers with her, so within the past two weeks we have started using them. They are pretty bulky, but seem to fit Jack for the most part and they give him a sweet cloth diaper booty.

After a month Asher still really likes having Baby Jack around. He likes to know where he is and what he is doing at all times. I am so thankful that Asher adjusted well to his role as big brother.

Potty Face

The other day I let Asher try on his Cars underwear and I got out the potty seat just to see what would happen.

Mostly what happened was Asher looked cute.


And silly.


And a lot like a big boy.


What it didn't look like was Asher using the potty. But he also made it an hour in the underwear without an accident. At that point he was refusing to go near the toilet and doing a little dance. You know, the kind of dance you do when you really have to go. He went and got a diaper and he said please, so I put the diaper on him. He looked so relieved. And he proceeded to fill up two diapers rather quickly.


I think I'll go ahead and say he's not quite ready for the whole potty thing, but hey, at least he looked good trying.

Asher (Second) First Hair Cut

Asher's hair had gotten a little out of control since the time we cut it. Everybody we met thought he was a girl because he had these sweet little curls hanging down his neck. We decided something had to be done and we realized that it was a little beyond our abilities to tame, so we went to the mall and got him a real hair cut.

He was a little freaked out, more by the Thai ladies gushing over him than by the hair cut itself. He sat in Daddy's lap and ate a cracker while the hair dresser tried her best to quickly cut his hair.

We think it turned out pretty cute. He looks a lot less like a baby with his hair cut short and we think he looks a lot more like Roger.

Here's a before picture to show you what we were dealing with:

And here are a few pictures from afterwards.

(Excuse the watermelon all over his face and clothes.)

If you are wondering what's going on in Bangkok click here.

Asher's First Haircut

Asher's hair was getting out of control. He had some very sweet curls in the back, but unfortunately his sweet curls were looking a lot like a mullet. We decided he needed a little bit of a haircut and we decided to do it ourselves.

The Before Shot

Roger cutting off the curl.

Cutting off the rest of Asher's curls.

The After Shot

I think Roger did a wonderful job with the scissors and I think Asher looks like a big boy without his curls.

The front of his hair is getting a little long, but we are planning on waiting until we get to Bangkok before we take him to get a real haircut.

Asher in Virginia - Week 9

These are pictures from our last four days in Virginia. We survived our second round of FPO and are getting everything ready to leave the country. I finished my project and have 60 pictures of Asher, one a day from the time we left Kentucky until we returned.

I'm still trying to decide if I should try to do a picture a day while we are in Vancouver. We will be there for 16 weeks and I can't decide if that might be a bit much. Any ideas?

Sunday was, of course, Asher's first birthday. Our friend Candy Nights* took some great pictures for us during the party, this one is my favorite.

*name changed to protect the secure

Monday Asher had to miss school because he was sick. We stayed in the quad all day long playing and starting to pack. As you can see Asher was ready to get home to Mimi's house.

Tuesday night after Asher's bath we got out the camera to mess around with the new lens and got some wonderful shots of his little toes. He may be getting big, but he still has sweet baby feet.

Wednesday morning we dropped off Asher at school for the last time. I was pretty sad that it was his last day, we have really loved his school. He walked right into his room and went straight to the toys.

Well, that's all of Asher's time in Virginia. We celebrated Asher's birthday for the second time today, this time with our families in Kentucky. I am working on a post with more birthday pictures and we still need to take Asher's last monthly photo. While you are waiting for that go check out Asher's favorite girlfriend, Maddie, and her sweet birthday message to Asher.

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.

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.