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.