21 months!

Asher Joseph you are 21 months old!! 

… and you have ZERO interest in posing for pictures. :)

Sizes:
clothes – 18-24 month clothes are getting small on you so we’re moving to 24 month or 2T clothes.
shoes – 6
diapers – 5 regular, 6 overnights

Food:
We really had the best intentions of feeding Asher what we ate and not catering to a picky eater, but I think we started to slip because I was worried he was going to starve if he didn’t like what we were eating one night.  I started making him alternatives… but we’re re-focused and trying to get back on the food train.  :)  In regards to getting toddlers to eat I read this the other day (and it helped me so much!) “You can’t control how much they will eat, but you can control what they will eat.” I’d rather Asher was eating good, healthy food than filling up on mac and cheese or nuggets (all the time).  We’re back to offering him what we eat (almost exclusively) and he’s doing a good job of eating what we give him!

Personality:
I think the past two months have been an EXPLOSION of learning and connections for Asher.  EVERY day I’m struck with the fact that we no longer have a baby and we are living with a little boy.  He is independent, creative, smart, FUNNY, sweet, and all things BOY.  He makes connections with words and pictures I didn’t even know he understood.  He has started filling in the words of books if I stop reading and he is getting pretty good at replacing whatever letters of the alphabet I leave out when we sing our ABC’s.  I know every mom thinks her child is a genius, but I think it’s just because we see these little humans go from teeny babies to such smart little people and it is just AMAZING to watch the progression.  I am thankful every day for a healthy child who is hitting milestones and growing!  Thank you, Jesus!

When Asher counts he leaves out 4 and 5.  He’s FINALLY starting saying the number 1!  Hooray.  He can do parts of his alphabet.  He likes to join in when I sing or pick up where I left off.  

He is stringing words together in short sentences like:

Watch a Thomas? (cartoon)
I play cars! (which really means, will you play cars with me?  ha!)
Build a tunnel?
See the fishies! 

When he can’t come up with a  sentence he’s still really good at getting us to understand what he’s saying.  Yesterday he came running up to me to tell me his Thomas was stuck.  He said, “Thomas!  Stuck!  Stuck!  Stuck!  Help!”  I followed him to the living room where, sure enough, we found Thomas lodged under the couch. 

A random “Asher-ism” for when he wants us to pick him up he will say, “See me” in the most pathetic little voice.  I couldn’t figure out where he had come up with this until one day I said to him, “Do you want to come see me?” before picking him up.

I thought we had missed the window of attachment to a blanket or a stuffed animal (mostly because we didn’t put anything in the crib with Asher until after 12 months.)  Well, I think I was wrong about missing that window… he’s currently obsessed with his puppy!!

The other day we were at the Doctor’s office and we heard a newborn baby crying in another examining room.  He made the most surprised and serious face as he listened and tried to figure out the sound and where it was coming from.  I told him a baby was crying and it sounded like “Waa waa waa.”  Well that made him giggle and me too!  For the rest of the day he would come up to me and say, “Mommy baby cry – waa waa waa”  and then he’d giggle again.  Still if I ask him what a baby says he’ll make the sound and laugh.  Hopefully he’ll still find it funny in July!

Asher loves to talk about his grandparents.  He gets out his book with their pictures and will show me Grandma and Grandpa and Nana and Papa.  He also reminds me (all the time) that we went to “cluck cluck” (chick-fil-a) with Nana and Papa… which we did… like three weeks ago!  ha!  Chris said to me the other day, “Do you think he thinks your parents live at Chick-Fil-A?!”  :)

Favorite Things:
* Cluck Cluck – he wants to eat at Chick Fil A all the time!

*Daisy! 

*Thomas!

*Tunnels

*STICKERS! 

Sleep:
Sleep has been hit or miss this month – Asher had his first ear infection this month and it really messed up night-time sleeping for a few nights and then new teeth completely derailed naps for about a week!  I thought I was going to lose my mind until I FINALLY started giving him Tylenol before his nap (Silly Mommy, it only took you a week to figure out!)  He’s been sleeping until 8 some mornings (Thank you!) and waking up as early as 7 other mornings.

I love how verbal and expressive Asher is these days.  We can have little conversations and find ourselves talking and laughing about the silliest thing.  It’s also hard because as much as he can say he still can’t understand everything.  It’s hard to communicate “no” without a melt-down on his part.  We’re working on it and we’ll keep working on it. 

Asher, we love you so much!  It’s hard to believe how BIG you have become.  Your daddy and I laugh about your funny antics every single day.  As we draw closer and closer to your 2nd birthday we can’t wait to see how much more you grow and change.  We love you, AJ!  xo xo Mommy & Daddy