Asher Turns 1!

I know everyone says this, but I can’t believe Asher is turning one.  This last year has been quite the adventure with him, and yet it has been much less of an adventure than we were expecting.  Ever since he recovered from his second surgery, it seems like life has been getting more and more back to normal, and many days go by that we don’t think much about Asher’s HLHS, where the first six months of his life it seemed to be a major part of each day. 

We did just a small little celebration at our house, with Kelly and our new friends the Howes family joining us for cake and ice cream.  He loved his chocolate cake, and after picking at it a little bit at first, he finally dug in and ate big bites of it. 

        

Asher had fun opening gifts, and he kept giving each little strip of wrapping paper to Shane to hold.

   

     

After everyone left, Asher decided that since he was one, it was time to walk.  He has been taking a step or two for weeks now, but not much more than that, but for some reason he got excited and walked across the family room several times.  I think his brothers and their excitement got him going.

 

We sure love our Asher!  Here are a few things about him at age one:

• eats pretty much anything, although not as many vegetables as fruits
• loves to hold his sippy cup over the side of his high chair and say “ah ooh” for uh oh before he drops it
• sleeps through the night, from 8 to 7, and takes two naps a day, one around 9 and one around 1.
• crawls super fast around the house, and walks a little too
• loves to climb the stairs and make a beeline for them if anyone leaves the gate open
• loves to point out doggies, and is becoming attached to his little doggy and blanket (especially his doggy)
• can throw a ball
• loves his brothers, and smiles and laughs when he has their attention.  They love him as much or more back.
• sometimes says dada or mamma, but not too consistently
• loves to watch Davis get off the bus from Kindergarten each day
• points out everything he sees around us
• HLHS – just reached the 20lb mark, so he now takes a full aspirin instead of a half each day.  We still crush it and add water.  He is developmentally on mark with where he should be, with no delays so far related to his HLHS.  He sees the cardiologist again in June.  He lost a little weight in January when he got really sick, but he is back up at the 25th percentile.

Happy Birthday Asher!

Eliza’s Blessing

The first weekend in March, we made a quick trip to Seattle to be there for Eliza’s baby blessing.  My parents were able to come up with too, and Nate’s mom Cathy was there also.  It was a quick trip, but a fun weekend and we were glad we could be there for cute Eliza’s special day.

 

February Happenings

Here are some of the other fun things we did this month:

   

James and Asher have fun playing together while their brothers are at school; The boys got their hands painted at a Mended Little Hearts activity; Four boys all having fun swinging on the swing set!

   

Three boys coloring while Asher tries to help out; Three bubs in the tub; James making a birthday cake out of chocolate play dough.

   

Davis finished 100 days of Kindergarten; Asher loves crawling in the tunnels; Landon does a report on The Netherlands with his friend Carson.

 

An afternoon bike ride and playing at the sandbox park

Tiling Experts

Shane and I are far from tiling experts, but we have tiled three bathrooms, one entryway, and our kitchen counters in our old house.  When my parents decided to tile their bathroom floor, we decided we could share our “expertise” with them to help them get it done.  We drove down to Ashland Thursday, and Shane got right to work that night with my dad getting the subfloor down.  Friday morning, we cut and lay the tile.  Shane and I have a good system by now – I measure and mark the tile, and Shane does the cutting.  I only had Shane cut one tile completely wrong, so that was good.  (We won’t say how many were a little off).

     

We finished that afternoon, and had to wait 24 hours for it to dry, so we had a little time to relax Friday evening and Saturday morning.  Friday, my mom and I took the boys to Lithia Park, and they had fun climbing up on the slide and playing on the swings.  Asher’s brothers always take such good care of him.  Landon gave Asher a little ride around in the shopping cart Saturday morning.

       

We finished up with the grout Saturday, and my parents treated us all to a little Yogurt Hut treat and a nice walk in Lithia Park.  Asher had a little bath in the kitchen sink since the bathtub was still out of commission from the floor tiling. It was a nice weekend, and we were glad we could help them with something for once after all they do for us!