Rice Cereal

On November 10th, Asher ate his first rice cereal!  He was one day shy of 5 months. Close enough, right?!

He did great and actually ate some!  Yet he is still working on keeping much food in, as he moves his tongue out of his mouth a lot lately.  He sure doesn't look like he's enjoying the experience- lol!!

I started a number of days before having him play with a bowl and spoon while sitting in his high chair.  Not sure if this helped or not, but at least he had seen and touched them.

I couldn't get the videos to upload from YouTube, but hopefully if you use the links below, they will work.
Asher's first cereal
Asher's first cereal- take 2

Halloween

To me, the fun of Halloween centers around the Fall Festival our church puts on each year.  It's the time I will actually attempt to dress up (although I admit costume creativity is Brandon's gift) and it's the time I feel I really get to see other's costumes and hang out for any period of time.  So much fun!!

Here we are getting Asher ready for his first Fall Festival!!

He was quite the hit with daddy, as together they were the famous duo of Curious George and the Man in the Yellow Hat.  The kids loved them and they were stopped multiple times for photo ops.  

My costume was a stretch as I attempted to be an animal trainer with my sling signifying my "occupational hazard".  Don't worry, I made it easy on people by having a tag that said animal trainer and an arrow pointing to my sling saying occupational hazard. :-)

Halloween day was spent at Auntie Jen and Uncle Ryan's house.  

He had fun with the family.

We came back that evening for the main event.  Yet, little Curious George was asleep in daddy's arms by house #1- not that he can really Trick-or-Treat anyways.  I know he'll be all over it next year!

Curious George in the pack and play at Auntie Jen's.

Asher- 5 months old

On November 11th, Asher turned 5 months old!!

Here are some things Ash is up to.

Asher loves dancing with Memaw- with their arms out and holding hands.  She sings a little song she made up called Dance Party.  He smiles so big and seems like he is having the best time!

He also loves when Gma says “ding dong.”  He laughs so hard!

He does the cutest thing when falling asleep, he brings his hands up palms open and then lets his arms down slowly. 

He is still a bad napper and just fights going to sleep.

His favorite book is Barnyard Dance.

When he gets excited he does an open mouth smile and kicks his legs.  He responds when I say, “kick, kick, kick.”

His average bedtime is 7:30 and he is still a great night sleeper.  (Roughly 10-12 hours.)

He loves to “stand” when being held.

Oct. 10^th- I had my shoulder surgery.  I know I mentioned this before.  It will be a long recovery road- hardest mostly because I can’t squeeze Ash with both arms.  Hopefully he won’t remember this time that mommy can’t hold him.  So far I am healing well and my PT is going great!  I'll be out of my sling on November 21st!!

Oct. 30^th- he rolled himself on his side to sleep (more than once).
I've started to give him a spoon to chew on while he's in his high chair for our mealtimes.  I'm hoping that this helps get him ready for the food that will be coming his way over the next month. 

Within the last 2 weeks he has moved to size 2 diapers (could have done that a while ago but I forgot to change the size on our auto shipment) and I have had to retire 3-6 month and some 6-month clothes. Big boy!!

Nicknames

So I can’t believe I haven’t done this, but I need to record my nicknames for Asher. They are a funny thing in how they develop and even evolve.  So he started off as Monkey- due to the funny little noises he made/makes.  Then that moved to Little Monkey.  Which became Monkey Moo, Monkey Moo-Moo-Moo, Little Moo, Moo-Moo and just Moo.  I am crazy weird, I realize.  Yet I need to document this, if even only for my own sake. :-)

He is getting better and better at grabbing his toys.

Hanging with mommy in her sling.
I can't wait to squeeze him with both arms again!!

Poor drooly guy! 

Hanging with Gpa.

Partying in the church nursery.

Chilling with friends.

Our new definition of "FaceTime". 

Pumpkin Fun

Every year we try to get to a pumpkin farm (I use this phrase loosely in AZ).  This year we went back to MacDonald's Ranch in Scottsdale.  We had a great time and found our perfect pumpkins- which I forgot to take a specific picture of.  

He loves the Bjorn! (Asher I mean.)

Hanging with Uncle Ryan.

Hayride

Isn't my sister's family so cute and coordinated?! I hope to be so organized someday!

Our friend Ali hosted a pumpkin carving party.  Such a fun event- thanks Ali!!

Fall!

Have I mentioned that I love fall??
Here are some shots I took of decorations from around the house, as well as my attempt to get Asher into the spirit.  As this is the first year in our house its been fun trying to figure out how and where to decorate.
(These are all pre-Halloween.  I'm a bit behind on posting.)

His first exposure to sunglasses.  He's not too sure about them.  :-)

Happy fall everyone!! 

Asher- 4 months old

On October 11th Asher turned 4 months old!!

In an effort to get into the fall spirit, Asher sported a Halloween themed outfit given to him almost a year ago by Auntie Adrianne (so crazy as it looked so big back then) and was accompanied by a bunny dressed as a pumpkin- naturally.  

He has also been enjoying this amazing weather! Much thanks to Memaw and Gma for spending time with him outside!!

Here are some things Ash is up to.

Just before 16 weeks we traveled to grandpas funeral.  While this was a hard time for our family, we know Grandpa Lloyd is in Heaven and we tried to make it a great time for us all to just be together.  My aunt, uncle, and cousins were able to meet both Asher and Nolan. :-)  (PS Asher did amazingly well on the car ride to CA and back.)

He is finally out of his swaddle! This lasted for a long time with him.  For so long it was the only thing that would calm him down before bed.  For a few weeks we swaddled with both arms out of his swaddle, and (as I'm learning) he was just ready to be done one day.  I highly recommend the SwaddleMe blankets- they were a lifesaver for a long time for us!

He started coming with us to Civitas (Wednesday night church group) at 16 weeks. The nursery workers love him!

Asher grabbed and held on to his first water toy at swimming. He may have chewed on it a bit too. 

At 16 weeks he started sitting in his high chair.  This has been amazing for mealtimes even though he isn't eating yet.

Asher is also pretty much back to his sleeping pattern- going to bed at 8 or so and sleeping until 6 or 7.  He had a bit of a regression before 16 weeks- which I hear, and read, is common.

Finally, at  4 months he is pretty much all in 3-6 month clothes.  

To commemorate Asher turning 4 months, I had shoulder surgery.  While recent pain and the lack of the use of my arm moved the "choice" of when to have this fun procedure to NOW, I do not recommend having surgery while having an infant.  Thanks to Brandon, my mom, and other family and friends who have been amazingly helpful!  It is quite humbling to need about as much help and care as my infant son.  And didn't I just have surgery 4 months ago???  Such is life.

Chilling with his buds Sonora and Brock at Starbucks.

Enjoying high chair time!

Apple Picking!

I love fall!  The only problem is that the great state in which I live has a habit of extending summer right into winter and skipping fall completely.
So, I do what many around here do, I do fall-type things anyway.  One tradition my sister and her family started was apple picking.  I have not had a chance to go before this year, but always thought it sounded like a perfect fall activity.  We ended up going to the Sedona area- Oak Creek to be exact.  They had a one day Fall Festival with activities and the option to head into the orchards and gather apples.

The surrounding area was so beautiful, I could have stayed there all day.

And I think Asher enjoyed himself as well.  (We missed daddy as he was home with a cold.)