3 Months

Asher turned 3 months old on Wednesday- I can't believe how fast time has gone or how big he is already. It makes me excited and sad at the same time. Every time I hear or read about kids growing up, I get all emotional and teary-eyed. Asher has made quite a few developmental accomplishments lately!

1. His hair is getting thicker on top of his head (but not really around the sides- that is just a little longer). I think the hair is mostly blond, but still has some red in it and its not quite as silky as his newborn hair, but still soft and downy.
2. He is great at tracking things with his eyes. He has been able to do this since birth, but he is really good at it now. He even tracks a laser light that Austin shines around the room.
3. He hasn't giggled yet, but he smiles all the time and often he has a huge grin and makes a noise that we call a laugh even though it truly isn't one.
4. He loves to stand up and look all around. Of course he needs support for this one in order to keep his balance, but he holds all of his own weight. He is super curious (just like his dad) and loves to see what is going on. I get told that he is "bright eyed" or "bright eyed and bushy tailed" quite a bit.
5.We have gotten into a great daytime routine where he eats, gets a diaper change, we play together or sometimes he plays alone, then he starts to get sleepy, so I snuggle him up for a few minutes until he is a little drowsy, and he goes down for a nap for about an hour. Sometimes he doesn't want to go to sleep right away and cries, or sometimes he plays in his crib for a little while then cries for me, so I have to snuggle him again until he gets drowsy and then he will take a nap. Its been so nice to feel like we have some order to our day. I think he would have gotten into this rhythm sooner if I would have implemented it. He still sleeps quite a bit less than what a typical 3 month old does, but he is happy when he is awake and will usually go down for a nap when I notice him getting fussy.
6.Asher slept almost 6 hours last night! It was blissful and we are hoping that he keeps it up. He has slept for long periods before, but it has been pretty sporadic.
7. Asher is an expert spit bubble blower. He has been doing this for at least a month, but he is getting even better at it.
8. He is great at reaching and swiping at things and has an absolute fascination with his hands. He loves to stare at them and watch them move and often goes cross-eyes because he is intently looking at them and they get too close to his face.
9. He loves to take baths. He used to cry a lot when I put him in the tub, but he has loved them for about 2 months. He smiles and coos while I sing to him and tell him which body part I'm washing. Lots of times, Austin has to ask me to turn down the singing because it distracts (I won't use the work annoys :) him while he is doing homework. Lately Asher has even been good about not crying while I am drying him off and putting his diaper on.
10. Asher is moving on to bigger and better things- in clothes anyway. Look how he fills out that alligator shirt that almost drown him in his 1 month pictures! He outgrew all his newborn sized things awhile ago and was wearing 0-3 months, and is now starting to fit into some of his 3-6 months clothes. Its sad put some of those clothes away- especially since it feels like he only wore some of his outfits a couple times,but hopefully he will have little brothers someday who can wear them :)
11. We are pretty sure his eyes are going to be light blue with a dark blue rim around them. Even Austin (who has been telling Asher he has green eyes since he was born) admitted last night that they probably are going to stay blue since they are just getting lighter and lighter.

And without further ado. . . . Asher's 3 month pictures:

He thinks he's running away :)
Here's the fascination with his hands. In about 1/3 of the pictures we took of him, he lost focus on the camera and started staring at those amazing hands.
And here's some pictures from earlier this month just because they are cute. My dad and his girlfriend (most likely my dad really had nothing to do with sending anything ;) sent Asher this outfit for Halloween- a much better alternative to candy (and I promise he has other diaper colors than green- most of them are actually white)


Asher loves his little play place, a hand-me-down from Austin's cousin. We have added his singing frog toy and some soft blocks to make it more fun.

Bear Lake

No, not Bear Lake in Utah. Bear Lake in Washington, which is really more of a big pond than a lake. Austin and I stumbled upon this fun park as we were looking for another park, but got sick of driving. Officially the park is closed for the summer (meaning that the city doesn't provide a porta-potty or lifeguard) but people are allowed to come all year. Our walk around the lake made for a beautiful Sunday afternoon.


I had the idea to have Asher lean on Austin's legs because he can't sit up by himself quite yet. At first, it was just a way to support Asher and I thought I would try to blur out Austin (because I'm such a pro at photoshop ;) but I think it turned out cute to have Austin's feet in the picture and he wants to do more pictures like this each season.

Asher might look like he is leaning over to see something, but he's really just tipping over. This was taken before I had the grand idea to use Austin's legs as a support.

Aunt Renee

Renee came to visit us for the weekend. Unfortunately she got sick the morning after she got here and didn't want to hold Asher too much and risk getting him sick. She was a really good sport and wore a silly doctor's mask that Austin found so that she wouldn't spread her germs as much :) Her oldest son, Paul, who is 4, drew a picture of a baby robot for her to bring to Asher. We took a picture of him with it, but its on Austin's phone, so I can't put it on the blog. It was really cute of him to think of Asher.

Autumn Train Ride

Yesterday we went up to a little town called Ione, Washing to see the leaves changing color. The two hour drive through the Pend Oreille Valley to get there was half the fun since there was such beautiful scenery. It was pretty chilly on the train and we were worried about Asher being too cold, but I don't think he really noticed it. He was snuggled up next to me in his sling, had a warm sweater on, and slept most of the time. He woke up and got a little fussy toward the end, but I think he was more hungry than cold. The train ride reminded me a lot of the Heber Creeper, which is a train that my grandma took all the granddaughters on every summer.

Some of the scenery along the drive:
Waiting in line to get on the train
There were seats, but everyone stood almost the whole time to see out





We went through a really long tunnel. This is the part when I wished that Asher was older so he could have enjoyed it more. We are planning to make this a yearly event so that he (and any siblings) will have fun memories of it.

There wasn't so much wind when I sat down, so every now and then I sat down to warm Asher up a bit.
Scenery from the train:



When we got to the turn around point, the took the engine off the front and hooked it onto the caboose so we could drive back.
While we were waiting, robbers came on the train and took money from everyone.

Family Visit

My mom, step dad, and sister came to visit last weekend. They spent time playing with Asher and we went to Manito Park again. We even discovered gardens that Austin and I hadn't found the last time we went there. We were very excited that they brought my cedar chest that my step dad made for me. Its beautiful and looks so nice in our living room!
Abbey wanted to carry Asher around all the time. He loved having so much attention all the time! This is at the Japanese garden at Manito Park

We found a bunny hopping around in the rose gardens eating rose petals

This is a garden at Manito Park that we didn't find earlier. We called it "Alice in Wonderland Garden"






There was also a greenhouse with more exotic plants in it
Asher also enjoyed spending time with his grandma