19 months

Asher is now 19 months old, but it feels like he is in the midst of his terrible twos a lot of the time. He is getting more and more opinionated which means more tantrums. He is especially antagonistic toward his high chair which he has a fit about having to sit in. He would rather sit at the table with everyone else, which we let him do sometimes, but I need to have him contained in one place sometimes, so the high chair it is. As part of his protest to the high chair, Asher has become an excellent food-thrower. He likes to throw his food then look at me and say "no-no" to let me know that he purposely did it. I try to ignore it because I know he is just looking for attention, so he will wave his hands at me to try to let me know that he is throwing food. I don't mind when he throws cheerios or even mac and cheese, but throwing oatmeal is a little much.
Lately Asher has been patting the front of his diaper when he wants a diaper change. Notice I said "wants" not "needs". Sometimes he really does need a diaper change and I'm so glad that he is aware of it and lets us know. Other times he just wants to be put up on the changing pad in our room which is located on my dresser with a mirror on it. He likes to play with his reflection, nodding and chatting while he and the boy in the mirror scheme about the next mayhem they will cause.
In the last week, I have caught him eating dirt from the house plants, hiding from me, climbing up onto everything, and crawling around under the dinner table for extended periods of time. This kid needs to get outside and run! To let me know about his constant desire to go outside, Asher brings me his shoes a few times a day. If that doesn't work fast enough, he brings me my socks and shoes and tries to put them on me. We try to get to the park as much as possible, but its still February and that doesn't happen nearly as often as Asher would like.
One of Asher's newest tricks is something I call "fancy feet". He stomps his feet in place as fast as he can and  sometimes bends his knees while he is doing it. Its hard to explain, but hilarious to watch. I wonder where he comes up with this stuff. Austin and I think it would be funny to teach him to clap twice while he is down in his squat then stand back up while he is still stomping- kind of like some funny Russian dance. So far, he isn't interested.
Asher has become and avid waver. He waves at almost everyone and everything. He especially likes to wave as his baby brother because he likes to hear me say "hi Leif" when he does. He is still crazy about Leif and likes to put all his weight on him, try to crawl into his carseat with him, and pull him around where ever he wants him. I can't wait for them to become best friends.

As usual, getting pictures of Asher was difficult. After the first click of my camera while he was sitting on the couch, he had to get down and run around. Of course, getting pictures of a few of his usual antics was pretty easy. Here you can see him asking me to put his coat on him so we can go outside, trying to hide from me, playing under the table, and consorting with his mirror-self. Oh, Asher, we love you!