7 Months

Our little "Yafe" (we have all started calling him this since that's what Asher calls him :) is now 7 months old! He is a chubby little guy that is starting to get a little independent. He can sit up if I put a pillow around him to help with support a little and a few times he has sat up all by himself with no support for quite awhile. Austin say that he is all hands- he grabs anything that gets within his reach. Its kind of funny to watch because he looks like he is clumsy and slow so it seems like he won't be able to get something, but he is actually really fast and pretty accurate. I have ended up with milk and cereal all over my lap several times because I underestimated him being able to grab the bowl I was eating out of. He loves stacking cups and stays entertained by them for a long time. The other day I was able to do a little sewing project during Asher's nap because Leif was content to sit on his own and play with the stacking cups. It was quite enjoyable! Asher has started sharing with Leif more too- he brings him toys to play with and if he drops them, Asher picks them up and puts them right into his hands for him. (Of course that only lasts so long before Asher steals them back and says "mine"). I'm not sure if Asher is sharing more because he is getting older or if its because he recognizes that Leif is getting more interested in toys and becoming more of a little person that Asher can play with. Maybe its a mix of both.
Leif is getting better at eating his mush and seems to like it most days. I've been lazy, but I need to introduce him to more solid foods like fruits and veggies. He has had a few samples of ice cream and he seems to like that. The other day Austin, Asher, and I were having some ice cream and Austin gave Leif a little taste. It was hilarious to watch Asher watching Leif eat the ice cream then nodding his head at him like he way saying "hey, this is good, right?"
Leif is also getting back into a good sleeping schedule. He now sleeps for exactly four hours at a time during the night. I would like it to go back to longer stretches without waking up to eat, but for now, I feel like I'm getting enough sleep most nights, so it works.
Leif is a giggly boy who loves to get tossed around by dad and loves to eat his foot (especially during diaper changes.) He is very talkative and babbles a lot. Actually, his babbling might be better described as yelling than talking. He's pretty loud- he has to be to be heard over his brother :) When he does babble, he moves his mouth really funny, sticking his lips out and moving his mouth all around. He must really be trying to enunciate whatever it is he's saying. Here are Leif's 7 month photos:

23 Months

Only one more month until we have a two year old! We've definitely already seen some terrible two's behavior, but in general Asher is a really good little boy and sweet most of the time. Asher has two obsessions lately- bikes and trains and he talks about both of them quite a bit. If anything looks remotely like a bike or a train, Asher will let you know it's there. His language has started exploding, it seems like he comes up with several new words a day and out of nowhere he will start repeating things you say. One funny thing that he does is say "beep, beep" when someone is in his way. Austin and I say this to each other to be funny, I think its something I picked up from my mom, so now Asher says it all the time. Sometimes he talks in short sentences, and often he talks in long sentences that don't mean anything to anyone but him :) Asher is getting great at knowing everyone's name and saying it, but he won't say his own name. Last week when we were trying to get him to say it, we pointed to him and asked "who is this" and he proudly answered "Me!". He is really into having me kiss him whenever he is hurt or thinks he is hurt and does the same service for his brother when he cries. Its so cute to see Asher running over to Leif making smacking kissy noises trying to comfort his brother.As always Asher was difficult to get to sit still for photos and this is the best we could do.

My 30th Birthday

My 30th birthdays has been one of my best so far, despite my fear of turning 30. I was spoiled to death by everyone in the family, so that made it a little easier ;) It's good to have such nice family members. We had a great day yesterday going to the temple early in the morning. My mom came with us to watch Leif while we were in the temple since I am still nursing him and can't be away from him for too long. We went to Ikea and lunch afterward then came home to see my Asher Bug. I made cookies and tried to take a nap then Austin and I went out to dinner at a restaurant we have never been to and had a nice meal out on the patio. Afterward I had an ice cream cone and we walked around downtown. We came home and took care of Leif (Asher was long ago in bed) then went for a walk in the lightning storm which turned to a hail storm then a pouring rain storm. It was really fun to run home in the rain together. Today we celebrated both my birthday and Father's Day with the family at Renee's house. Here are some pictures of the event. Renee just got a sandbox, so the boys were engrossed with that.

Asher insisted that he was "dirty" after playing in the sandbox (check out those feet) and wanted to be washed off immediately

I had a Ben & Jerry's ice cream cake :)

Which Asher thoroughly enjoyed!

Here is Asher & Leif's cousin, Amanda getting cleaned up after the sandbox

Abbey and Asher eating cake together

Leif with Nonna wishing he was old enough to eat cake too

Leif hanging out with Uncle Brent and trying to keep all of his bare skin off the grass

6 Months

 

Its hard to believe that its been half a year already that Leif has been a real part of our family. Its so fun to watch him grow and interact more with us, but as ever, I'm sad to see my baby getting so big. He's definitely not an infant anymore. He has chunked right up (even though he still weighs less than Asher did at this age) and loves to be involved in everything. He would be as happy as could be if I would just sit him up on my left hip so that he is facing out and walk all over with him too see everything all day long. We spend quite a bit of time this way most days, but I can only carry him around so much and he is not happy when he has to be set down. Leif loves to roll over onto his belly and will do it almost immediately if you lay him somewhere. He's not a huge fan of staying on his belly though and usually ends up fussing because he isn't as good at rolling back the other way. He has ventured into the world of eating solid foods (if you can call rice cereal mush a solid food) but he's not very good at eating it yet. So far, each time he eats Asher has been insistent that he too should have some bites. Its kind of annoying, but hopefully the novelty will wear off soon and Asher will lose interest. Leif still loves blowing bubbles and raspberries and loves to be sung to. The other night he went almost 7 hours without eating and slept for most of that time. It was nice to get to get some sleep for me and Austin. He hasn't done it since that night, but we are hopeful that he will start to do it more often soon. Leif has become incredibly distractable! Half the time I can't get him to nurse because he would rather look around and see what's going on (especially if Asher is in the room) even though he was starving 5 minutes before that.

We are so glad that Leif is part of our family and are excited to see him keep growing and developing. 

Asher's Antics

Twenty Two Months

 

Asher is 22 months old- old enough that I've stopped actually saying the number of months when people ask how old he is and now I just say that he's almost 2. Where did my baby go? The trait that most marks Asher's personality right now is his streak of independence. He has always been somewhat independent, but in the past few weeks he has been very assertive about wanting to do things himself. He has to pick out his own clothes and if I try he has a fit. He also wants to put his own socks on, but he doesn't know how to, so it turns into a wrestling match because he doesn't want me to do it, but he can't do it himself. He likes to get into everything and explore all the time. Just recently he has started to not like nursery. He is fine in there and loves playing with the other kids as long as either Austin and I are sitting there, but does not want to be left. Its the first time he has ever really shown any separation anxiety- he didn't do it when most babies do around 10 months or so. We aren't too worried- its probably just a phase and will pass. Above are the pictures we were able to get of him- he never wants to look at the camera or hold still. Below are the pictures of Asher's first fathers/sons campout from this weekend. Austin and his brother Brent took Asher for a one night camp out and he came back the next day exhausted and filthy dirty. Austin said he had lots of fun, spent most of his time exploring and loved sleeping in the tent. I missed him like crazy while they were gone, but it was nice for Leif to experience what its like to be the only child and not have an older brother pestering him constantly ;)

Five Months

Leif is getting too big too fast. It's been fun to see him start interacting more and more with Asher and seeing what good friends they are going to be once their skill levels become more closely aligned. Leif's interest in his hands is getting stronger and stronger. He still loves to blow bubbles and they are often accompanied by blowing raspberries. Leif is a very happy boy and loves to giggle. He loves to watch people and is starting to track food too. We love him so much!