Four Years Old

Ephraim, my boy!  You are four years old!

It seems longer and shorter at the same time.  This age is so fun!  You have so much personality!

You love to talk.  You tell stories, and ask sooo many questions.  You want to understand the world around you. You say the FUNNIEST things.  Here are a few I have written down:

"These are the beautiful parts" **gestures to his whole face**
"Mommy, I really miss Asher when he was so small. I wish he was so small again."
"Mommy, I thought of a compromise. How about instead of taking a nap, I watch a movie."
"I want to be nakey all days and nights." 
"Sometimes I love you, but sometimes I don't. But I'm still happy to be with you."
"I want to break the red light so we can go to Seaward."
"Hey Deer! Come back! I'm small!"
"Look at me! I'm a genius! I caught a bubble!"
"Hey Jerks! We are trying to go home!" "Don't yell Ephraim" "I'm trying to tell the jerks we need to go home."
"I'm not in timeout anymore because I'm a grownup with my worker hat!"
"I smell it. It tastes yummy for my nose."
"I think a jelly fish is an octopus without eyes."
"Mommy I'm so proud of you, because I love you and you are my shweetheart"

 You love life. You love going to the park and anywhere you can play with toys.  You love animals and learning all you can about them.  You are obsessed with watching "unboxing" videos on youtube.   You look forward to quiet time (when Asher takes his nap) so you can watch TV.  Your favorite TV shows are Rescue Bots, Wild Kratts, and Little Einsteins.  You also love to go to the pool.  You are quite a swimmer and as long as you have arm floaties you are completely independent.

Speaking of independence, you always want to do everything yourself.  Most of the trouble you get into stems from the fact that you never want help with anything and try to get into everything yourself.  You are also very curious and want to know how everything works.  You are super smart and try to reason with mommy a lot.

You are a people person.  You will talk to anybody and make friends easily.  It's so fun to watch you develop relationships as we go to church and our community playgroup.

You are the sweetest big brother.  You and Asher have your squabbles, especially when toys are involved, but you are always looking out for Asher and willing to help mommy take care of him.  You don't like to sleep without Asher in the room.

You are a picky eater, but you will always eat peanut butter and jelly, yogurt, pizza, applesauce, and treats.

Ephraim had a dinosaur party.  We had a dinosaur egg hunt and "found" dinosaur bones in ice blocks. So many of his little buddies came and we had a great time.

         

   

I am forever grateful that I get to be your mommy.  I know I am sometimes not as patient as I should be, but you are my best little buddy and I am so excited to see what the next year brings.

One Year Old

Asher McMasher!  You are one!

You have a very inquisitive personality!  You can be quite serious when you are trying to focus on something or observe what is going on.  You love to mimic what you see.

You love balls, cars, and anything someone else is playing with.  You are quick at snatching glasses, and giggle and crawl away if you think someone is chasing you.  Your favorite place is probably the kitchen because you can get into the cupboards and pull out bowls and things to bang and play with.

You get mad if I don't put you down and let you crawl around.  You also have started throwing little tantrums if you don't get what you want or if someone takes something away from you.  You also hate having your face wiped, your bum changed, and getting dressed.

You give the sweetest cuddles. If mama is sitting on the floor you love to crawl into her lap.  You give sweet hugs and love to lay your head on mamas shoulder, and if you get in the right mood you give big, wet, open mouth kisses.  You also love to cuddle Ephram (although usually it's a little more like wrestling, as you crawl all over him).  And if you find something soft to play with, like a big pillow, you giggle and cuddle it over and over.

Eating is still your favorite activity, and you love everything!  You especially love meat and cheese.  You also love to throw food on the ground and feed the dog.

You and Moose are pretty good buds.  You love to share toys with him, you really love his dog bowls, and you even try to go out his dog door. You get really excited to see him, but you don't like if he tries to lick your face.

You are a huge boy!  You weigh 28 pounds and are 32.25 inches tall! You are a quick crawler, great at cruising and getting pretty good at standing without holding onto anything.  You are a climber!  You climb until you can't climb anymore and then fuss until I come get you down.

You are starting to mimic some sounds, but I don't recognize any words from you yet. You understand a lot though.  You love to chat and babble.

Your first birthday party was pretty awesome!  You loved crawling around and stealing food from different people's plates.  You had so many friends come!  

You were a good cake smasher.  After picking off some of the fruit you went to town (with Ephraim's help).

You are such a lucky boy, and so many people love you!

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11 Months Old

Stop stop stop!  I'm not ready for this little baby to be a year old!  Only one more month to go!

Asher is just the sweetest little buddy.  He is always looking around and taking everything in.  He is easy to take places.

Asher is getting very adventurous.  He loves to crawl around and open and close any door he finds.  He also loves to search the ground for small things to put in his mouth.  When he finds something that he thinks is cool he loves to hold it out to show it to you, and looks for a reaction from the adults around him.

Asher enjoys music.  Whenever he hears music he bobs his head, and if he really likes it he will clap his hands and wave his arms around.  It is pretty much super adorable.

Asher basically cries in three situations: 1. He is tired 2. He is getting put in his carseat 3. He sees food.  That's it.

Have I mentioned that Asher is quite the eater?  That kid can pack it away.  He eats more than Ephraim for sure.  If he sees food, he will fuss until it is his.  If he thinks he is being denied food, he will let you know with much vigor. He especially loves anything protein: cheese, eggs, beans, and meat.  He also loves drinking water through a straw.

Asher doesn't really talk much, although he will occasionally babble if he is in the mood.  He understands words like kiss and dance, and I am sure there are many other ones.

Asher is a mama's boy, but he also loves his brother and daddy.  He follows Ephraim everywhere and tries to play with everything he is playing with.  He is a little wary of new people, but warms up to the quickly.

We are just so blessed to have this little man in our lives!

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10 Months Old

Double Digits.  I really can't believe it!

Asher fits so wonderfully into our little family  He loves to go and explore new things, and is easy to bring along on all our adventures.

Asher is an expert mover now days.  He alternates between "traditional" crawling and army crawling with ease and can pull up to just about anything and cruise along.  He is getting faster and loves to use his new freedom to explore.

Asher has one front tooth and one lateral incisor.  His second front tooth is just breaking through.  With all of his teething and the cold weather we have been having he has had a runny nose for the entire last month.

Asher still LOVES to eat, but is getting pickier.  He has decided very recently not to eat eggs and certain kinds of pasta.  Also, if you are eating something different than Asher he will protest until he is eating exactly what you are eating.

Asher is friendly and likes people, but can be a little shy.  He hides his face when someone says hello to him.  He loves his family, and gets excited if he he ever sees Daddy or Ephraim.  

Asher is very observant.  loves to follow Ephraim around and play with anything that he notices Ephraim using.  He also is interested in anything he has watched the dog or mom & dad use.

Some of Asher's favorite things include: opening and closing doors, sleeping in his carseat, sticking out his tongue, eating, bath time, crawling around, putting small dirty things in his mouth, pulling up to anything he can reach, dog toys, nursing.

Some of Asher's least favorite things include: getting strapped into his carseat, getting dressed, getting his diaper changed, and being left alone.

Asher is just the sweetest little man and is developing quite the curious little personality.  We are so glad he is a part of our family!

More Pictures Here