peepee in the potty

This is just to say YAY ASHER!! for his first pee in the potty chair!

We've introduced the potty chair, and he likes to sit on it and look at himself in the mirror that's currently sitting in the hallway outside the bathroom. But typically, he is up and out of it after sitting for about 2.2 seconds. That's fine, I'm not looking to do the potty training for real yet, this is just an orientation period.

Today I am home with him (I am off on Fridays all summer). He didn't give me much grief today about napping, which was a problem last week. He took a nice long nap after lunch, and when I went to change his diaper after he awoke, I noticed it was mostly dry. So I left the diaper off and walked him to the potty. I grabbed a book to keep him sitting. He was engaged in the book and about half-way through... I saw he had peed! I didn't even see or hear it when it happened, but there was a bowl full of yellow liquid. I stopped reading and cheered for him. He looked down and stuck his fingers in it (just a little). I grabbed some tp to take care of any drips and then had him wash up. After that, he watched as I poured the pee into the big potty and we said bye-bye as the flush went down.

I'm so happy, but I know this is a one-time deal for now. I don't have the time to be consistent and I don't expect my daycare provider to be just yet. As he gets older and his language continues to develop, I hope he will begin to communicate when he has the urge to go and we can be more consistent. But I'll take these moments as the come all the same!

it's pahty time!

Asher's been developing in leaps and bounds, from more teeth (canines) to language (understanding and tons more expressive words) to his first haircut!! (See Brent's facebook for pics, I will post some here eventually.)

For a little while, he has been saying the word "poopy" and then we discover he indeed has a poopy in his diaper. He doesn't seem to be bothered by it, though, and he still has full diapers overnight. But then more recently, he's been saying the word "potty" and pointing to the toilet. However, he is deathly afraid if we try to sit him on the big potty. Yesterday, we went ahead and bought a potty chair, because it can't hurt to get him introduced to it. We got the Bjorn potty chair, which is super cute, looking like a real toilet in all white. There are some whacky potty chairs out there, ones that make sounds and even look like thrones... weird. I like that this is just functional and claims to be ergonomic, to boot.

We got home late from the store and dinner, so I didn't get to set up the potty yet. I am working today and Asher gets a Daddy day. I get a text message at work about some "news," but I am busy, so I said to email me. This is what I get:

"So we were watching noggin, and asher got off the couch and went to the bathroom and sat on the potty in his diaper. so I said to him, lets take the diaper off, I took it off and he sat for a moment, then he ran out of the bathroom into the living room and pee'd on the floor."

LOL!! I love it. This potty training thing should be a real blast, haha. I haven't read too much about it yet, so if anyone has any tips or advice, especially about training boys to pee sitting vs. standing, please chime in!

Dearest Grandma Ro,

I know I won't remember much when I grow up, but I loved you and I know you loved me. I will miss you, but I will look at the pictures from when I was first born and see your loving face smiling upon me. I will watch the video of my bris ceremony and see you kvelling as you held me when I received my Hebrew name. I will listen to my mommy tell stories of how you loved to kiss my little toes and how you interpreted all of my baby babble because you understood me. I am thankful for your last visit in February when you babysat for me and gave me love, hugs, and kisses. I will cherish our matching Hanna outfits. I love you and know you will always be my guardian angel watching over me.

Your loving grandson,

Asher Isaac

It's Dancey Dance time!

Things have been good. Asher is growing so big, and his receptive language is booming. Not a lot of expressive words, but a few. He like to walk and run, and he likes to climb up stairs (but not down). He can climb down from the couch, but doesn't climb up onto it. He went through some crazy growth spurt a couple weeks ago where he was hungry ALL the time, but that seems to have subsided since he now seems satisfied after eating. He might start teething again soon (oh joy). I always get good reports from his daycare, I think he likes going there. I can't wait for the weather to get nicer so he can really enjoy the playgrounds around Boston. We also hope to do weekend hikes this summer and we got the ergo carrier so we can carry him on our backs.

And now, here is Asher's 5 second debut of super awesome cuteness dancing!!

more teeth

Asher is now cutting two bottom teeth, but I'm not totally sure if they are the canines or first molars. The top ones are molars for sure, so I would assume it would follow the same pattern on bottom, but who knows. I think it's kind of crazy when I really think about how humans grow teeth and then shed their teeth to grow new ones.

AND, I think we are almost totally weaning from breastfeeding! We'll see how the rest of the week goes. I am partly sad about ending the breastfeeding relationship, but my little boy is growing up!

Milk Teeth

I meant to keep track on this blog of the dates when Asher's teeth come in, but I've not been precise about it. Asher has had all of his incisors (central and lateral) for a little while now, and I think it was last week that his first molars started coming in. I definitely felt the top left molar because he was teething hard. This morning I was making Asher laugh on the diaper table and he opened up wide and I saw that BOTH first molars on the top have cut through! It's kind of weird to see because you see the points coming through on the lingual and buccal (cheek) sides with gum still in the middle. I don't think the bottoms are in sight yet, but it's hard to get Asher to let me (or anyone) see in his mouth.

Apparently baby teeth are sometimes called milk teeth. Speaking of milk... we've gone two nights without nursing! Once we established bedtime snack, I removed the breastfeeding and he seems fine with it! We will still enjoy the morning feeding for a little while longer.

Now, my nose detects a stanky diaper across the house!!

Mommy Brain and Asher's 15 month b-day...

How many moms out there started mixing up names of family members quickly after starting your own family? I find that I frequently start to call Asher Brent or Brent Asher. Does this happen more frequently when mothers have sons? Has anyone ever mixed up names for family members of different genders? I wonder if it happens more often when husbands and sons have names that start with the same letter/sound. It's a curious phenomenon.


Happy 15 month birthday today, Asher! We are not actually celebrating, but I've been thinking lately about weaning from breastfeeding. At first, I said I would breastfeed until he's one year old, as recommended by the AAP. It got hard when I went back to school in September and had to pump, and Asher would not accept formula supplement. Pumping sucked, even with a pretty good environment (a private space, understanding faculty). So when we cut down to just morning and evening feedings--no pumping--it was SO much more relaxing/less stressful/enjoyable! So then I said I wanted to keep nursing until he got his MMR shot, because you know, all the good immunity stuff in breast milk. Well, that happened last week. So now what?

Last weekend, I attempted to give Asher a sippy cup of cow's milk first thing in the morning, while sitting in the rocker where I usually nurse him. NUH-UH, MAMA! Asher was NOT having that, angrily hitting the sippy and kvetching/crying! After this rukus woke up Dad, I just went ahead and nursed him. My gut said it might be easier to cut the evening bed-time routine feeding before the morning feeding, even though you always hear the night feeding "should be" the last to go. But it just makes more sense to me to keep nursing him, and thereby cuddling him, when he is groggy in the morning, and try to adjust his night routine when he is up and about just before bed. On the other hand, breast feeding does tend to calm him down for bedtime, but then sometimes he also gets excited/excitable again when we brush teeth (which logically follows his last feeding).

But I haven't tried this adjustment to the night-time routine yet. Part of me wants to wean because I have this idea that it would be easier and I would be freer. But I don't know if that's true or not. I mean, I've been happy about nursing him since I cut out the pumping and went back to wearing non-nursing bras. The AAP also recommends breastfeeding as long as it is mutually desirable for mom and baby. Well, I can tell that Asher is still plenty contented to have the breast, and I do enjoy having that time with him--cuddling and kissing his feet. So maybe I'll just keep going a little while longer. Maybe a month, maybe 3? My only fear is that Asher will be too attached to want to self-wean, but I guess the bottom line is we'll just see how it goes.

Asher runs the internet

Asher under glass

I know this isn't supposed to be funny, but it is. He got stuck in the coffee table, and it was just too cute. Notice the toys are under the table, but he's trying to get them. Somehow, his plan didn't work out...









And here's Asher talking behind the glass (window, that is) to the snow we got right before Christmas:

All I want for Christmas...

I said a few days ago that all I want for Christmas is for Asher to walk. And... he took his first for real steps today!! For Daddy, but I managed to come in and catch a few. He was reluctant to repeat the feat, but he did take some more steps, then he got tuckered out. I'm sure he'll soon get the idea that it's a lot faster to transport yourself on two feet than on all fours, and then we'll really be in trouble!

Also, (dunno if i posted about this) he cut one bottom lateral incisor a week or two ago, and today he is cutting the other bottom lateral incisor. That will make 8 teeth total! I think molars might come next, yikes!

Friday evening will be Asher's first airplane trip. It was supposed to be on Monday, but weather postponed our trip. I am hoping for an easy ride, we shall see.

Merry Christmas and Happy 4th night of Chanukkah!!

Stand Up!

I know I am not keeping up this blog regularly, but I really can't. I'm back in school and I just don't have the time. But I will post every now and then when something exciting happens that I want to document. Like how this evening, Asher stood up without holding on to anything! All by himself in the hallway, he went from sitting to standing, with only some minor wobbling. Then the next couple times he tried again he didn't quite make it, falling on his bum. But then he did again and we clapped and cheered. I am taking this as a sign that walking independently is only a short "step" away :)

In other news, I am sad to say that we found out Asher has a peanut allergy. This is somewhat distressing, since Brent and I both love peanutbutter. And it's a pain in the arse to read every label and worry that he might somehow eat something with peanuts or trace amounts in it by accident for his whole childhood. But, I suppose it could be worse, it's just something we have to learn to live with.

Poo Monster strikes

**WARNING: Explicit details about feces in this post**

Last week when I was on the phone with my cousin Susan, she shrieked and had to hang up. Her 17 month old son Jacob had pulled off his diaper in the crib and there was poop everywhere! I was not envious!! I figured that wasn't all too surprising for a baby Jacob's age. I never thought it would happen to me, let alone a week later...

Lo and behold, today was the day. I've been going to bed much later than I should (if I wanted to be well-rested), so this morning I didn't want to get up when Brent got up. I had already fed Asher at 5 am and we both went back to sleep, me in my bed, he in his crib. I don't know how long Asher was awake, but he started crying when he heard Brent in the shower. I couldn't bring myself to go to him, so he cried for a good 10 minutes or so. I thought to myself that he needs a diaper change, expecting it to be quite wet from overnight, but I was waiting for Brent to assume that duty (haha, doodie). Brent gets out of the shower and when he goes into Asher's room, I hear an exclamation that alarmed me. I yelled across the house, What's wrong?! Well, you get the idea, he pulled a Jacob.

We didn't know what to do at first, Brent holding him by the armpits, Asher wearing nothing but a t-shirt and crying. I tried to wipe off his leg, but the poo was already dried to his skin, even in his toes! So my brilliant mind came up with this: Let's put him in the shower! I also got in the shower with him, still wearing my t-shirt and underwear, and washed him with soap... bottom to top, heh heh. (We obviously removed Asher's t-shirt.) He was fine after that, and I was left to clean up the crib. Luckily, we use the ultimate crib sheet (I highly recommend!), so I just had to pull that off, along with his blanket and his Bashful Lamb "lovey" (that's what Babycenter.com always calls kids' favorite stuffed animals) that Alicia had given him. After picking up any chunks and flushing the main mass wrapped in the diaper liner, all went into the washing machine. I am happy to report all items came clean, and Bashful Lamb is looking better than ever.

Big Changes

Next week I go back to school. I found a daycare for Asher, a nice Irish woman who's been running a home daycare for over 20 years. Today was his first day where I left him, for a half-day. I took the opportunity to do something for myself--I got a mani-pedi :)

Asher has been growing in leaps and bounds. He can get around like a pro, and he's "cruising"-- walking around the coffee table or along the couch while holding on. It won't be long before he's doing it hands-free, I'm sure! He's eating well, more variety of foods, and getting the hang of feeding himself finger foods (and he's not overly messy, which is a big plus). And just today, when we got back from daycare, I saw and felt that his first TOP tooth is cutting through! YAY! I've been able to see those top central teeth just under the gums for weeks already. I'm still breastfeeding, but I'm trying to get him to accept formula for the times he won't be with me. I'm still going to pump when I'm away from him, but I don't know if my output will be sufficient, hence the supplement. I did some research and decided on an organic formula called Baby's Only. It doesn't have the DHA & ARA added, but it does contain sufficient amounts of the precursor fatty acids that the body uses to produce DHA & ARA. Plus, Asher is still being breastfed, so I don't think it matters as much as for babies on formula alone. He's not a big fan of the formula, I haven't tasted it (although I DID taste some Nestle Good Start premixed liquid, and it was awful!!), but the smell is definitely different from the smell of breast milk, which doesn't have much smell at all. This will all be an adventure over the next couple of months!

This summer, Asher took a swim class at the BU FitRec gym. I will (one day) post pictures, I swear!! I haven't even touched the camera in weeks :( Next month, Asher will be in a Baby Gym class, so that should be FUN!

What else... I don't know, but I may not have much time to update as my semester gets into gear, so please don't bug me about posting ;)

Cloth Diaper Give-away!!

I found this Bum Genius give-away through Elita's Blog (Thanks, Elita!) These are the exact diapers we use and love!! We already have enough, but it can't hurt to have more or perhaps gift them around town to some of my friends, you know, to get them hooked on cloth. Make sure you enter by August 6!

How to Make a Fruit Fly Trap

Do you ever get annoying fruit flies in your house? I thought I would share this easy way to trap those pesky buggers. My friend Bonni taught me how to make this back when she worked with drosophila in a biology research lab.

Materials:

• sheet of paper
• scissors
• tape
• glass (or some sort of cylindrical container)
• pieces of bread
• red wine (I bet grape juice would work too)

Construction:

1. make a paper funnel by cutting a slit in the paper and shaping it into a cone. Tape the cone together and cut the tip off to make a SMALL hole.
2. put small pieces of bread into the bottom of the glass and pour some red wine in there. Just a little to let the bread soak it up, but don't drown the bread.
3. set the paper funnel into the mouth of the glass. It may help to tape the paper to the rim of the glass to make a seal.

The idea is that the flies will be attracted to the wine and bread, they'll find their way to it through the hole in the funnel, but then they won't know to get out back through that hole. They will try to get out at the top of the glass, so the seal is important. Hope this helps someone, I know it has helped me numerous times!

Red White and Blue

July 4th was a fun evening. First we went to Vanessa's party, where Asher was a hit, of course. Here he is trying on Vanessa's hat:



Then we went to the roof of Brent's office building to watch the Boston fireworks show. Asher didn't know what was going on at first, but then he got the idea. He was very tired though.







The next day, we visited our friends Bill & Cara, who are expecting a baby boy in November. I don't know Cara very well (this was the second time meeting her), but she is super nice and easy to talk to, so I felt very comfortable sharing my birth story with her. I realized how incredibly crazy my stories sound when told all at once! Meanwhile, Asher had his first taste of watermelon



Asher chewed a little of it but then next thing I knew, the bits of melon were on his chin. He doesn't quite have the hang of chewing solids yet, so we are still mostly on puree. Today he did have his first Cheerios! He did a decent job of getting them to his mouth and he will chew/suck on them until they disintegrate in his mouth. They will be good to have in restaurants when Mommy and Daddy want to eat their own food!

uh-oh, here he comes!

Asher crawled for real!! He's been rocking back and forth on his hands and knees for weeks, but now he's really done it. The rug in his room helps, because he doesn't manage so well on the hard wood, especially if we have him on a blanket on the wood, which just slides around. But check him out in all his glory:

another matching outfit

Daddy & Asher in matching outfits, how cute!

good eater

My Asher is a good eater. He doesn't usually refuse food, and the latest development is that he seems to voluntarily open his mouth for more. I am trying to build the variety of foods in his diet, and now that he's 8 months, we can add dairy and meats. Last night I gave him yogurt for the first time and he was OK with that. I mixed plain with some fruit. Maybe next time I will try the vanilla yogurt. Soon to try will be egg yolks. I'm not sure about chicken or beef yet, I would have to puree it and that just seems gross. Hopefully Asher will get more teeth soon! Meanwhile, we tried a teething biscuit, WHAT A MESS!!



I realized I never wrote about Jenn's wedding. It was a lot of fun and Asher looked super cute.



Now that I am using Flickr, when you click on the pics here and get to my flickr page, you can then look through my photostream to see lots more pictures. There is a "set" for Asher pics.

Daddy's Day

Yesterday was Brent's first Father's Day and he told me he had a good one. I am glad, because we didn't have anything planned. In the morning, we went to a breakfast hosted by the newly married Jenn & Jason and hung out with some of my friends from college. (Note: wedding details to follow in separate post.)



It was raining in the morning, but after we left the hotel where the breakfast was, we walked over to the brand new Apple store. We all know an "apple" a day will keep Brent happy ;)

Then we walked to Crate & Barrel to say hello to our friend Bruce who works there. After that, I told Brent we could go anywhere he wanted, and he wanted to just take a drive so he headed north. I got an urge for Dairy Queen, but wanted a hamburger from them, not necessarily ice cream. However, it seems that the DQs in MA are all just ice cream-only huts, no "eats" just "treats." We ended up eating at Piccadilly Pub, which turned out to be good. The burger hit the spot for me, even without any tomatoes. The sweet potato fries were nice and cripsy too. We have pecan pie for dessert, Brent's favorite :) We still got dip cones from DQ after, haha! But in between we did digest a bit with a shopping trip in Marshalls. I almost got a little carried away in the shoe department, but then remembered it was Brent's day and I shouldn't be shopping for myself.



Asher has bee testing his high pitch range quite a bit lately. It's annoying, especially when we are out somewhere. Sometimes I'm not sure if he's complaining with his screams or just playing with his voice.