update

Oh, where to start?!

Asher:
Crazy man! Loud, fast, physical and very social! I'm not sure he's a baby anymore! He crawls like lightning, pulls up on everything, stands by himself for a few seconds at a time, and giggles and squeals with delight if he can 'run around' with other kids. He thinks he's one of the big boys and will crawl around with a group of much older boys running around, squealing and yelling just like they are. He doesn't have the foggiest notion that he's not quite one of them :) He LOVES to eat. He LOVES Owen. He LOVES the little farm animals that Mrs. Anna from church gave him. If he spies one, he will crawl full blast toward it, secure it in his grip and not let go until it is taken away (which often produces a mini-tantrum). He doesn't even let it go when you put food in front of him...he'll just eat with the other hand. Now that's saying something, because Asher has quite an appetite. He never really stops eating, I just cut him off eventually. His absolute favorite food right now is watermelon. I have taken to not giving him any til the end of a meal, otherwise he'll throw a fit to ask for more and not eat anything else on his plate. Blueberries and cherries are close seconds. He also eats everything else well, all veggies, lots of meats. Summer squash is preferred floured and fried to just sauteed :) A Chipotle burrito really hit the spot for him on Father's Day. The only thing he's spit out so far is edamame...too crunchy. He doesn't eat any purees anymore, just a lot of messy self-feeding. He's a great chewer, like his brother before him. He has slimmed out quite a bit compared to previously, but he is still pretty hefty. Considering how much exercise he gets, it's no wonder his portions are usually bigger than mine or Owen's. Nurses 4x per day. Sleeps 2 naps, ~9 and 1 or 9:30 and 1:30 (on a good day ~1.25hr each), usually asleep by 6:30. Up at 5:45. The naps are getting to not be as easy...he'll stay up and play a lot. But he's definitely not ready for just one nap yet. One thing that is so different (and that I love) about Asher is that when it's a sleep time, I hold him on my shoulder and sing Twinkle, Twinkle and as soon as he hears the song he lays his head down on my shoulder and rests there. Owen on the other hand would start *screeching* and arching his back at the same moment. It is a welcome departure from those memories :) Asher followed Reuel up the stairs last week without Reuel realizing it (he left him in the living room and went up to tend to Owen). I was emailing and that's exactly what it sounded like was happening. But instead of checking on the situation I said to myself, 'Well, I know Reuel wouldn't leave Asher unattended downstairs unless he put up the baby gate on his way up, so it must be that he took Asher up with him and I'm hearing things funny because there's a monitor on.' Or something like that. Nope! That was a close call, because while Asher can get up the stairs by himself he often stops and nearly topples backwards while he's looking around. Must have been that since he was chasing Reuel he kept his mind on his target and climbed up safely. Asher really loves being held upside down, it's a little game he plays with me. If I'm sitting on the floor he'll crawl over and press his forehead onto my lap. That's the signal for me to grab him around the tum and flip him upside down, with his back to me. He grins and giggles. I put him down and he presses and presses the forehead until I do it again. And repeat! He has two lower teeth, and two teeth are through the gum on top...but not the two centers! One center, and the one to the side of it. That will look sort of funny! Asher LOVES the stuffed animated pig that my Dad bought for the boys. It is his carseat toy. Rather than cry when he gets in the carseat, if I give him the pig and turn it on he is just mesmerized by it snoring and flicking its ear. He will hold it for the whole car trip. He is very sweet to all the members of the family, Daddy and Owen included. Love, cuddles and kisses for all (Asher kisses us by holding his mouth open and putting the whole slobbery thing on a cheek...leaves his mark). I thought Asher would be much different than Owen about mommy-clinginess and separation anxiety, but no. He auto-wails every time he's set down unless I sit down with him. I figured out that if I sit down with him and then put him on the floor, he won't cry, and then sometimes I can sneak away to actually go to the bathroom or wash a dish. But he is nearly as needy as Owen was. Don't get it!! I feel like a captive. I would just go with it and carry him around in a pack, but he's not happy with that...wants to be playing. He just wants me playing with him At All Times. Tiring!! I challenge it, but also like Owen, that doesn't curb it much. The pediatrician says this is the effect of breastfeeding. Really?

Asher and Owen:
Can you say sibling rivalry?? Ouch! It's very real. I spend most of the day policing older brother and preventing younger brother from inadvertently provoking older brother. Sometimes I think the neural pathway in my brain that fires when I say, 'Time Out! It is not appropriate to ______ your brother! Go sit on the stairs!' may become so well-worn that I will give a time out to an adult when frustrated, without thinking. Some days it is nothing but sweet affection between those two, and some days I really think if Asher ended up unconscious and injured on the floor Owen would react with smug satisfaction, it can be that bad. It seems apparent that there really is a natural drive to wrestle. I am a girl with only a sister. It is all so completely weird to me!

Owen:
Wow! 3 is as new, fun and frustrating as 1 and 2 were. We are having great times together, and awful ones. Discipline is a constant topic of conversation between Reuel and I. We don't feel we have the handle on Owen that will be best for him in life. We're working on it, but he's still tough for us to figure, just like always! Spankings are no magic cure...many times they set his teeth ever harder. (One wonders if the spanking wasn't hard enough...nope, that's not it!) Other things, like separating him from us, are effective, but we need to get a lock for his door to really enforce it as consistently as is needed. Does this sound awful? Well, sometimes it is. On the other hand, this kid is awesome. He is so amazing verbal and the thoughts and ideas that come out of him on a daily basis...well, I feel that I have a companion in a 3 year old in some ways! We talk about everything and he asks about EVERYTHING. He's at the stage of reminding me how things work and what to do and not to do in the house...send the police and arrest me if I do something out of routine!! He still loves his bike, going to the park, reading books, all the normal stuff. Loves cooking with me. LOVES any 'project' that's new. Loves cleaning with me and will still wrestle me for the vacuum. Still runs for his earmuffs anytime something is loud :) Suddenly, to our surprise, he is a social creature. Instead of the previous, NO, NO, NO! when told friends are coming, he waits by the door and asks me every 3 microseconds if they're here yet. He loves going to playdates and seeing kids and friends at church. What a welcome development! He plays fairly well with other kids in terms of sharing (for the most part), which tells me he knows what he's doing with Asher. He is a very bossy playmate (surprise!). He is so eager for his friends to have fun that he tries to force them to do what he considers fun. We're working on that :) It is cute though. So many other fun Owen details that I have missed lately. We were trying to teach social graces for a while. Now, he asks about 15 times a day, 'Mommy, how was your day?' It is his default sentence. He gets very excited if he gets Asher to do a sign, or gets him to come over to him, or do anything he says...that puts him on cloud nine. He's a running, jumping, climbing maniac...typical boy. He can help himself with almost any of our normal house tasks, but actually asks permission most of the time...which I find shocking, but awesome! Eating, pretty good. Light on vegetables. Sleeping, often naps 2 hrs now, and to bed 7-8pm. Also awesome. He does SO much better with a good nap. Crazy that it took til after 3 to get there. At 2.5 he wasn't napping AT ALL! Now, 2 hrs. All a matter of will on his part.

Well, this was a hasty stream of consciousness and a lot of nuts and bolts for my memory. More actual interesting anecdotes another time!