Asher James: Four Months

My, how time is flying by with this little guy! There have been huge changes this month; his personality is shining through, he is almost sitting by himself and has started to hold his own bottle. Please slow down and stay Mummy's baby just a tad longer. I knew Asher would probably advance a little sooner with having big brother Chase to learn from but actually seeing it happen makes me a little teary eyed, but I also can't wait to see them running around together and creating all kinds of chaos I'm sure.

Asher is such a happy laid back baby. He loooves being sung to, especially Old McDonald and The Wheels on the Bus; I sing and Chase plays a guitar, we are going to get a record deal any day now. He despises lying down, is always wanting to sit up to watch his brother race around him, he can sit by himself for a few minutes at a time. By the time he is five months I have no doubt he will be fully sitting on his own. No rolling as of yet. He has become more aware of Cisco and unfortunately for Cisco, has pulled his hair more times than Cisco would like...poor dog gets such abuse. Storytime is high up on Asher's list of favorite things, he especially like the touch and feel books.

Asher;s four month checkup went well. As you can tell from his weight he is eating well and we have been given the go ahead to start solids anytime we feel like doing so. I will probably wait until he is 5 months, like we did with Chase. I am more than confident that our chunky monkey will be so excited when he gets to add food to his diet.

It has been a busy month; James has been away for work more than we would like so it's been just me and the boys, a lot! We have still been getting over colds and whatnot, trying to clear up the house from the holidays and squeezing in play dates when we felt well enough. Chase and Asher have full out conversations now, we have tried to get Chase to tell us what they talk about but he isn't sharing any details...they are already ganging up against us! Chase has really taken to his role of big brother and has finally decided it's ok to touch Asher; with that Chase believes Asher is ready for bear hugs and wrestling lol. My favorite thing to do during the day is just sit back and watch them interact and see their relationship develop.

This month has also bought us loss. It's been a very hard past couple of weeks, life can be so unfair sometimes but we have to find the strength to keep on moving forward and find hope and joy where we can. With that, I am beyond grateful for our two boys and the time we have had with them and all we have experienced so far together. I am so thankful to James in that he makes it possible for me to stay home with them everyday. I have never taken them or their health for granted but that has been magnified for me recently. Instead of making sure the house is always tidy or the laundry is always kept up with I'm spending every moment enjoying these two little beings that are our sons.

A Merry Little Christmas

What a whirlwind the Christmas season was this year...but also my favorite to date. We filled the month of December with lots of Christmas themed activities, trying to soak up all of the fun and festivities for as long as possible.

This was the first year Chase understood the whole Santa part of Christmas and it was so much fun prepping for the big day with him. We explained to him how Santa brings a present to the house for him if he is a good boy and everytime we asked him what he would like for Santa to bring his answer was always Rocky from Paw Patrol. I had such a hard time finding Rocky over here but thankfully my Mum managed to find him over in England and so Christmas was saved.

One of the best parts of Christmas this year was having my Mum and Paul come and spend the holidays with us. I haven't spent Christmas Day with them since 1996, so it was well overdue. They flew in on the 23rd and left on New Years Eve. We didn't do a lot or visit many places, but we had the best time just spending time together, and eating a lot of food. Of course I'm sure the highlight for them was getting to spend time with the boys. We Skype just about every week so Chase knows who they are, but I was still surprised that he was so at ease with them from the second we picked them up at the airport. When they had to leave, we were waiting to watch them go through security and he kept saying, 'grandma come back, grandad come back.' This was the first time they met Asher and he loved having the extra attention and was all beams and smiles with them.

hanging chocolates on the tree

 

 

Christmas Eve we went to service and then came back to a yummy steak and ale stew Mum and Paul had prepared. Getting to play Santa was so much fun. Mum and I wrapped the remaining gifts and set up all the gifts under the tree, while James, Paul and David built the train table the Santa bought for Chase. We absolutely went overboard with gifts for Chase this year, but we figured we don't buy toys throughout the year for him, and we were able to do it so why not.

 

 

 

Christmas Day was a blur of presents being ripped open, and cooking Christmas dinner for 8 and I wouldn't have had it any other way. Chase was in shock when he came downstairs in the morning and saw all of the gifts under the tree, once we gave him the ok to tear into them there was no stopping him. It was a Paw Patrol and Thomas the train Christmas in our house this year. We saved Chase's big gift from Santa until the end as we knew if he had that first he wouldn't want to open anything else. To say the train table was a hit is a huge understatement, if we are home he is playing with the train table. This Christmas was extra special as it was Asher's first, obviously he didn't participate too much but I can't wait until he and Chase are old enough to run down the stairs Christmas morning together. Both of the boys were spoilt beyond belief by all of our families. They really are the two most loved boys in the world.

As always Christmas is over too soon but it certainly left an impression on Chase as he is already asking when Santa and his reindeer are coming back...