"Happy Dada's Day!"

Unfortunately Heath spent most of Father's Day working. He did get to come home to one of his favorite meals . . . Moe's! Asher got him a ribbon for the Best Father and some new pictures of himself - even if he's upset in most of them and refused to let got of "Baa" in any of them. He also helped me pick out father/son shirts for the future. All day long Asher and I practiced and pretty much by them time Heath got him Asher had it down wishing Heath a "Happy Dada's Day!"

Shh . . . don't tell

Asher has learned the mall can be a lot of fun. It doesn't just have to be sitting in his stoller being eye-level with a bunch of boring clothes. Luckily he still doesn't know if you put money in the cars they actually move and make noises. Right now he's content with just climbing in and out of them pretending to drive them.

He is starting to get the routine of all his favorite stomping grounds on mama's days off. If we get near Barnes and Nobles he starts yelling "choo choo" for the train table. If we're in the mall he starts shouting "play, play" because he knows that is where BounceAbout is. And he's aware that a neighborhood walk usually ends with a trip to the "slide, slide." 

I think Asher thought our trip to the mall was quite successful, unfortunately he wasn't overly cooperative on helping me get daddy's Father's Day present - more to come on that later!!

Joe-Joe's

You never quite no what dinner is going to look like in the Ewing household. Sometimes Asher can eat more than Heath, other times all the food gets thrown on the floor and Peyton seems to get the biggest meal of the night. Sometimes Asher uses a spoon and sometimes he just decides his hands are quicker. Asher can't always tell us exactly what he wants for dinner yet but he does have some of his food words down. He loves "straws" (strawberries), corn, bread, grapes, cheese and "se-saw" (cereal). Last night we learned he really likes "joe-joes" (sloppy joes). He came up with that one all on his own!

Memorial Day

We did our best to celebrate the unofficial start to this summer! Unfortunately, Heath spent most of the weekend at work but Asher and I enjoyed some really great, really hot weather. Asher spent hours enjoying his new water table. I think the one with all the balls was definitely the way to go. He even broke out a new word to describe his new toy, "Awesome!"

Strawberry Pickin'

Asher had a playdate with his buddy Brooks last weekend and they enjoyed a trip to the strawberry patch. Cleary Asher (and Brooks too) was much more interested in eating the berries than picking them! Asher also really enjoyed running up and down the rows in the fields. It was even more fun since it was rainy and muddy. Asher and Brooks are only about 6 weeks apart. They don't really interact yet but they have at least become aware of each other. They were cracking themselves up on the way to the strawberry patch making different noises and sounds and then mimicking each other.

Helllllp!!

Asher now has a new favorite word, "help!" But he doesn't just say help he says "hellllp." We've been in Virginia for 7 years but I've never really thought we developed a southern accent. However, Asher's "help" truly sounds like its got a southern twang to it :)

Every day it seems like Asher picks up a half dozen new words. Two that warmed our hearts recently were "Mae Mae" and "I Love You." It took us a long time to figure out what "MaeMae" was but apparently it's his best buddy Mason. Mason has been going to the same school as Asher since they were both 8 weeks old. It's really fun to know that Asher has connected with his friend and knows who he is.
And of course - how could you not just melt when your first child is finally able to look at you and say, "I love  you!:

Mr. Comedian

Lately Asher thinks it's pretty funny to stick things on his head. He knows the word head and I think he enjoys saying head and then seeing how whatever he puts on his head falls off. Well, during bath time recently he discovered that his fish actually sticks on his head. Hilarious! (Can you see he's almost go all of his teeth in!)

Baa and Sleepy

Unfortunately for Asher is Mama and Dada aren't exactly creative in helping him name his buddies, but that hasn't seemed to effect his love for his "Baa" and "Sleepy." They both are a staple in his bedtime routine. After Asher's bath Baa and Sleepy join us for some bedtime stories. Last night Asher decided he didn't need his Mama reading his stories to everyone. He could do it himself. He's got one of his favorite books in his lap and loves to point out all the colors and animals.

Party Time

Apparently the spring is birthday season and Asher's party card got quite full. He had three parties in the last two weeks. I think he's decided birthday parties aren't too bad! I'm pretty sure his favorite part is the "cake." At his buddy Miss Caroline's birthday party he even joyed wearing the party hats.

Choo Choos

Thankfully Barnes and Noble has FINALLY gotten its train table back!! Asher really enjoys playing with the trains and was very disappointed that for the last few months he couldn't go play at the bookstore. They even have his favorite train, "KoKo." Asher can tell you the color of all the trains, too!

Asher enjoyed a weekend get-away with his Nana and Grandpa in Richmond. He LOVED the zoo!! He would run up to every animal and make their animal sound. He loved feeding the giraffes and even got to ride on a "choo choo." Then he got to enjoy swimming in the hotel pool and visiting the Richmond Children's Museum!

Easter Bunny

Asher enjoyed Easter and had his own little egg hunt out front. He didn't quite get why he couldn't drink the pretty-colored water that we were dumping eggs in but he definitely understood if he popped open a plastic egg there would be a surprise inside! Last year Asher was little enough he let us sneak his bunny ears on without too much fuss - this year, he wanted nothing to do with them!!

A Weekend Away

This past weekend was my FIRST weekend away from Asher since he was born 21 months ago. Sometimes it's hard to remember what life was like before our little guy was here, so it was kind of fun to have a weekend away just "Heath and Kristin". We both agreed enjoying some meals without sticky fingers was kind of nice. We, of course, knew Asher would be in good hands with NeeNee and Papaw. We got to enjoy downtown Asheville and the Biltmore. We even completed a 10K at Black Mountain - thank goodness we didn't have a stroller we had to push up and down those hills!

Here comes Peter Cottontail . . .

Asher got invited to his first Easter party last weekend. Turns out he was the only toddler boy. The picture above about sums up his feelings about that!! Let's hope he just feels this way about girls for the next 18 to 20 years of his life!!! However, he did thoroughly enjoy the snacks and didn't even seem to notice Ms. Olivia's "cozy coupe" was pink. He was also the only one who decided to pick up the Easter eggs on the egg hunt in a truck instead of the cute bags everyone had made!!

Happy Birthday to me!!

Asher helped me celebrate my 32nd birthday with cake he helped his daddy pick out at Montana Plains.


Asher helped me celer