The Darndest Things

We are really enjoying Asher lately. The boy's been fantastic! I've found you are always deeply in love with your kids, but hard days can find you struggling to stay in like with them. Lately though, Asher has made it pretty easy for us. 

For starters, the kid is finally potty trained! I think. I'm still scared to mentally label him that for fear he'll suddenly regress, but the boy is waking up dry, telling us when he needs to go, and accidents are rare. Is this real life?

As you can see, Asher's shown an interest in modeling lately. But we try to steer him away...living life in the limelight of the modeling world can be hard. Just ask Andrew.

 He is also continuing to articulate his thoughts and observations with increasing clarity. I feel as if my little dependent baby is suddenly becoming more and more of an actual friend to me. "How's it going, mama? Doin' good?" 

It's so cute. He'll get into his cozy coupe and say, "I'm goin' to work. See you later! Have fun!", then proceed to "drive" across our tiny living room. Poor boy...he needs wide open spaces.

Forgive me for the Dixie Chicks song that will be in your head later.

 

Sometimes he learns one word and then applies it mistakenly - i.e. Cucumbers = "Q-tip-umbers", and Cottage cheese = "Garbage Cheese". He keeps us laughing.

Now that he's learned his animal sounds, he's always curious what other things say. Things like urine. 

A: "Mommy, what does the potty say?"

M: "I don't think the potty says anything..."

A: "Flush me!"

He informed me yesterday that potatoes say, "Eat me, Asher!!"

 

Yes, we love hearing Asher talk! 

...Most of the time. Yesterday at church as we're sitting in our pew, he kneels down on the floor and proceeds to make an intentionally loud barking sound, like he's trying to signal other bored children. At any rate, while he's disrupting and peering beneath the pew in front of us, I tap on the back of his head to get his attention. Tap. As in with one finger. Anyway, he stands up, incensed, and starts yelling repeatedly, 

"DON'T HIT ME, MOMMY! DON'T HIT ME, MOMMY!"

Too humiliated to look around at those now identifying me as a child abuser, I kept my head down and desperately tried to shush the little boy bearing false witness. I watched as 

Andrew tried to quiet him and made the mistake of grabbing Asher's wrist. Instantly, the toddler began unleashing his tongue in Daddy's direction. 

"DON'T HIT ME, DADDY! DON'T HIT ME, DADDY!"

This continued for half a minute until I asked him if he wanted some gum. I know. Rewarding negative behavior. Desperate times...

We may not teach the next one to talk.

 Here he is, capturing how we feel at the end of a long day in toddler world.

So yes, sometimes Asher can be a total stinker. He continues to embarrass me at the library every week tearing through aisles, then melting down when I finally apprehend him. He usually doesn't come when I call. He's still sketchy in restaurants and doesn't totally get why hitting other kids is so bad. He's not perfect - he's two. We're trying to remind ourselves of that...he's a good boy, just two.