three and a half

Last week Asher turned 3 1/2.  I didn't mention it on here at the time, but I was all too aware that June 13th marked a special day for him.  Actually, I still think about his "monthly birthday" on the 13th of every month.  :-)

3 (and a half) is the best age!  To be honest we had a little rocky patch around 3 and seem to be coming out of it for the most part.  I think part of it was the age and part of it was adding Hadley to our family.  Asher was more argumentative, more whiny, and needed more, um, direction in kind living than ever before.  ha!  These past few weeks, however, he's been my sweet boy all over again.  We have so much fun together!

Asher makes me laugh all day, every day.

Whenever I suggest doing something he likes, he will stop whatever he's doing to clap his hands and say "Wow!  That a GREAT idea Mommy!"

He also loves to tell me "don't worry Mommy" (usually about little things like when I'm talking out loud and say I can't find my socks) and "I'm so proud of you Mommy!" (when I find the socks).  Asher is a born encourager.

Last week my sister was visiting and when Erin told us that her husband had tiled their bathroom Asher exclaimed "That's amazing!"  He was clearly impressed with Uncle Ryan's skills.  :-)

This boy loves music!  He plays his instruments all the time and has inherited his Daddy's love for songs.  I have an "Asher playlist" on my phone now and he asks to listen every time we get in the car.  His current favs...

"Little Talks" Of Monsters & Men
"I Will Wait" Mumford & Sons
"Ho Hey" Lumineers
"The Obvious Child" (aka - the drum song) Paul Simon

Not exactly your typical preschooler playlist, but it's what he likes.  We sing lots of bible songs, Twinkle Twinkle and the like at home.

Yesterday we were listening to music during dinner and he came over to Hadley in her highchair, grabbed her hand and said "Haddie, let's dance!"

For the past few months Ash has been potty trained!  I was worried for awhile that it wouldn't happen before he went to kindergarten, but once we took the plunge in April Asher did great.  Waiting until he was ready was key.  He's still wearing diapers for sleeping, but during the day he is aces at using the potty.  This will embarrass him to death when he's a teenager, but I have to share...whenever he's going poo he insists on holding my hand and says "Here comes the big poopy!"  hahaha!!  You know you love someone when you're willing to hold their hand while they poop.

Asher's love for his sister continues to evolve.  She's becoming more curious and getting into his things more - which doesn't exactly endear her to A, unfortunately.  This has given us a lot of opportunity to talk about being generous and kind to other people.  :-)

Hadley grabbed Asher's panda in his bed the other day and A snatched it away from her saying "No Hadley, that's MY panda!"  I stopped him and explained how that's not a kind way to talk to our baby sister and suggested that instead grabbing he could say something like "Oh excuse me Hadley, but that's my panda.  Here's a ball for you."

So that's exactly what he did.  Whenever she grabbed anything he would say,

Excuse me Hadley, but that is my panda.
Excuse me Hadley, but that is my alligator.
Excuse me Hadley, but that is my doggie.
Excuse me Hadley, but that is my Elmo.

(he sleeps with a ton of stuff)

I was cracking up.  We still didn't get to the heart of the matter - sharing with your sister - but is was so adorable and hilarious I figured we'll have lots of time to get it down.  :-)

Asher is still a picky eater.  He has a dozen or so foods he loves and is very, very hesitant to try new things.  He loves hummus, but won't eat pizza.  Go figure.   I am grateful that he has a well-rounded diet.  Even though he only likes a few things they are all from different food groups so he has meat, veggies, fruits, and grains every day.  Oh and fruit snacks.  Brother loves him some fruit snacks.

Asher is such a fun kid.  He's really moved out of the baby and toddler stage into little boy territory.  He does things that are just goofy.  Like right now he scooted his play kitchen away from the wall, crawled behind it and is yelling for help because he's "really, really stuck!"  This kid.

I love how excited and appreciative he gets.  There isn't much you can do for him that doesn't earn you a big hug and thanks.  Every person we see is "our neighbor" and gets a big wave from A.

We recently joined the Y near our house and I'm able to put Hadley in child care for an hour while Asher and I go swimming.  He loves this one-on-one time with Mommy and so do I!

Asher Thomas, three and a half years ago you joined Daddy and I on this journey and changed our trajectory forever.  We love you to the moon and back little man, can't wait to see what you come up with next!