Twenty Eight Weeks: Sitting Up So Well!

Dear Asher,

We are well into your first autumn and so far it's been so much fun!  You are a blast and we enjoy you so much.  I can't believe how much you make us laugh.  You have developed such a sense of humor.  You love to be flipped upside down and just laugh and laugh when we do it to you.  If you are bored and I am sitting down holding you, you will start to lean back until I flip you upside down.  You can do it over and over again.

You sit up unassisted now for many minutes in a row until you either see something you want across the room or get tired and just let yourself fall over.  It's amazing to see how quickly you went from being able to hold yourself in a sitting position for just a few moments to many minutes.

You have so much fun talking to people, especially older women.  You definitely enjoy the ladies!  One of your favorite people is our four year old next door neighbor, Lucy.  You love to talk to her and the other day her mom was holding you and so she ran and grabbed a footstool so she could be at the same height as you to talk.  It was pretty cute!  Speaking of Lucy, you love love love to chase the dogs around.  We'll put you in your walker and rush you around the room chasing them.  They don't seem to like it too much.  Sometimes when Bella is ready for dinner she'll come huff at me while I'm holding you so we'll chase her around the house and she'll love it.  You laugh and laugh at her.  It's so much fun.

We love you so much and are so amazed at your developing personality, Asher.  We are so blessed to have you as our son.

Mommy feeding you solids

Getting ready to chase the pupas!

In your pjs before bed!

Twenty Seven Weeks: Viva Las Vegas!

Dear Asher,

You enjoyed your very first trip this week!  Grandma Jane and I took you to Las Vegas for Daddy's birthday and his client's annual salmon BBQ.  You did wonderfully on the plane ride down there and the plane ride back up.  No tears or anything.  You were quiet and slept for an hour on the way there and an hour and a half on the way back.  We were so thankful for that!  You didn't even need to eat while the flights took over/landed, instead you were content to suck on your pacifier and play with a toy in your hands.  Once we got to Las Vegas, the fun really started.  You got to skip naps and go to bed late.  You were really living it up Baby Style in Las Vegas!  The second day we were there we drove up to Zion National Park in Southern Utah.  We also went to Brigham Young's winter home in St. George and did a tour there.  You did so well on the car ride and your grandma was so kind and sat in the back seat with you all of the way up there and all of the way back from there.  The air in Zion National Park was so clean and we enjoyed looking at all of the gorgeous mountains.  We rode in the shuttle bus around the park.  We didn't get back from the hotel until 9:30pm and you were wide awake.  It was a late night for you!  The last night we were there was your daddy's birthday and we went with him to his client's BBQ at their helicopter hangar at the airport.  It was a lot of fun and you enjoyed meeting all of daddy's friends.

Since getting home and back into your routine you seem to have made another large developmental leap.  You are talking in a way that sounds closer to words and you are now sleeping from 7pm to 7am without your 10:30pm feeding.  You can sit unassisted for quite awhile and are practicing lots of push ups.  You love to eat sweet potatoes, and brown rice with bananas.  I've made you some homemade baby food, but you aren't crazy for it yet.  In fact you crack us up with a new face you make where you put your upper lip over your lower lip and clamp your mouth shut when you are done eating.  We love it as much as it exasperates us!

On Saturday we took you to the Puyallup Fair.  You seemed to really like the bunnies as those were the animals you could get closest to.  You didn't seem to impressed by the horses or pigs however.

We have so much fun with you, Asher!  We love you so much!

  

With Mommy at Zion National Park

Your first encounter with a horse

Practicing your "I don't want anymore food" face

Whoa, I'm sitting up!

Asleep on the flight home from Las Vegas

Twenty Six Weeks: 2011 Family Theme Dinner!

Dear Sweetheart,

You are the love of our lives!  You turned six months old this week!  How the time has flown!  We enjoy every moment with you, even the tough ones!  Fortunately those are few and far between- you are such an easy, happy, and fun baby.  You are obsessed with laughing right now.  Your papa breaks out the tickle hands and you start laughing before he even touches you.  It's so adorable.  You laughter is music to our ears and our hearts.

On Labor Day we had our First Annual Family Theme Dinner to celebrate the start of a new year (we plan on keeping this tradition through your school years and decided to start it when the school year starts).  We unveiled our 2011 Family Theme of "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" Matthew 22:37.  Mommy made her special salted caramel chocolate cake (it took five hours, but was oh so worth it!) and Daddy made the most amazing salmon and we had both sets of your grandparents over to celebrate with us.  Mommy had two stained glass stars made with our family theme on them.  One of the stars has your name and the other says McCaslin Family.  We plan on building a collection as the years pass and then decorating our Christmas tree with them.  But the most important part of the theme is the implementation of it!  We discussed our family plan for keeping the 2011 Family Theme at the center of our family this year.  We are very excited to see how we learn and grow as individuals and as a family this year.

This week was pretty low key for us otherwise.  We enjoyed playing together and you continue to learn and grow so much.  You are loving sweet potatoes, butternut squash, pears, and brown rice cereal.  You don't love green peas too much quite yet, but we are confident you'll get there eventually!  You can't get enough of the pupas, especially Bella.  You think her pre-dinner temper tantrum is hilarious.  We love you so much, Ashbee!

Five Hour Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake

2011 Family Theme Stars

2011 Family Theme Photo (the pupas are clearly excited...)

First Time in the Shopping Cart

Second Time in the Cart and Loving It!

Sitting and Playing with Your Activity Table

Sleeping in the Car with Your Thumb!

Twenty Five Weeks: Fun With More Solid Foods!

Dear Sweet Boy,

Twenty Five Weeks flew by and was kind of a blur!  Like all weeks it was extremely busy and you spent your days running around with Mommy and your evenings playing with Mommy and Daddy.  Your Daddy took Friday off and had Monday off for Labor Day so you had an extra long weekend with the whole family.  You enjoyed some time with Grandma on Friday while Mommy and Daddy played golf and then on Saturday we picked up your GiGi (Great Grandma Ralphie) and took her to the Lake House.  You were definitely the center of attention up there and everyone enjoyed playing with you.  Your laughter is infectious!  All Daddy has to do is take out his hands and put them in "tickle position" and you start laughing before he even touches you!  We also went to a BBQ at The Prestins house, which was fun.  It was so cute seeing you play with McKinnley and it was the first time I've seen you really take interest in another baby.  You kept touching and patting her hand.  It was adorable.  This past week you also started solid foods again and this time around you are ready and LOVE them!  You crack Mommy up with the way you can be watching the dogs, but still wanting to eat.  You'll be looking away, but opening your mouth waiting for the food.  You are loving Brown Rice Cereal and Butternut Squash so far.  Yesterday you ate one and half pouches of Butternut Squash AND Brown Rice Cereal for lunch and this was AFTER you had just nursed.  You love to eat!

We are just so in love with you, Asher.  God has blessed us beyond belief with you.  Yesterday Daddy and I were talking about you and how you make us just melt with the adorable faces you make.  One face that cracks us you and warms our heart so  much is after we do your dream feed (your last feed of the day at 10:30pm, after you have been asleep since 7pm) and you aren't supposed to really wake up, occasionally you wake up when we're burping you and you push away from our shoulders and look up at our faces with big interested eyes.  If we make eye contact with you, you break into a HUGE smile and get so excited.  We try not to smile too big back, because you are supposed to be asleep, but we can't usually help it!  Sometimes Daddy and I will shut the door while doing our best to contain our laughter, we can't get over how adorable you are!

Such a big boy in your plaid shirt (it's a hand me down from The Paluskas!)

Silly faces for the camera!

Beautiful sleeping boy!

We love you so much Ashbee!

 

Twenty Four Weeks: Swimming, Rolling, and Family Time

Dear Sweet Boy,

You are growing faster and faster each day!  It seems like you'll go along learning and taking things in and then one week will pass and wow- you suddenly have a whole new set of skills and accomplishments!

This past week was so much fun!  You went swimming twice with Mommy and cousin Delaney and a third time with Daddy and Mommy!  You had a blast and seem to love the water more and more each time.  Delaney even managed to put your face in the water a few times by accident.  You weren't too thrilled, but quickly became happy again after seeing Mommy blow bubbles in the water a few times.  This past week you also got to meet cousins Danielle and Lauren for the first time.  They came up with your Great Great Aunt Carmen and cousin Judy from California just to meet you!

Your biggest accomplishment this past week is rolling from your back to your tummy!  Mommy was playing with you on the floor and you wanted a toy and you quickly proceeded to reach and roll over to grab it.  You acted like it was no big deal, but Mommy cheered so loudly and made you repeat the roll for her about twenty times and then made you do it another dozen times once Daddy came home from work.  You are so amazing to us!  We love seeing you grunt and work so hard to get to your toys- you are incredible and we are so proud of your effort!

We love you so much sweet Asher.  You are the joy of our lives and we are so grateful to be blessed with you!

Rolling over to grab your toy!

 

Swimming with cousin Delaney

 

Meeting cousin Lauren (you were tired and not overly excited)

 

Meeting cousin Danielle (you were done with the party at this point!)

 

Morning nap with Daddy and Mommy