Where does the time go?

Goodness gracious it's been a while since I've had the leisure time to sit and type! My last post was about Asher waking in the night. I ended up calling the pediatrician and speaking to a nurse. I guess I was looking for permission to let him scream it out.  : (   We had let him do this some as an infant but I guess we felt now he really knew what was going on. She said they've had them cry for 4 hours before and that toddlers are smart enough at this age to know that if they wake and scream, mom or dad will come and give them undivided attention. So, Asher cried from 2:50 a.m. to 5:10 a.m. Brent and I pretty much stared sadly at the monitor as Asher cried and cried. This story does have a good ending however...Asher has not woken up and cried during the night since that night and I'd say it's been 2 weeks or so?
The issue has now transitioned to nap. My normally 2 1/2, 3 hour napper has decided he will now nap for 45 mins. to maybe an hour.  Anyway, I don't want to just purge my problems so I'll just stop there.

I'll move on to all of the good things that are going on. Asher loves to run (especially away from, or to, mommy and daddy)! He talks all day long and says new words daily. He now lets his daddy give him his nighttime milk. He has always enjoyed books but especially now. He sings with pretend words and uses the granite in front of the fireplace as his stage. He loves anything that goes "broom broom." He has this new thing where he gets close enough to you, throws his arms up into the air, and then falls into your arms. He thinks it's so funny and I appreciate his trust but just have to be ready to catch at all times. He loves to say "bye bye" so much that he sometimes says "bye bye" to his toys when he leaves the room. Today he even went up to a full length mirror, said "bye bye," gave himself a kiss in the mirror and then said "hug" and wrapped his arms around the mirror before walking away. Oh how I love that little guy!!! : )   Now just a few photos to show what we've been up to...

Asher plays drums at the Lexington Peach Festival, where we also enjoyed peach ice cream, peach cobbler, peach tea, peach zinger, peach honey, and even brought some peaches home.

 

I love these guys...

The 4th of July on Lake Murray

At my parents' pond property...

He does always seem to be the center of attention...

At Ansley's 2nd birthday, there was a little jumping on the bed before going to bed.

Riley and Asher's misplaced kiss goodnight.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my amazing brother and Asher's Uncle "TOY!"

HELP! Sleep Regression at 18 months?

Oh my, how our little one has changed at 18 months.  So, we're going from 3 hour naps to 1 1/2 some days to 3 hours others.  From sleeping through the night since he was teeny tiny, to waking up screaming almost every night like he's had  a bad dream.  I don't understand.  I'm writing now because I'm getting frustrated and I don't want to be frustrated.  I googled, "18 month sleep" and many parent comments came up about sleep issues at 18 months.  Why is this?  He also went from waking up and just rolling around talking to himself to now standing and calling, "mommy" "daddy" even "Na Na" right away.  I'm looking at the monitor now and he's laying down but I've already gone in there twice to put everything back in his crib.  Now, I'm just leaving it out because I don't want him to use that as his fishing technique to reel me back into his room.  I just don't understand what's going on!?!  Some nights he cries briefly and goes back down on his own.  Other nights he screams uncontrollably and we have to go in there.  He's great while we're holding him but then clings to us and begins to scream when we try to lay him back down.  Moms and dad's out there, any similar experiences?  Should we be doing something differently?  Is it just a growth spurt?  Fortunately, I read that he will get through this and go back to his normal amazing habits.  I just hate going to bed at night dreading what the night holds and also that his 12 hours of good sleep is being disrupted.

This is a first from yesterday...Asher has never fallen asleep while eating lunch!  After I cleaned him up and changed his diaper, he slept for more than three hours.  So obviously, there are still good days.

Asher turns 1 1/2

So I wanted to go ahead and get these on here before too long.  They were taken June 19 when Asher turned 18 months.  We did something special when he turned 6 months only it was a strawberry cupcake with icing because that's what I wanted so obviously, at 6 months we wouldn't allow him to eat it but his mommy did.  It was just a good photo opportunity.  Basically, we don't give Asher sweets or things with added sugar.  Brent and I just feel there is so much growth and development going on that we want to make sure he's getting his nutrients from foods that count.  I made his one year birthday cake, which was an apple cake with whipped topping.  So for his year and a half, I made a blueberry muffin with whipped topping.  I agree, the whipped topping surely is not as good without the added sugar and as you'll see later on, he wasn't a huge fan.  He actually ate it upside down so that he didn't eat any whipped topping.  

My Masterpiece

Sampling the whipped cream

"Hmm... maybe if I turn it over I can bypass the white stuff..."

"Oh yeah, now we're talking.  Hey, thanks mom for finishing off that top layer for me."  : )

Who knows what he was thinking here.  Probably, "Why do you guys have to take pictures of everything..."

Now, just a few to show the many precious faces of Asher...

He finished the day by "going PP" in his own potty.  You guessed it... I have a photo, I just chose not to include.  : )  I know, for those old John & Kate Plus 8 fans, I'm a little like Kate when it comes to documenting firsts! (No matter what they are.)