Flashback Friday

Remember that time I didn't blog for almost an entire year? I'm sorry to say I missed some pretty big milestones and hence, here's a fun flashback to that time when Asher first started walking. He was by far our latest walker, so those precious first steps were a BIG deal. Is there anything cuter than a baby who has just learned to walk? That awkward baby Bambi phase is my fave!

Asher walks! from Rebecca Scott on Vimeo.

He took his first steps in our Morrisville townhouse at around 15-16 months, and hasn't looked back since. :-)

One and done

Just like that, Asher turned one on November 16th. Yes, this post is late- but better late than never! Here's the traditional birthday video below, I can hardly believe a year has past.  It seems like just yesterday he was cuddled under last year's Christmas tree.
As I reflect on this past year with this third boy of ours, I have nothing but abundant thanks for every precious day passed. It's true you know, the more babies you have the more you realize that they don't keep! I can say without regret that I have truly hugged this babe tight and savored up every chunky bit of him.

At one year old, Asher Elliot is silly, thoughtful, content and loved. He is a people person and has the BEST smile. His disposition is somewhat serious and laid back most of the time(thank God for an easy baby!) and that makes his dimples all the deeper when he smiles and laughs.

His favorite food is anything cold and sweet, most recently a vanilla frosty from Wendy's. While he isn't as into the television, he does love Elmo and has started to become interested in turning the pages of his board books. Other favorite interests include bathtime and any kind of ball. More than anything though, he loves and is adored by his brothers. Nothing beats spending time with the big boys-little do they know they are all each other's best gift!

We are so thankful for you sweet Smash, happiest birthday love!

Double digit boys

Today Mr. Smoosh himself turns 10 months! In case you didn't know, these first double digits are a huge mile marker in the mommy world. He has 4 teeth, a distinct taste for ice cream, and is entering that mobile and mischievous stage with gusto.

Here's a sweet glimpse of all three boys at 10 months, dare I say Asher is slowly but surely taking on his own unique look. Here's a blast from the past.

Evan at 10 months...

Bennett at 10 months...

Asher at 10 months...

Only two more months to the big "1!"

Nine months

Our sweet smooshy Asher smElliot is already 9 months old. As far as I'm concerned, he is growing much too quickly and I agree wholeheartedly with my big boys who think their baby Asher should stay a baby forever. None of this crawling and pulling up and getting into the dog bowls business.

At 9 months this boy is on the go and ready to roll. He pulls himself up on just about everything, and is seen mostly standing in his crib these days. Sleeping is for the birds he says.

This third boy of mine may be my most difficult sleeper, but he is for sure turning into an awesome eater. His appetite does not quit and he's using his two teethe well to chomp down on just about the same table food we have. Like his mama and brothers, he favors fruits over the veggies but enjoys everyone in the squash family. I would say his top favorite foods are blueberries, chicken, and rainbow sherbert ice cream. Say what? I meant peas and spinach...

His nicknames include: Smoosh, Smash, Smish, Ashey and...Butter Biggens. :-) When he's not eating, this little one loves the fresh air. We go outside quite a bit and he is always happy in the sun. I tried to take these pictures above this afternoon and he was just too captivated by his older brothers to cheese for me. 

I was worried this third boy of ours would feel like a third wheel to the dynamic duo that is my bigger boys, but I couldn't have been more wrong. Asher is the adored up and down and all around. Evan and Bennett love their little brother so much-they often tell me from the backseat how glad they are that we got Asher for a baby brother, and just as often fight over who gets to play with or sit next to him. They are proud of him and eagerly tell strangers in the grocery store all about their little brother, and the way this baby smiles up at them something tells me the feeling is mutual. A random aside-just yesterday Evan was giving Asher a hug and Asher pulled his hair pretty good, enough to make Evan cry(it doesn't take much lol). When I was explaining to him that Asher was a baby and still learning not to pull hair, he told me that it wasn't because he pulled his hair that he was crying, but rather he was worried that he wouldn't be able to hug him anymore. Sweet! In any case, brothers are the best.

When your big brother crashes your walker jam,

and the other one sits on your car...

In other 9 months news, we were once again thankful to get a great report from his pediatrician at his well check. Weighing in at 20 pounds and meeting all of his milestones, we've got ourselves a healthy, happy boy-praise God! These are precious times.

Happy 9 months stud muffin!

Well check, check

Yesterday Asher had his 6 month well check-at 7 and a half months. Yes, I was a bit late on that one; I plead moving! On that note, I'll take a 15 minute drive to the pediatrician over an hour one any day. And as a bonus, daddy was able to take an early lunch break to join us-another perk of living this side of Raleigh. :-)

We are happy to report that our happy babe is growing and perfectly healthy at 18 pounds, filling out in all the right places and meeting his milestones. Even the shots weren't too bad, he took em like a champ-or so I heard...I got to skirt those with dad in tow!

What can I say about our almost 8 month old?  The first thing that comes to my mind is that he lives up to his name-he is one happy baby! He continues to be our most easy going, flexible guy-though this is probably more a product of being kiddo #3. Speaking of, he's just about the luckiest boy that ever was to have two big brothers to love on and entertain him all the day long. He's entered the "explorer" stage with gusto, putting any and everything into his mouth. He is SO close to crawling, no doubt that will be my next blog update. From what I can see so far, he loves the outdoors like his brother Bennett and makes himself at home in the sunshine. To see him ride outside around the neighborhood in his blue push car, sunglasses on and slouched comfortably to the side, one hand on the wheel-he is one cool cat.

In other news, we have officially moved into sz 12 month clothes and has the appetite to prove it. We're just starting drop one nursing feed per day and move to a 4 hr schedule with 3 full solid meals...for those of you nursing mamas, this is a big deal! Sniff sniff, you are growing much too fast little piglet.

Water boys playing in the pool with Poppy-Asher loves the water as long as it's not too cold!

Napping poolside-ie "flexible"

I can't say how thankful I am to have not one but three healthy children-it really is a blessing and we don't take it for granted. My heart hurts for those families whose doctors appointments are anything but routine. On these days when the normal vaccines are my biggest anxiety, I can't help but count my blessings. Asher Elliot, you are a good good gift to us and we thank God for you today and always. Happy 6..err 7...months sweet boy!

PS-I'm sorry for all the pink shirts. You rock them. ;-)

Daydream Believer

Presenting the sleepy snapshots...

Kept in perfect peace

All is right with the world.

This one loves a good snooze. I have to admit he's come by it honestly. :-)

Nap here, nap there,  anywhere!

Morning smush

Come on, is there anything sweeter? I just can't get enough of these sweet Smashy snuggles!

#babylife

First foods

A few weeks ago this chunk took a taste of his first food-rice cereal! As you can see, it was sort of a mess...

Welp, that was fun. 

After trying to feed him a bit of rice cereal at dinnertime on and off for about two weeks, the verdict is in. He does not like rice cereal! Part of the huge mess is him spitting it out or going to chew on his hand instead. I will say he did get some down when smashing his bib up to his face and licking it off that way lol. He's a stinker.

I decided from there I could either stop all together and give him some more time before introducing foods, or move on to something more exciting. Given his insatiable appetite, I went for the something more exciting.

Enter avocados! Pics to come, but I'll just say he loves them! I admit it's still a bit of a mess but I'm happy to report he does open his mouth for the spoon and actually swallows them. Win!

Four months

And just like that, he is four months old.  Hello hands, rolling belly laughs and monster grip. Drool, I did not miss you. Call me a broken record, but I love this age!

Asher Elliot loves his brothers and bathtime. He continues to be more of a movement and music baby, and is always a captive and eager audience to daddy's guitar. And not surprising, he is a mama's boy thru and thru(x3 hehe)-how lucky am I?!

We are so thankful that Mr. Piglet is happy and healthy. Tipping the scale at 15 pounds, 13 oz and measuring 25.5 inches long, Asher is on track to be our biggest babe. This is pretty ironic considering he was the smallest at birth.

Also making headlines this month he got to meet his Aunt Sami and cousin Jake. More on that surprise visit to come. :-)

Happy 4 months buddy! Our cup overflows!

Three Months!

 

Three months in baby world is full of good stuff-better nighttime sleep, more consistent naps(ish) and longer waketimes to name a few. I feel like this is the time when you really start to see big changes in appearance and personality. Hello to big, wide eyed smiles, first giggles, squishy arm rolls and coo cooing.

At 3 months Asher is has an incredibly laid back personality, and good thing too blessed third child he is. As I said earlier he has the best smile, but is often quite serious as well. His favorite things are looking at his brothers, snuggling with mommy and looking at himself in the mirror. He's still pretty lazy with his head but gets stronger every day-that's okay, no rush over here! He continues to look more and more like his big brother Evan, and shares quite a few of his quirks and mannerisms even. For one he is going hard after his thumb! Thankfully I've been able to distract him with the paci for now, but I wouldn't be surprised if he finds and favors his thumb sooner than later.

In less exciting news and for my own notes, we continue to struggle with a clogged tear duct in his left eye. This is more annoying than it is a serious medical issue, and should clear up within the next few weeks to months on its on. I'll be so happy when I can stop fighting the everyday attacks of eye boogies and yellow goo-at this point I feel as if I'm going to give him some type of complex for constantly wiping/washing his eye so let's pray it resolves itself sooner than later.

Moving on....oh how I could squeeze him all day long. My squish. Happy three months buddy, stop growing so quickly already!

Fun fact-for a short time we'll have a 3 month old, a 4 year old and a 5 year old. Oh boy!

2 months, a Haiku

Peach pink, smiling son.

12 pounds, 23 inches.

Our perfect piglet.

...because sometimes it's fun to wax poetic. :-)

Lucky 7

Despite my best efforts to freeze time, our Asher Elliot will be 7 weeks old tomorrow and is
growing every day. And when I say growing, I mean I'm pretty sure he's doubled his birth weight. Our little piglet is a champion eater and it shows. It's a good thing too, because I love me some sweet baby rolls!

True to his name, Asher is our happy boy. Thankfully he's incredibly chill and laid back, and seems to be enjoying the ride alongside our family circus. As my two big boys testify, time goes by much to fast and so this time around I can truly say that I am enjoying every bit of him in all his newborn glory. My mantra for 2016 may simply be to slow down, because these precious baby snuggles are just too sweet not to savor.

Little man has naturally fallen into a nice schedule.  His favorite place to nap is in my arms, and that's okay by me. He has been a great sleeper from the start and continues to bless us with a good nights sleep(save for his feedings of course). During the day he eats just about every 3 hours starting at around 7:30am. Our record stretch of uninterrupted nighttime sleep has been 5 hours, but more often he makes is just over 4. Yes, I'm still a babywise mama because I know that having a structure gives you the freedom to be flexible. At the same time I feel so much more confident and easy going in my parenting this third time around that I'm not nearly as stressed or laser focused on setting a schedule- it will fall into place. In the meantime, I'm letting this little guy take the lead. I repeat, establishing the perfect nap routine will not get the best of me!

 

(See, picture evidence of that one time I put him down for a nap in his crib. Just kidding, he's slept in his crib more than that-maybe 3 or 4 times hehe!)

In other milestone news, we've caught a few real(non gas related) smiles this past week and can't wait to see more. He's much more alert during his wake times and though he's been nicknamed Evan's mini-me, I'm almost sure his eyes are turning a greenish blue hue unlike big brother's brown. He is supporting his head and neck more every day and really enjoys tummy time. He enjoys it so much in fact he often tries to fall asleep there. A perfect portrayal of his "go with the flow" disposition.

And, he makes for a super cute skunk. Who says little boys aren't fun to dress?

 I adore him.

 

 P.S.-He rocks this penguin hat. :-)