Deconstructionist

It's so much more fun to dump out than to put away.

Silliness

Silliness: that which occurs in the presence of Aunties and an Uncle.

(This was,  by the way, Auntie Jen getting out of Asa's car.  I don't know how she did it, either.)

Trying to make bubbles land in the pool.

Communication

Asa has athlete's foot.  Poor kid.  It itches, and the heat only makes it worse.

The other night, we forgot to put the antifungal cream on before be went to bed.  He woke at about 10:00, fussing, so I went in to see what was going on.

Me: What's up, little man?

Asa: ... (sucking thumb)

Me: Asa?  Honey?  What's going on?

Asa: Itty.  Toe.  Itty.

Me: Oh, yeah, we did forget your cream.  I bet it is itchy.  Hold on a second.  (I turned on the bedside lamp; he blinked and sat in his crib.  I got the antifungal cream and a sock.)

Me: Okay, sweetie, lie down and hold your foot up.

Asa: Itty.  (He lay down, and I picked up his foot and applied the cream.)

Me: I'm going to put your sock on now, so I need you to hold that foot up, and remember not to touch the cream.

Asa: (let his foot fall slightly, realized what I was saying, and held it up again.)

Me: (putting on the sock) Is that better?

Asa: Yes.

Me: Does it itch now?

Asa: Itty... no.

Me: Ready to go back to sleep? Would you like your sheep on? (His white noise machine.)

Asa: Sheep... yes... (I moved towards the sheep, around the head of the crib.) No.  No sheep.

Me: Okay.  (Turned off the light.)

Asa: Sheep yes?

Me: You want the sheep?  You changed your mind?

Asa: Yes.  Sheep, peeze.

Me: Okay.  (Turned on the sheep.  The sheep speaks whale, I kid you not.)  Time to sleep, kidlet.  Here's Sheldon, here's your blanket.  Where's your thumb?  (He pulled his hand from under the blanket and stuck his thumb in his mouth.)  Good night, love, sleep tight.

And with that, Asa closed his eyes.  I went back to our room, my mind completely blown by the preceding conversation - he had told me what was wrong, there had been very little whining, no frustration, and no extended period of sleep deprivation while we figured out what on earth was keeping our son awake.  So many times, it seems that Asa's progress happens so incrementally that we hardly notice it; this was jarring, this sudden burst of clear communication.  A real reminder that he is no longer a baby, but fast becoming a big boy.

Zoo Day with Santi

Asa loves bringing friends to the zoo, so it was really great to go with Santi and his Grandma.

They both move fast!  luckily, there were three of us and only two of them!

The little carousel plays the "Dudley-Do-Right" theme.

Afterwards, we spent a little time on the playground right outside the zoo; pushing the boys in swings allowed us all to catch our (collective) breath.

But we'd do it again in a heartbeat.

News from the Younger Sibling

With all that Asa has been up to recently, it's easy to devote this entire blog to his antics.  Mostly, Sprout has been visible whenever M. ends up in a photo of Asa.  So: a post entirely devoted to our baby...

Sprout is due January 3rd, which means M. is 15 weeks pregnant.  All of Sprout's major physical development is done - all the organs are working, fingers and toes have developed, as well as eyes, nose, ears, and even taste buds.  All that's really left at this point is to grow; right now, Sprout is about the size of an apple, and weighs several ounces.  And no, we don't know if Sprout is a boy or a girl, and we probably won't find out.

M. is finally over her stomach upset, which manifested more in the afternoon than the morning.  She's still very tired - far more than her last pregnancy, but we have to keep in mind that last time, we weren't chasing a toddler.

And, because even in a post about Sprout, I have to talk about Asa: we ask him now "where's our baby, Asa?"  and he grins, points at either of our bellies, and says, "Down there!"  He will also run over to M. to kiss her belly, and say, "Hi, Baby!"  So it looks like we're in an upswing for a while.  Yay!

More Ridiculous Cuteness

Asa and Joey, renewing their giggle-fest.



Happy Birthday, Joe!

Mwahahahahaha...

Is it me, or does this popsicle make my son look like a vampire?

Sorry about the stains on the FABULOUS romper, Auntie Janet, but as M. noted, tie-dye is actually pretty appropriate, don't you think?

Fourth of July!

We spent the whole week on Block Island, a greatly-needed vacation for all of us.  And Asa had a blast with his family.

At the parade, with our matching tee-shirts!

Grampa and Aunt Jess nearly busted a gut laughing at Asa's excitement throughout the whole parade.  "Dums!  Kids!  Amblance!  Fire Tuck!  Dums!  Cars!"  He's still talking about little else.

Pushing the cooler was a main pastime at home.  It becomes harder when Aunt Jess is sitting on it.

But it's neat when she teaches you to feed Benny.

Snuggles with a beloved cousin.

Flying a kite with Mommy.

This was the only time I saw him content to see the kite in the air.  Mostly, he liked to chase its tail and play tug-of-war.  When the cousins helped Mommy really get the kite flying, one day, Asa came over to me, sulking and almost in tears that his kite was up high.  Oh, well.

We early-risers would often make coffee and take it down to the beach, so as not to wake whoever ended up sleeping on the couch.

It was also a week of so many firsts for Asa.  First sparklers:

First sail, which he loved (although it was much more a drift than an actual sail):

First time allowed to run rampant among fire trucks and ambulances:

(Thank you, Beth!)

Such a fun and relaxing week.  Happy Fourth!

Sing!

Singing over breakfast.  Consider this a placeholder for the Block Island Fourth-of-July vacation pictures, while I charge up the camera and get the pictures sorted.



He got a little distracted by green peppers, and I don't think M. realized I was taking video (on my phone!), so it's just what it is.  'Cause really, Asa singing... that's just adorable.

Tandem stroller

A wonderful friend passed along the 2-seat stroller that her kids nearly never used.  Asa was so very excited that the next day, when we suggested a zoo outing, he wanted to take his new stroller, and sit in the jump seat in the back.  In the front?  His Bébé.

It earned us a few funny looks, especially when Asa decided to run on ahead of us:

Interestingly, he was headed for the splashpad at the zoo - a place he has only once ventured, since he was almost immediately nailed by a water-spraying bumblebee, wielded by an older boy.

Looks so innocent, doesn't it?  But even holding Mommy's hand, this was as close as he would get:

The zoo trip was also remarkable for the snakes, about which Asa was not at all shy.  This is a rainbow boa:

And this is Athena the python, which Asa didn't want to share with the other kids.  M., by the way, is not forcing him to touch the snakes, but keeping him from grabbing and snuggling them like he does the cats.

At some point, Asa decided it was more fun to stand on the backplate of the stroller, allowing him to hop on and off without dealing with buckles.

Until, that is, we were on our way home, hot and tired.  He made it home before he fell asleep, but only just.

Oops!

It seems I posted the wrong video, several posts back.  Given that we were actually on vacation (pix to come), I didn't notice until now.

But here it is: dueling poppers.

Discovery Museum

It's a bit of a hike to get to, but the Discovery Museum is so perfect for a child Asa's age that we had to make a day trip.

And the first room was all trains.  It was definitely going to be a good day.

The big train cab looked a lot like Thomas the Tank Engine, which just added to the experience.

From there we moved into the ball-maze room, which was, if anything, even better than the trains.

This was just one of the little ones - the big ones went all around the room, and rang bells and knocked over dominoes.  Asa was enthralled.

There was also water:

and bubbles (sorry it's sideways):


and boats (in various locations):

and huge, cool instruments:

and... wait, Mummy, is that a Dinosaur?

Yes, honey.  Her name is Bessie.

But no, you can't climb her.

To cap it all, on the way home we stopped at a railroad crossing for a local commuter train.  The perfect end to a wonderful day.

Nuggles

We say snuggles, he says nuggles... as tempting as it is to launch into Fred Astaire, I'm having too much fun with my boy.

Babies!

In Asa's view, possibly the most memorable part of our recent family get-together: not being the youngest!

Mommy and Mummy both enjoyed holding Cousin Drew (aged 5 months)...

Who could resist this cuteness, after all?

This was a moment that had us breathing easier about Asa's impending big-brother-hood:


Asa's second cousin, Sofia, was also a good playmate.  He's still talking about "Fia" with a huge grin on his face.  I'm sorry I get a picture of Asa's adoration of Sofia's big sister, Aria.

I daresay, however, that Mommy and Mummy will have other memories of the weekend, only some of which we managed to photograph.  I missed, for instance, Asa's delight in Poppy's dental office, at "spitting" in the sink (leaning over it and saying "Pah!") and at the cup of mouthwash by the sink, which he insisted delightedly was "Coffee!"

There was also Asa's decision that it was time to go play outside - right about when the rain began.  What's a little rain, to a toddler?

Can you see how wet his hair is?

There was Asa learning to say "Shish Kebab" - Cousin Eva got it, but Asa grinned hugely and said "Shi-bob!"  and then gobbled more.  He also learned about spinach jajuk - with yogurt and garlic and mint - and happily requested "mo gayik!" - "more garlic".

Asa also loved his Aunt and Uncle's huge black lab.

It took most of the weekend to calm down the difficulty that both Asa and Eva could have about sharing toys - normal for any almost-two and three-year-old - and allow them to sit quietly and do a puzzle together.  We adults sat back and just enjoyed the developing relationship between these two cousins.

One of the best times that weekend?  Watching Mommy and Asa chase each other around the house.  Dueling poppers.   Fabulous.