Dear Asher: 14 Months

Dear Asher,

Happy 14-month birthday! This month marks your first in our new house! We moved a few weeks ago and are starting to settle in. You absolutely adore it. You love the basement where there is tons of space for you to crawl and play. You love climbing up all the stairs. And you especially love doing laps around your room, through the hall, into Zahara's room, through the Jack and Jill bathroom, and then back to your room.

Every night before bed, you and daddy play peek-a-boo with your new curtains. You crawl behind the curtain and wait for daddy to "find" you. Then you shriek with laughter, close the curtains, and do it again.

You're still not walking--though you are great with a walker!--and you really want to be carried everywhere. You've been especially clingy to me this month. It's very sweet, but it means I can't be out of your line of sight without a meltdown. You usually calm down after a couple of minutes, but it's hard. I think it's because we stopped nursing this month.  The nursing decision was all yours; you just decided you weren't interested anymore. I'm actually a lot sadder than I thought I would be, but I'm proud of how far we made it.

You still love your sister, but you HATE diaper changes! It is a two-person job to get you changed. On the other hand, you decided that books are actually kind of interesting. And you LOVE dancing.

You are consistently using a few words now: mama, dada, and "hara" for Zahara. How sweet is that? You will also kind of say cat and up. You sign for milk and all-done.

The best part of this month though has been your developing sense of humor. You  will try and do things to get us to laugh (like making silly sounds), and you will always join in when others are laughing. Your smile is contagious and people can't help but want to rub that furry head of yours.

Ash, happy 14-month birthday. Here's to many more happy and healthy months!

Montgomery County Fair

I love fairs. Growing up in Texas, the state fair was a big deal. We even got a day off school and free tickets every year! I love the fried foods, farm animals, and festive atmosphere. The Montgomery County Agricultural Fair isn't quite the Texas State Fair, but it is still a lot of fun. This year I had an awesome girls' day out with my friend Katie, her daughter Paige, and Zahara.

We ate our way through it! We had funnel cake, lemonade, ice cream, and roasted corn! Everything was amazing, except the corn. It was actually so salty that we returned it and got our money back. I LOVE elote, but this was terrible. The lemonade was like crack though. We split it between all of us, and even got one refill. It wasn't enough.

 

Zahara and Paige loved the animals. They got to pet a giant rabbit, see the huge pigs, watch sheep being judged, and even ride a pony!

We also ran into one of Zahara's classmates. I always love seeing her interact with her friends. Also note her outfit that she picked out: doctor princess. I love it!

It was a gorgeous day to be outside and I'm so grateful I was able to spend it with those wonderful girls. Thanks Katie! Let's do it again next year!

September Thoughts by Z

New season, new gems from our little girl:

Thought 1:
Upon hearing a cricket making lots of noise outside:
Z: Aww, he's looking for a girl.

Thought 2:

Z: Quick! There's an emergency! There's a volcano about to erupt in Brooklyn!

Thought 3:
Z: What are you doing?
Dan: Exercising. It's good for your heart.
Z: And it's good for your tushy!

Thought 4:
Dan teaching Zahara to sweep:
Z: I'm 4 years old. I know how to do it. Give it to me. I'm on it!

See previous Thoughts by Z here