Coupla Things

Hi!

I know, I know–it’s been forever, we should do lunch, the kids are getting so big, etc etc…but, I’ve got many blog things on my mind and thought that we better get back to it.

1. Asher Walton. This kid is just…he’s doing so much. We were at the park this weekend and Drew and I couldn’t stop talking about how something has changed again in the last few weeks and suddenly his toddler body is looking more like a boy’s body. He loves to climb on anything and is especially good at hanging from stuff (see picture below) and he’s using all kinds of words that aren’t overly surprising, but it catches us off guard that he’s able to put so much together. I offered him oatmeal for breakfast last week and he said quite clearly, “no, I had oatmeal for breakfast yesterday. I will have cereal today.”

Oh.

He does a lot of things that make him seem like a two-year-old and I have to constantly remind him to say please and ask him not to do that and please don’t touch that and blah blah blah, but more and more I find that we just talk. I ask him about his day and he tells me about it. This has to be one of the most rewarding phenomenons of raising a child. A word to the wise though…don’t ask Asher (or any of this little buddies) to keep any secrets for you–if he knows it, he’ll share it. We’re having a little issue with him talking on his mat during nap at school (who on earth could he have inherited this habit from?) so every day when we pick him up we will ask if he talked on his mat. He always tells the truth, and the unapologetic response is so funny.

“Asher, did you talk on your mat at naptime today?”
“Yes! Yes I did talk on my mat today!” >>unbridled enthusiasm<<
“Baby, you know that you’re not supposed to talk on your mat.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s disruptive to the other children. That means they can’t sleep when you talk”
“OH! OK!”>>as if it’s the first time he’s ever heard this<<

So much truth. If only we were all governed internally like the toddler nation–what a world it would be.

2. New Interests and Old Interests. Asher loves airplanes first and foremost. Whether or not this will stick as a life-long love obviously remains to be seen, but if Asher had to pick a spouse right now, I’m pretty sure that he would ask if it would be cool to marry a jet engine. That being said, he’s also getting really excited about animals. For the first time in his short 36 months of life, when given the chance to pick out his own toy at the store last week, instead of reaching for an airplane or digger, he walked out with two whales which he named Beepo and Geeko. He’s also loving dinosaurs and nightly we read the deeply moving and intellectually stimulating tome, Dinosaurs Dig. I don’t want to blow the plot for all of you, but it’s basically about a bunch of dinosaurs who work with diggers. It was written by someone who has probably become a millionaire.

3. Young Love. These kids…I mean–it’s just a lot. And it’s cute overload whenever Asher is with any of his little buddies. There’s the occasional outburst of frustration, but mostly we see a lot of playing and hugging and telling each other things. It’s the best form of entertainment that I know, and is even better for the other parents that we get to share it with. We have good friends.

Also of note? We will often go to a local greasy spoon type diner for breakfast on Saturday mornings (known largely as the Pancake Store in the Walton house) and Asher proudly tells the waitress that he would like pancakes and milk. Then, as any true connoisseur would, he enjoys his pancakes with ketchup. You read that correctly. He does not do this when we make pancakes for him at home, but as soon as the plate lands in front of him at the restaurant, the kid reaches for the ketchup. We do not question this because we do not choose that battle. Mmmmmmm. Ketchup and pancakes.

4. Louie is growing like a weed still (still!) and at 9 months is better behaved than many puppies, but still very much a puppy. Drew takes him on a near daily run which helps curb a little of his four-legged enthusiasm, but we’re pretty sure that he’d be up for a marathon if there was a human taker around. He’s dominant trait is his sweetness, he’s an incredibly cuddly and sincere little guy, and does amazingly well with Asher.

For our part, Drew and I have been kind of burning the candle at both ends and moving at mach 12. We are hoping to have some very exciting news about a ‘new’ house in the coming weeks which has been dominating a lot of our free time and brain energy, and in the meantime we’re both plugging away at work and play, and feeling incredibly grateful for the warm weather and seemingly longer days. I’ll be back with more soon–