A huge developmental step is when an infant rolls from their back onto their hands and knees. Asher surprised us by rolling from tummy time to his back, which is the other way, but he’s on his way.
Author: Nathan
New Vocabulary
Asher has been growing and learning and developing everyday. Today he was very talkative and surprised us with his endurance to keep talking in multi-syllable hums and hahs, complete with new facial expressions. We could see his tongue moving in his mouth as he made new sounds. Here it is for the whole internet to see.
Asher’s first grab
Asher has this toy ball with huge holes in it, perfect for grabbing and holding on to. This day he grabs it for the first time, all while sitting in his bumbo chair. Those are two milestones at the same time, sitting up and grabbing onto something.
Asher’s first reach for the birdie
Asher has had a lot of firsts lately but mom and dad have been too busy to record them. Tonight after finishing dinner we noticed that Asher was batting at his birdie that is attached to the car seat. We were able to capture it on video to share.
Family iMovie
On a relaxing Sunday morning, with Asher laying in bed between us, we created an iMovie on our new iPad. We hope you enjoy.
Asher is 8 weeks old today
Today Asher turned 8 weeks old and we visited the pediatrician. The most exciting part of the appointment for daddy was the weigh in. Asher measured 23.75 inches long, 11.5 lbs and his head was 15.75 inches. According to the charts, Asher is 92-percentile in height, 70-percentile in weight and 42-percentile in head circumference. At 2 weeks he was 75, 50 and 50.
The least fun part were the immunization shots. Asher cried like he’d been stabbed – which he was. One 26 gauge needle in the outside of his left upper thigh, and another in the right. It wasn’t fun for him or mom and dad.
More later. Daddy is taking a big test tomorrow and needs to get back to preparing.
He’ll be “a doer”
Maybe parents and caregivers will realize that babies are born knowing something about their development and can be trusted to demonstrate readiness for developmental milestones by “doing them”.
Today’s sweetness
Today’s workday began and ended with the sweetness of Asher.
This morning was my first morning here since Monday. I spent Tuesday and Wednesday nights in Boise this week. I was so excited to return and find Asher looking like he’d aged a month in 3 days. He’s looking fuller and healthier. His cheeks are plumper and his chin is larger.
This morning after Kathleen fed him at about 7:15, she handed him off to me while she took her daily uninterrupted nap. She had until about 8 before my workday started with a meeting on the phone. While she slept, Asher and I were in the kitchen preparing a cup of coffee. I had him in the baby Bjorn, holding him against me as I dipped down to put away pots and pans from last nights dinner. On my chest, so sweetly, he laid his head. It was a tender moment which brought tears to my eyes. Made me feel wonderful emotions of love. My love for my son.
I tried to start my workday with Asher on my chest in the baby Bjorn but he started to get restless. It was just after 8 o’clock and Kathleen met me in the stairwell. I was happy to hand him off so that I could pay attention to the matters at hand. Conference calls.
I had to go visit a business partner today and was gone for most of the day. When I returned I had to finish up my work week with end of week paperwork. Glamorous.
At about five Kathleen let me know that she needed to take a shower. I said just give me five minutes and I’ll be done.
She had just fed him so I expected him to be pretty mellow. When she handed him to me he began to get a little bit fussy. We quickly were able to find a comforting spot for him propped up on my shoulder where I pat his back and bottom.
After a few minutes he got tired of being slung over my shoulder and so we switched positions to the Boppy where I laid him to fall sleep.
Mom finished her shower and in finding me with the little one so content has left us to hang out in the chair in the living room while she does some chores. We know we have to take advantage of the times when Asher is so peaceful.
This moment is so similar to how I started today. With my sweet little boy in my arms.
New photo album posted
Asher’s post nap pre-feed ritual
We’re at the Lloyd Center to return a baby gift, and we brought Asher with us. Cruising the mall with an infant in his car seat stroller is a new experience for us both. I was surprised how many other parents I saw with children in the same model stroller we were driving, or ones that looked cooler, but probably more expensive. I’m just a little surprised that I never noticed these modular stroller contraptions before.
Asher ate at 9:20 before we packed up and hit the road. When this video was taken he was 2:30 out from his last feeding. He eats every 2 to 4 hours these days. I’ve learned the cute nervous system spasms are his way of telling you he needs something. Generally to be swaddled up, changed or fed. There’s a hint when it’s to be fed – he starts chewing on his hands, titling his head to the side and puckering his lips. Here he is, with his nervous hand gesture twitch, chewing on his hand and puckering.