Category: Asher

Asher the fireman and his ladder

AsherWhippingCream

This morning Asher woke at 6:45, not too early today.  Yesterday it was 5:15.  That’s too early for me.  It was his way of saying happy Father’s Day!

Lately, he wakes up and announces that my iPhone needs to be charged because the batteries are low.  This morning was different.  My iPhone wasn’t on the night stand.  I tried to outsmart him and put it inside the nightstand, out of his sight and hopefully to avoid triggering the cute tug and pull of Asher trying to get me to give him the phone so that he can watch his disney friends on YouTube.  He’s pretty clever in disguising his intention.

He wears the typical toddler pajamas.  Those one piece deals with feet built in.

This morning he announces he needs the iPad.  Thank goodness it isn’t the iPhone.  I try to go back to sleep.  Then he announces the iPad is in his room, he needs me to come there and help him get the iPad because it is running out of batteries and he will plug it in.  Then it hits me.  I put the iPad on top of the bookcase yesterday.  He sees it now and wants it.

He continues to call for help and starts to construct the backstory for why he needs the iPad.  I get out of bed afraid he’ll be climbing the bookcase.  It’s anchored but he could fall off of it even if it is attached to the wall.

When I walk into his room he launches into his plan, standing there in his pajamas with his fireman rainboots on.

I’m going to get a ladder from the garage and climb the ladder to get the iPad down, then plug it in because it needs to be charged … it went on, I’ll have to work with Kathleen to remember the rest of the cute story.

Since he was dressed to go in public, he did have shoes on, we walked around the corner for coffee for me and a cup of whipped cream for him.

Asher’s business card

This morning I was working from home.  Kathleen and Asher were getting ready to run some errands…flowers, sofa pillows… Asher came downstairs to say goodbye and noticed a business card on the desk.  He picked up the card up and said, “this is daddy’s business card, you need your card to do business.”  I told him that he can have business cards too and asked him what he would like them to say.  Asher replied, “it would say I love you and I love you too”, as he pointed his slide whistle at me and then Kathleen.

It would read something like  this

Asher Benjamin Spear
I love you and I love you too
Portland, OR
asher.nathanspear.com

My first FaceTime call from Asher

This morning when Asher and I got up he snuck my iPad from my nightstand. I saw that he had it when he came out of the bedroom but I didn’t care because I know he’s familiar with it and will keep himself entertained for a few minutes. While I made breakfast and got ready for work Asher watched episodes of Bob the builder and umi zoomi and played around with the applications on the iPad. I sipped my coffee over his shoulder while he launched Amazon prime videos and photo booth.
I jumped in the car for my commute to work this morning and started my work day. I was leaving a voicemail when a call comes then it says FaceTime call from Nathan Spear.at first glance I said to myself, how am I calling myself and then I remembered the scene at home that I just left a few minutes ago with Asher with the iPad propped up on the couch. I handled my voicemail and picked up his call and he said “I call daddy on FaceTime”. Kathleen said that he did it all by himself and she was surprised when he walked into the room and announced “I call daddy on face time” that he knew he was calling me and that he had been successful. He also said to Kathleen “I’m calling daddy on face time he’s on his way to work”.
Today Ashers two years three months and four days old and he’s made his first FaceTime call by himself.
I’ll look forward to more face time calls from Asher.

I love you

I used to keep track of his new words – but I lost track.  Now it’s the phrases that capture my attention. Asher has been rolling off the phrases over the last few months, often surprising us as he puts together not a couple words but a full sentence or phrase to express what’s going on for him.

“Bye bye airplane.  Have a nice day.  See you later”

“OK daddy.  Let’s do this!”

today it was

“I love you”

It melts my heart.  There’s nothing a sweet child can say that sounds nicer than I love you.

I could go a dozen directions here, but I’ll be brief and just mark this milestone on the calendar with this blog post.  Today, January 3rd, 2015 – after a play date with Ben and a nice macaroni and cheese lunch, getting ready for a nap, being held in his mothers arms – is the first time our son has said I love you to me and it was awesome.  I can’t wait until he gets up from his nap and says it again.

Saturday morning with Asher

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This morning Asher and I got up together and left mama to sleep in. I wasn’t around much this past week with all my work activities, so it was extra special. It seems he’s developed so much in the last week.

We made my bullet proof coffee. Asher helped with the beans and the timer. He’s excellent at transferring the beans to the grinder and setting the timer for the steep cycle.

After we made coffee and started my engine, I followed his pointing prompts to start the Pandora toddler radio station on the home iMac. Then we sang and danced to a number of tunes. Some I’m familiar with, many Asher is. It was adorable to watch him tumble his hands forward in a circle to the wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round. He knew many of the gestures and hand signs. Absolutely adorable.

Asher knows a lot of the toddler radio songs. It’s been fun singing and dancing, learning the songs and dances with Asher this morning.

As I type this into the iPhone from the recliner by the window, Asher has laid the long foam roller down between us and the couch and he’s demonstrating his toddler super-strength development. He stands on the foam roller, puts his hands up and over the arm of the couch and then muscles himself up onto the couch.

This reminds me of an event that happened yesterday morning. I was making tea while Asher was sitting in his high chair. He wasn’t strapped in or covered with the tray. Next thing I know, I hear a slap and a groan. I turn around and see Asher stretched out with this feet on the highchair and his hands flat out on the counter top, hIs body suspended in the air, hanging on for dear life. I grabbed him and held him asking if he’s ok. He did something I haven’t seen. He was expressing his dissatisfaction with the outcome of attempting to get the salt and pepper from the counter top. He was waggling and waving his hands in one of his normal ways, with a crooked index finger pointing and his palm facing up, but his language was in a tone I’ve never heard. His tone and inflection was saying “that scared me, thank goodness my daddy was close by, that was exciting but scary”.

Asher update

Asher does cool things every day. Lately he’s getting ready to start talking. He’s been saying “humph”, “hum”, “oh no”, “I did”, “i did that”, “I did it” all the time. When he’s really upset about something like going to bed he’ll say “no, no, no, no, no” gasp for breath, cry, and then belt another “no, no, no, no,no”. Right now he’s saying hi ti, I di toe. Ue wee. I dos. I stoea. Ush ee toe. I don’t know. I ste stot. I think he’s just weeks away from throwing down some major language.

He really like discovering things. Buttons, levers, switches, drawers, things that stack. Right now he has led me into the car where he is rediscovering every switch, button, plug, cable and dial in the car. He just hit the power door lock button and exclaimed something like I did , then I done, then I do done.

I sit, he says as he sits down on the console, reaches behind himself and grabs the sample coffee cup from New Seasons.

He is saying much more indecipherable language than I can capture, but I type as fast as I can to record as much as I can.

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