11 Things About Asher

11 months old.  I can't even believe it.  Eleven months old!  This is my favorite age.  I love my older kids but if I could just keep my babies 10-11 months old for a little longer I would be totally in.

I am pretty sure I could come up with about 100 different things to say about this baby.  He is the funniest little guy!  But I will limit myself to the top 11.  I like to stick with a theme.

1) My child is my daily circus performer.  His bear crawl causes a commotion wherever we go.  The kids had swimming lessons last week and Asher busied himself with crawling around the pool deck, looking for puddles to splash in.  You could just hear the gasp of the crowd followed by quiet giggles as he would take off from his spot and find a new one in seconds.

Now that he has mastered the crawl, he has moved onto standing.

He will crawl along, reach a spot he likes and then just stand up.  He can stay there for any length of time (unless of course his brother feels the need to dash over and knock him down just for the sake of doing so.  I love 10 month olds, not sure I like 3 year olds...)

He has only taking about two steps so far... unless of course lion is involved.  Then he is all about a good walk around the living room.

2)  He LOVES water in all shapes and forms.  He constantly seeks out puddles whenever playing in the backyard with his siblings.  If he hears the shower or the bath water on, he comes crawling full speed and will do everything he can to join whomever is getting clean.  He loves a good drink of water and will beg you to share your glass until you give in.  And, if you happen to have a few ice chunks floating around, you will also get a cute, sticky baby fist into your glass to help fish it out.

The kids and I have gotten to do a lot of swimming this summer and Asher could not be more pleased.  He sits in his water toy just as happy as a clam.

3)  I think he has the most beautiful eyes.  They are still changing color a little but they are still very gray most days.  

I even love those messy little cheeks.  

4)  He has an inner alarm clock that I would love to find the snooze button for.  He is finally sleeping through the night but he is up every morning at 5:30 a.m. on the dot.  It is seriously uncanny how many times I glance at my nightstand clock to see it between 5:25 and 5:35.  I could do without this one...

5) He is my first kid who isn't big on eating.  He is a pretty good little eater when he is in the mood but there is no talking him into eating something if he's not hungry.  In that case, the food will either be spit from his mouth and/or thrown across the room.  Hmm... another I could do without.

6) He adores Scarlet and Rhode.  He hates the hours in the morning between when he wakes up and when they do.  I keep trying to tell him if he would just sleep in then it wouldn't be an issue but so far he is a slow learner.  He plays outside with them in the sandbox, upstairs in the play tent they have set up, he watches shows with them.  Where they go, he goes.  

7) He loves to do things all by himself.  There is no feeding him, he would like to do it himself.  He also loves putting on his own shoes, sunglasses, diapers, hats etc.  Of course, he can't actually do any of these things.  He would just really like you to give him a good try before assisting.  

Can't you see it in his eyes?  See mom, it worked!

8) He is officially in Destruct-o mode.  

If it can be emptied, pulled apart, smashed, poured out, or just generally ruined, he is in.  We are at that fun stage where all of the toilet paper in my house is either haphazardly rolled back onto the roll or just out of its holder and on the bathroom counter.  

9) He is the chattiest little guy ever.  He has a few words in the vocabulary like mama, dada, baba, and bye bye.  Yesterday, he was fussing in the car so I turned around and said, "Asher, what do you need?"  He stopped fussing, looked at me and said, "Ba Ba."  So I handed over his bottle and he sucked away happily.  It sure is handy when they can answer you.

10)  Even with all of the destruction, there are a few chores that he likes to help with.  He loves to empty the dishwasher... onto the kitchen floor.  And when the vacuum turns on, expect to have a helper joining you shortly after.

 11) He still thinks I am the greatest thing in the world.  Even with all of his mobility, he rarely gives me more than about a 5 foot radius.  I think everyday as he cuddles and gives me loves how lucky I am to be a mom. Unfortunately his affection is also making me look like an abuse victim.  He is the most lovingly violent baby in the world.  He bites, pinches, pulls hair, and head butts all day long.  He used to find any bare skin he could and sink in his sharp, new little teeth.  I have finally convinced him that it is much funnier to blow raspberries than bite, and, well, it is a whole lot funnier.  But when he goes for skin, it is hard to tell whether he is going in for a raspberry or a bite.  I cringe a lot.

Oh Asher, how I love you!  Here's to an amazing 11 months!