Asher Gray,
My crazy boy. You are two years old now. I honestly don't even know where to start... All the ways you make me crazy... All the ways you kill me with your cuteness... All the ways I don't understand you... All the ways we absolutely adore you... All the ways we are so thankful you are ours!
Since about 11 months old, you have been "tough." You are CONSTANTLY going, CONSTANTLY getting into trouble, CONSTANTLY moving. You never stop, never slow down, never give us a break. You don't care about shows, but will appreciate Elmo for about 3 minutes. You spend about 3 minutes of every hour playing quietly by yourself... In those moments, I am in awe of your little {BIG} personality and the boy you are growing up to be. And then the other 57 minutes of every hour, you are moving from thing to the next, pulling things down, pulling things out, running things over, tripping over other things, running, jumping, never stopping... In those moments, I wonder how I survive and how I will keep up. You aren't necessary "coordinated" and seem to have very little awareness of your body but you are TOUGH. You fall down a lot, but you just keep on going. You are kind of like a tank that just rolls over everything in it's path bringing lots of destruction but hardly takes notice.
Since before Kennedy came, you moved downstairs with Joshua. He sleeps in a twin bed & you sleep in a crib. About 2 weeks after Kennedy was born you figured out how to climb out of that crib. And pretty much, every night, for the past 3 months you have climbed out of that crib, gotten in trouble, been put back to bed, then climbed right back out, and repeated that cycle about 7 times a night. Some nights are better than others and sometimes you are better when your daddy is home, but 75% of the time you climb out, you climb out, you climb out. You really don't care about that "getting into trouble" discipline thing, you just keep climbing out until your brother is fast asleep and you are too tired to do it once more.... One day, we'll look back at this time and laugh...
Another "tough" part of this past year has been all the sickness you have dealt with. It really just breaks my heart. You got more colds, more fevers, more time throwing up, more bad coughs, more diaper rashes, more ear infections, more YUCK than I would ever wish on anyone. One thing we did figure out was that you are most likely allergic to soy and/or diary. After way too much diarrhea, a dear friend suggested the allergy. One day of no dairy or soy in your diet and the diarrhea was gone! Praise the Lord! It has been a little difficult to change your diet but you are honestly a much less picky eater now & I think it has improved your behavior as well. Here's to praying that the next year of your life is FAR less sick!
You & your brother find lots of trouble together... especially while I am nursing your little sister. When you were first born and Josh sat at my feet throwing fits because I wasn't playing with him, I said to myself, "You won't ever have to do this again, because next time you are nursing a baby Josh & Asher will have each other..." Well, that has proved true - you have each other to get into the pantry, pull out the craisins, and dump them all over the floor, you have each other to put toilet paper roll after toilet paper roll into the toilet, you have each other to hit and make cry while I can do nothing about it, and every once in a while you have each other to play with. Now, I have learned a thing or two - I *almost* always shut/lock every door to every room, I've put a lock on the fridge, a a gate on the pantry, and I *almost* always put away all the food on the counter, but somehow you two seem find plenty to get into no matter what I do. So each and every day I am reminded of my desperate need for Jesus... His patience, His grace, and those new mercies each and every day.
At two years old, some things I don't want to forget about my Asher-man:
- how you say "I sit right here"
- the way you make your sister smile & giggle
- your sweet, sweet cuddles
- how if anyone is doing anywhere or doing anything it is always "SHOPPIN"
- how you always, always, always want to help me cook in the kitchen
- your laugh
- that you call firetrucks, police cars, and ambulances "wee-O-wee-O's"
- how you say "ella. ella. ella." & always want to talk to her or facetime her
- your fearless attitude
- how often you copy your brother exactly
- your high pitched voice when you are repeating me
At two years old, some of your favorite things:
- your blankie/ dee-dee
- blueberries, sausage & eggs, fries, almond milk, and juice
- playing cars
- being outside with your brother
- cuddling & being held by your momma all.the.time.
- helping in the kitchen
- going to play at the y
- playing "rescue bots"
- the choo-choo in our front yard
- reading (by yourself & with others)
- Blitzy - one of your first real words
- tacos for dinner - what you picked for your birthday dinner
- anything sweet
- your Opa
One your actual birthday this year we had a taco dinner at our house with Daddy, Joshie, Kennedy, Kma, Opa & Uncle Johnny. We had coconut ice cream and homemade cookies for dessert. We celebrated the next Saturday at the park near our house with lots of friends & family. We were supposed to get sub sandwiches, but Momma kinda forgot & Daddy had to order pizza :) You loved playing at the park and being with all your friends and cousins.
love, your momma & daddy
