Is my house really that dirty?

So, Asher can really crawl now. This has created two new problems: He can reach the toys that Brennan thinks he's saved when he moves them across the room (but still on the floor), and he's finding every stray crumb, rock, and other small object that the adult eye (and vacuum cleaner) miss. Today Asher took his first venture outside of our living room. He headed towards the kitchen and dining area, with some pit stops along the way. Souvenirs included a cheerio, a small piece of bark, and the cap off of a door stop. The bark was the only item I caught before it went into his mouth. At this point I relocated him to his high chair so I could finish getting breakfast ready.

And the toy thing, Brennan is not pleased. He's not used to having joint-ownership with his things. When he was very young I tried to teach a non-ownership lifestyle, but by 3 years old he'd long figured out that the world doesn't operate that way. This has created some strife lately. What I'm now trying to do is make the rule that if Asher finds it on the floor, he gets to play with it for 2 minutes and then Brennan can exchange it for some other toy. This also means that every minute I have to remind Brennan that if it's on the floor Asher can play with it. My couch is getting pretty full because that's where Brennan now puts his things after each reminder. (And here I was hoping that it would cause Brennan to start putting his toys away during the day... no such luck!)

I have a fear though: I'm starting to think I've got a major climber on the way. As Asher learned to crawl he picked up another new trick - he uses something/one to get onto his knees and then onto his feet, almost to standing position. He doesn't get past a 45 degree angle without some help because his standing balance is just not that good, but he sure tries. If you help him to standing position, he'll continue trying to climb you like a tree. Oh no! He's g0ing to be the kid that starts climbing out of his crib at 9 months or that we'll discover sitting on top of the fridge when he's 18 months. (I have a friend who found her 18 month old there.) I think he's gonna keep us busy.

What a Time of Growth

I still can't get over how quickly Asher is learning and improving upon his skills. One day he started sitting for a few seconds on his own, a few days later he was basically stable. Two days after that he figured out how to get into sitting position on his own (and nap times haven't been the same because once sitting, he sits there crying in tiredness without the comprehension that he needs to lie down in order to fall asleep). Every day he's drastically improving in his crawling - which means I'm in a constant state of impression.

I love watching Brennan's growth too. His responses get cuter and more clever all the time. I can't think of all the examples, but, for example, I laughed today when, after I told him that he's an awesome kid (he put his breakfast dishes on the counter before I asked him to), he agreed, "Yeah, I-yam a awesome kid!"

I should get a picture of Brennan with his friend Wyatt who lives across the street - it's a relatively narrow street in our complex and they live literally right across. If Wyatt's sitting in his window upstairs at his house and Brennan goes outside, Wyatt calls "Hi Brennan! Wanna come play at my house?" or "Come play in my bedroom with me!" or whatever. Brennan, likewise, will call similar invitations from our house when Wyatt's outside. Because Wyatt is almost always outside, when we get home from an outing Brennan runs over and they meet each other in a 'best-0f-friends' embrace. It may be a long time before I get a house with a garage or fenced yard, but in the mean time at least Brennan has his kindred spirit.

Survival of the Deaf-est - To Idaho and Back

We've stopped at this one park two summers in a row now, and both times it's had huge puddles surrounding almost every play structure. I think we'll go ahead and find a different park to stop and eat at from now on, although as you can see, Brennan doesn't mind puddles.

Well, we survived yet another trip to Idaho. Brian's brother Peter returned from serving a mission in the Vancouver, British Columbia mission. It was really great to see him again after his 2 year absense.

The car trips were... long, but we all did o.k. On the way home Brennan almost constantly screamed. Not because he was was sad or crying, he was making silly sounds to get Asher to laugh. (Which he did) On the one hand, Brennan's antics kept Asher from crying at many times, but on the other hand Brian and I were going crazy with the loud and extremely high-pitched screams. So, we spent a good portion of the 15 hour car trip home telling Brennan to stop screaming while he protested that he wanted to make Asher laugh. I've got to appreciate that he has any interest at all in his brother, let alone that his great desire is to make Asher happy.

We had a really great time while in Idaho Falls. We always enjoy seeing the family. Brian brought his telescope out there and it was a pretty big hit. On our final night there, 7 extended family members showed up for a star party, which surprised Judi (Brian's mother) who had not been warned that a group of people would be showing up at 9:30 pm. She's a good sport! The only thing Brian likes more than viewing the stars through his telescope is helping other people to view the stars through it.

I was able to get together with two roommates from freshman year - Janna and Moon (Now Ashton) and that was fun. The kids played on the playground while we had a picnic and found out more about the twins Michelle is expecting.

Yep, we had a good time. We always hate to leave. Brennan especially didn't want to. Many times on the way home he asked to go back to Granna's house and I told him that we will at Christmas time. When we pulled into our neighborhood, Brennan started crying. All that time he'd thought we were on our way back to Granna's and he was VERY disappointed to find himself back at his own house.

Lincoln Logs & Family Blogs

Brennan loves Dad time...

and they both LOVE Brennan's Lincoln Logs!

Brennan loves to play with Asher, but he can sometimes be a little rough with him. Oddly enough, Asher still ADORES his big brother. After Asher's naps, Brennan asks to go "get him" which means he goes and plays with Asher through the crib railings until I wander up at my convenience. In the mornings, unless Asher wakes up earlier than Brennan, I wake up to the sounds of laughter from their room. Brennan plays with Asher for a while before knocking on his door for me to get them up. It gives me some time to get my tired hiney out of bed, and it's enjoyable to listen to Asher laughing (i.e. screeching) in delight.

One of their favorite games is for Brennan to sit on Asher. Yep. I figure as long as Asher doesn't seem to mind, why not. Brennan will do silly voices and tickle Asher and what not. Asher thinks Brennan is the greatest thing since bottles, apparently.

Eyelashes Galore

Brennan used to constantly get comments about his long eyelashes. Maybe his eyes are growing into them now, but I was admiring Asher's the other day and decided to take some pictures of both of their eyelashes. I love 'em.

Spiderman helps people

Spiderman has been frequenting our house lately. It's actually quite awesome. Brennan knows that Spiderman helps people (except when he wears the black costume which makes him be naughty).

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"Spiderman, help me!" I cry. "I need someone to throw this diaper into the garbage can!" Spiderman arrives, and it is done.

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"Spiderman, help!" I cry. "Asher needs another toy to play with." Spiderman arrives, and it is done.

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Brennan will actually come up to me, in costume, and say "I'm Spiderman, I wanna help you" and he waits for me to give him something to do.

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I love Spiderman.

Well, Asher's been doing awesome with his new "tricks." In the same two days he started getting into crawling position and started sitting for longer periods of time on his own, and started saying "Mumma" and "Mum." He also got his first tooth in and currently rolls all over the place. Yep, he's mobile

now! I leave for a second and come back to find him wedged under furniture or clear across the room. It's crazy awesome! Gosh I love this phase.

Of course, on the down side is that he had been really grouchy during a lot of this. Perhaps from wanting so badly to be mobile, perhaps from the tooth. Either way, these last few days he's been back to his cheery self, and enjoying himself as a "big boy." I really think he likes being more accomplished.

This video is about 2 1/2 minutes, but I hate editing out portions of video of my own kids. Afterall, I could watch it all day!