Buffalo Bill Days

Oh, Buffalo Bill Days.  One of my favorite weekends of the year.  No joke, I love it!  This year we lived up BBD to it's fullest.

We started out by going to the park Friday night for a picnic and to listen to the band.

Asher LOVED his first Buffalo Bill Days!

After dinner, Caden ran into his sweet little friend, Bergen (Ms. Amber's daughter).  They spotted each other across the park and then went running toward one another like they were in a movie.  So sweet!

Caden then told me that he wanted to go on the rides.  I thought that there was no way Mr. Timid was going to actually ride them by himself.  

Apparently I was wrong!

He rode every ride they had - including a ferris wheel

And a spiny-throw-up-tea-cup-like thingy

I sent Daddy on that one

He did pretty well until Daddy gave it a spin - that only happened once! 

He even did the (rickety looking) swings

He also did the bouncy house and slide

On Saturday morning we went to the pancake breakfast at the firehouse (no pictures - just imagine pancakes, bacon, and orange juice).

Then it was time for the Best of the West Parade.  

On Sunday, after Papa and Gaga arrived home from Alaska, Caden wanted to take them over to the park and show them the rides.  This time he convinced Papa to take him on the spinny-throw-up-tea-cups.

That smile says it all - we love, love, love Buffalo Bill Days!  

Rolly Polly

I'm pretty embarrassed to admit how long it has taken me to post about Asher's newest trick - rolling over!  It was a little before his 4 month birthday that he started rolling - mainly from his tummy to his back, but occasionally he'll start kicking hard enough that he can get from his back to his tummy.

Isn't he so strong and cute?

Here is a video of him rolling

Pretty much that big 'ol noggin of his just gets too heavy and he falls over.  I'm not sure if it's on purpose or not, but it looks a lot like Caden's first roll did.

He now spends a lot of time like this...

...on his side, stuck between rolls.  

It won't be long before he's rolling over to things.  Then crawling.  Then walking.

Rolling, crawling, walking, oh my!

Swimmy Swim

This summer we have been doing a lots of swimming. What we noticed about Caden is that he has no fear.  He's got even fewer skills!  So in mid-July we signed him up for swimming lessons at the Y.  We have taken Mommy and Me classes the last few summers, but this is the first year he got to be in the water without me. He went Mon-Thur for 2 weeks for about 40 min. a day with his teacher Ms. Theresa (or Ms. Theres-ta as Caden still calls her).  

Ms. Theres-ta worked with Caden on putting his face in the water, using his "scooping" arms, and blowing bubbles.  For the most part, Caden did great.  It probably would have been better if I hadn't been in there at all, but I didn't feel comfortable leaving him completely (remember the no skills part?).  

He was a little scared to put his face in the water and didn't like the feeling of the water around his ears, but he tried everything that Ms. Theres-ta asked him to do.  He didn't pass the class (not that I was expecting him to), but he had a good time, and he as a *few more* skills than he had going in.  

This is him practicing "chicken-airplane-solider"

Here are two videos of the little man in action:

While we were watching the Olympics, Caden saw the swimmers and said, "Look, they're using their scooping arms."  I guess Michael Phelps took lessons from Ms. Theres-ta too!

1st Day of Preschool!

Oh yes, you read that right.  Caden P is old enough for preschool.  How did that happen?

Back in January, I enrolled CP at a nearby preschool, assuming Ms. Amber (where Caden excelled last year) would want to fill her program with full time students.  Since I was going to be home, I did not want him to go full days (ok, I did not want to pay for him to nap some place else...).  After talking with Amber, I learned that she did have room for CP for just the mornings!  I debated long and hard to myself - Where would he be the most loved?  Where would he learn the most?  Which place would prepare him the most for kindergarten?  

And then I slapped myself on the head and said, "HE'S THREE!!"  

And I enrolled him in a place where he and his little quirks are loved by teachers who helped him through the hardest, most transitional year of his little life.  With nice, sweet, kind children (it's a tough world out there, you know) that he loves to play with.  Where he learns things I didn't think he was even ready for ("Mommy, at Ms. Amber's house you DON'T have to be four to use scissors!").  

Jeremy never had any question about where to send CP.  He'd have Ms. Amber and Ms. Brie home school Caden if they'd be willing! I asked Caden where he was going to go to college.  He said, "Ms. Amber's."  We love it there.

So fast forward to this week.  I stopped ignoring the fact that my baby was big enough for preschool and starting getting him ready!  The first order of business was a new backpack and lunch box.  So, CP, Asher, Gaga and I headed out to the mall to find the *perfect* backpack.  I had done a little pre-shopping and knew the best place to find the backpack of choice was the Disney Store.  He walked in and, just like a man, picked up the first one he saw and said, "Let's go play now!"  

He picked the backpack I knew he'd want - he's on a huge Buzz kick right now!

Caden:  "Can this Buzz come home with me?  Mine bwoke."
Me:  "No, maybe for Christmas or your birthday."
C:  "I'll just pway with him in the box."

Wednesday morning we packed his lunch and backpack, took the first of many more first day of school pictures...

...and we were off!

He was thrilled to see his "fwiends" again and wasn't the least bit scared for me to leave.  In fact, I had to chase him down to get a hug and kiss!

He's going 3 mornings a week for 4 hours.  He eats lunch there around 11 and then I pick him up at 12.      Let's just call this "after"...

And what am I planning on doing while CP is gone?  Well, I plan on sitting on the couch making a lot of silly faces at Asher, getting the laundry folded and the dishwasher unloaded, blogging, showering, drying my hair AND putting on make up with fewer interruptions.  Don't worry, I'll still be wearing t-shirts with spit-up on them!

When I told Caden that I couldn't believe how big he was getting, he asked, "Are you sad, Mommy?  Just a little bit?"

I am a little bit sad Caden, but mostly I am so happy that you are growing up to be a smart, nice, polite, kind little boy.  I want you to work hard, learn a lot, and become a good friend so you can be anything you want to be when you are an adult (currently, a recycle truck driver).  I am so proud of you, I love you!!

5 Months

I'm baaaaack!  :)  I can't believe it has been a month since my last post!  I have a really good reason - JZ has been working on a side project that he doesn't feel comfortable doing on his work computer, so he has been using our home computer.  My computer.  No computer = no blogging.  But, he's at the gym right now, and I'm down one kid (more on that later!), so I'm squeezing in a little computer time myself.  I have so much to update, but I'm going to have to bite it off in small chunks.

I'll start with the most important two events that have happened in the last two days and then work backwards (hold on to your hats, this is going to be a good time.  Ha!)

First thing's first...

Asher Basher it 5 months old!  

He's still huge, still sweet, still smiley, and still an absolute joy

I have now packed up all of the 3-6 months clothes and have pulled out the 6-9 month ones.  Unfortunately, when Caden was in 6-9 month clothes it was the dead of winter.  There was not a short sleeve onesie in the bunch!  It's still in the 90's here, so I still had to go buy him some new clothes.  I think he just wants his own wardrobe!

This darling boy is looking more and more like his big brother

That is Caden on the left and Asher on the right.  Uncanny, isn't it?

Basher, you are a delight!  You can't look at your bright blue eyes or sweet smile and not smile yourself.  You can soften even the grumpiest, random stranger.  Your mommy, daddy, and big brother love you to bits.  We are lucky to have you!

Whoa, Asher Basher!

Yesterday, this sweet boy turned four months old.

Today we went to the doctor for his well-baby check-up and another round of shots.

Dude is big. Really big.

Like 

16 lb. 3.2 oz. (75%)

25 1/2 in. (75%)

Big.

Like

almost 2 lb.

and 3/4 in.

bigger than his brother was at 4 months

Just as cute though

No wonder the 3-6 months clothes and size 2 diapers are beginning to look a little tight! 

You're living up to your nickname, Asher Basher!

Who is It?

What do you think, do they look alike?

1 month

2 months

3 months

3 month professional pics

In each of the pictures, Caden is on the left and Asher is on the right.  I think they look pretty similar - handsome, handsome, handsome!