Rock In Roll

Asher LOVES cinnamon rolls.

He will ask for them almost daily. And daily he will ask for them multiple times.

If we run out of cinnamon rolls, it can be a very stressful event. Last Sunday I had to drive to the grocery store with bad hair, without my teeth brushed, with the child still in pajamas to retreive said breakfast items.

Usually I just whip up the ones that you simply pop in the oven and drizzle with icing, all from a tiny paper tube. Asher thinks they are divine.

Today we had a late breakfast at one of our favorite local restaurants. I picked out a plump, homemade cinnamon roll for Asher from their bakery case, and he immediately began scarfing it down.

About two-thirds of the way through, he started slowing down. It appeared there was something bothering him, when he even went as far as practically gagging. I thought maybe he had put too much in his mouth, so, as moms sometimes have to hold gross things in our hands, I helped him remove some of the offending cinnamon roll. There was still something bothering him, even as he was spitting out the pieces of pastry.

"What's the matter, baby? What's wrong?" I asked.

He pointed to the roof of his mouth, and let me fish around inside with my finger. "There's a rock in my mouth," he said. "There's a rock in my cinnamon roll."

There was no rock in my baby's roll, however, he just wasn't used to the delicious goodness of a REAL, homemade cinnamon roll, complete with sugary goodness, rather than faux icing from a plastic tube.

Rock in roll, Asher. Rock in roll...

How many times?

The other night Asher & I went swimming at the YMCA. He's really getting better, and he's still fearless, which is why I'm so glad he's getting better!

We use a foam floatation device that straps around his chest, so that he is buoyed in the back. He can dog paddle around, and loves to slide down the slide and jump in from the side.

He jumped in about a hundred times in a row. If he wasn't going to sleep like a rock that night, at least I was!

The next morning when Grandma Taxi picked him up for daycare, I said, "Tell Grandma where we went last night." & he told her, "To the YMCA...." I said, "Tell her how many times you jumped into the pool!" and he replied, "Well....I don't know. I didn't count!"

Out of (and into) the mouths of babes

This cold April morning, I was making some muffins for our breakfast, and also making up a pot of broccoli cheese soup. I was peeling the onion and Asher asked, "What's going to hatch?"

Now and then he gets a bit greedy with food, and after I had chopped the onion he came and snatched a bit of it off the cutting board. I let him walk away with it, but when he turned around with a horrified look on his face like, "What did you just let me eat?!" I couldn't help but laugh...especially when he put his hand up to his mouth & went "Ehhhhh!

Black Man Doing the Robot Dance

It's tax time.

And you know what that means...Liberty Tax has people standing on street corners, dressed in Statue of Liberty costumes & doing crazy things like waving to cars, hula hooping, and dancing to their own beats.

So, when I called my sister tonight, who was watching Asher, to tell her I was on my way, she said "Make sure you look for the black man doing the robot dance on the corner."

"OK?" I replied.

So...when I got to the corner she mentioned, I looked around.

No black man.
No robot dances.
No black man doing the robot dance.

Bummer. I must have missed him.

When I arrived, I let her know I hadn't seen the man, and that I must have missed his awesome moves.

"Did you see Anytime Fitness?" she asked me.

"Uh...yeah."

"Well, that was where your son pointed out the black man. Doing the robot dance!"

See for yourself!?

Orange You Glad...

Asher loves fruit. And carbs. And anything with sugar that will make him hyperhyperhyper!

Lately we've been eating lots of clementines and oranges, and he seems to love the juicy fruits.

The other day he was enjoying an orange. It had some pulp on it, so he brought it to me and said, "Mom...get the boogers off!"

Never thought about the fun conversations I'd have as the mom of a little boy!

Happy Thanksgiving

When asked this year what a turkey says, Asher has creatively answered:

GOCKEY GOCKEY!

We believe this is a combination of "turkey" & "gobble!"

Asher, Musician: Age 2.5

He's a boy of many talents.

Musical talents, that is.

Here he is rocking the harmonica.

For his 2nd Christmas, he received a drum set from my parents. He played with it for 2 hours straight that night! Since that time it has had lots of use. Many people think this is a terrible gift, but actually it's very helpful. Having a 3 story house, I often know where to find him. I just have to listen!

He has since dismantled his high hat cymbals, and walks around the house, with a finger through each hole in the middle, using them as crash cymbals like a marching band. What can I say? He was born with it!

On a recent trip to Chicago, Aunt Ash picked him up his first set of bongos. I sometimes have to remind him that no sticks are allowed on the bongo drums, only fingers, but he adores them! One day he walked up to me holding his bongo drums, kissed each drum head & said, "I love bongos."

And just last night, he saw a large paper clip sitting on the desktop when we went to the YMCA to swim. He looked at me and said, "I want the trombone, Mama!"

This kid never ceases to amaze me!

Eiffel Tower...in Iowa.

The other day Asher & I were driving over to our friends' house, but we took a different route than usual. Up ahead, a large radio tower stood with many blinking lights and some satellite dishes attached.

From the backseat I hear from Asher, "It's the Eippel Tower!"

Guest Blog: We're going to the zoo...zoo...zoo...

This is Aunt Ash…I was asked to guest blog, since I got the privilege of going to the zoo with Asher. I am a teacher so I have the summers off. HOORAY!

I told Julaine, Asher’s babysitter, if she ever wanted to go on an outing I would go with her since two 2-year olds out in public is a bit of a handful. So today we went to the zoo for “Z Week”...Julaine, Bryce, Asher and Aunt Ash.

The excitement began as soon as we hit the parking lot. There were school buses and tractors that were working! We missed the train when we first arrived so we headed to the elephants, with Asher making elephant noises. He checked them out, but was pretty quiet. We then heard the whistle of the train and so we headed back to catch it. Asher was very excited as we boarded. He stomped his feet then bent over to drum on the floor. As the train started he squealed and made choo-choo noises. He looked at me and said, “It’s noisy.” He saw the elephants, the dinosaurs and the pond. He waved to the pond and said, “Bye water!” He also asked me if I heard the bell, while he continued to choo-choo. We passed the giraffes and I tried to point them out...he didn’t see them, but Bryce yelled “Giraffes!” Then Asher saw them saying, “Happy Birthday, giraffes!” Not really sure why! We ended the train ride going through the tunnel. We then set off on foot to see all the animals. We had to stop every time the train went by so we could wave. He also wanted to stand on the tracks. We had to explain that it was not a safe choice and we could only cross the tracks. He also wanted to ride every “tractor” we passed. They were John Deere Gators for the zoo staff. When we went over to the pond he was ready to get of the stroller because he wanted to jump in! He settled for feeding the fish and ducks with a few screams and giggles.

At the petting zoo part he was let out to pet the goat. He wanted to put his hand in the goat's mouth…again not sure why. He also wanted to climb the fence. Oh little monkey. The boys also sat on a cement hippopotamus for a photo op. Asher said, “It’s like a hippo Thomas. It’s like a motorcycle.” Asher wanted to swing on the monkey’s swing and share his juice with the zebras.

Both boys spotted every basketball there was in the zoo. “Do you see the camel?” I asked pointing to the huge camel standing in front of us. Asher says, “I see a basketball.” It was behind the camel. They found one in the bear’s cage and the panther’s cage. As we looked at the sleeping lions Asher began snoring. Since it was lunchtime and he began to get grouchy, we headed out stopping at McDonald’s for lunch. As we are sitting eating our lunch Asher was being squirmy, because there were no highchairs, so we sat in a both. He told the people behind us, “Hello ladies” and then proceeded to play peek- a -boo and flirt. He pointed to the nugget box saying, “It’s purple.” I said, “My favorite!” So he kissed it. Then he was studying the cup and pointed to Ronald saying, “He’s a super guy!” and kissed that! I don’t know where he comes up with these things. I told him it was Ronald McDonald. So he began singing Old MacDonald Had a Farm. He stared getting in the zone. He actually began to fake snore again and laid down saying he was going to bed asking for his blanket. Julaine was stunned since that never happens! We headed home from our fun filled day with 2 sleepy kids in the backseat. So happy that I got to go. Thanks, Julaine!

Asher Meets an Ant

The other night we were grilling out at our dear friends' house. We were enjoying beautiful weather and each other's company on a gorgeous spring evening. Asher was highly entertained by Erin & Justin's two dogs, Tuffy, a Jack Russel Terrier, and Diesel, a Dogo. He tried out the hammock in the back yard, tried climbing the fence, and wanted to scale the chicken wire to get into their garden. During one of his more quiet, reflective moments, he was on the stairs of their deck and noticed an ant crawling along. I could see his little brow furrow as he studied this busy little bug making it's way across the wood.

"What is it?" I asked Asher.

"It's like a TURTLE...." Asher told me! "It's going in the bucket," he noted as the ant crawled into a planter.

Although a turtle is far different from an ant, I LOVED that he tried to figure out what this new creature was and to put a name to it!

Swinging

Oh, to be so carefree.

To let your head hang back, eyes closed...trusting, believing, not worrying.

To let the air carry you, to let your spirits fly.

Oh, to be young again.

First Trip the ER

Chicks dig a guy with scars, right?

Well...Asher is certainly on his way to being a ladies' man...

We made our first trip the ER about 2 weeks ago. We had finished dinner & I had just changed Asher's diaper. We were planning on taking a walk to meet Aunt Ash & some playtime at the park before bedtime. I stood Asher up, and ever-on-the-move he went running away...only he tripped on my tennis shoe...and fell face-first, right into the train table.

Of course, someone invented this train table to have lovely, rounded edges...however, when hurtling toward it with your face, as only a two year old can do...it does tend to "leave it's mark." At first I thought it was just crying & drama....but then I saw this:


This is about two hours post-injury. At the time it happened, it immediately swelled up & it was difficult to tell how close to his eye the cut was. So we rushed off to the hospital...our first ever trip the ER with baby.

Asher was at least amused through his crying at the "ambeebooblance" that was parked just outside of the emergency room doors. They took us into a triage room and asked questions, took his vitals, etc. Then they put us on the "fast track." Needless to say, it wasn't very "fast."

After trying to contain our little bruiser in another waiting room and then a private room for over an hour, he was tired of it all. A nurse came in at one point to put on some numbing gel, and that was a horrible experience trying to hold him down. Talk about traumatizing for all of us! At one point a nurse did bring in a popsicle, which he devoured. At about that time, we could tell he was fine, and we wanted to just leave, but we didn't want to cast undue suspcion upon ourselves if we asked to just leave. So...we waited...Asher the least patiently, but daddy & myself almost just as much. Once the nurse practitioner came in, we were all ready to go...knowing full well that he'd recover just fine. She offered to put a stitch in it or glue it, but with all the trauma of the evening, we didn't think holding him down for that was a good idea. Then she said, "Well you know him best...is he always like this? Crying?" I was livid. We had tried to contain our injured son in a small room for almost an hour in a half with no toys but a truck we grabbed from home. You offered us a popsicle almost an hour into our "visit." He didn't want to be there...he wanted to be at the park...and oh, by the way....HE'S TWO! Is he ALWAYS like this?! *SIGH*

So...once we knew he would recover, albeit possibly with a scar, we quickly left...and headed home. No signs of concussion, one pretty worn out little guy, and a bit of his favorite "cuckoo bird movie" & he was ready for bed.

Of course, his injury was not complete without completing the "trifecta." He already had one scratch on his noggin from running in the backyard with his sand bucket, and a fall at daycare the day after the trip to the ER completed the 3 facial lacerations. This was about 36 hours after the injury.

See....he's still smiling? He's SUCH a boy!

Boys!

My 2 best boys!

Birthparents: 2 year old interpretation

I love that Asher's birthparents have a regular place in our lives, in our homes, in our vocabulary.

Asher's birthdad, A, has a very distinct winter hat that he wears. It has the long tassles that hang down in front, and framing the face is a big furry "mane!" The last few times Asher has seen A, he was wearing his fuzzy, hat.

Last Saturday morning at Stroller Strides, the kids & moms were pretty bundled up, as it was not quite a warm, spring day. One of the little girls sat bundled in her stroller behind me and wearing a puffy brown coat. As I buckled Asher into his stroller he announced, "A....A!" I said to him, "No, A isn't here, sweetie..." as I continued to situate him for class. When I turned around and saw the little girl snuggled under a blanket with just her head visible I had to laugh. Around the hood of her coat was a big, furry "mane," which looked just like Asher's birthdad's very distinct hat!

Oftentimes in the evening as we wind Asher down for bed, part of the pajamas routine is playing with the Magna-Doodle. He enjoys when we draw shapes for him to identify (diamond, rectangle, star, and even octagon!)but he especially loves when we write a word letter by letter so that he can spell them out. We often do Asher, Mommy, Daddy, taxi, and happy. Tonight I spelled out A & K's names letter by letter on the Magna-Doodle. I did A, and said, "A is your birthdad." Asher repeated, "A is birthdad." Then I did K and told him, "K is your birthmom." And again Asher repeated. Then I did Asher's name...and he responded, "Birth Asher." He certainly doesn't miss much, does he?

Ducks, Bears & Flowers...oh my!

Spring has sprung!

The rain is here, the flowers are blooming, and there are lots of "birdies" outside to listen to!

Asher & his Grandma get to share about a 5 minute drive to the babysitter's each day. They talk about all the different things they see, from John Deere tractors, to school buses & city buses, as well as dump trucks, big trucks, and chip trucks. He even tells me about yogurt trucks, but I have yet to see one of those for myself!
They love to listen to the birdies on their walk from our house to the car....

One of Asher's favorite books to read (and one of my favorite's to read to him!) is Brown Bear, Brown Bear. It was one of the gifts that I received in the very perfect "book shower" that my best friend ERin hosted for me when we brought Asher home. Shocking as it is, I had never read this book prior to being a mommy. However, now I can probably recite it back to front without error! When we drive in the car together, I sometimes say to Asher, "Brown bear, brown bear, what do YOU see?" And now, my boy replies, "I see a yellow duck....looking at me!"

So, why should I have been surprised, when at the park the other day, a robin was jumping across the grass and Asher, chasing after it began calling to it "Here ducky...come here ducky!"

At the park

Yesterday was a gorgeous spring day. After work, Asher, Jake & I met K & her cousin at the park. The playground was flooded with children, and Asher was wanting to make a break for the lagoon, but we got him interested in climbing & sliding and "driving" and he was a happy kid.

Once down the slide he looked at me and said, "Mommy....hear it?" He cupped his little hand to his ear. "Listen!" he said so seriously. I did listen....to the squeaky metal swings making funny groaning noises.

"Hear it, Mommy? Elephants!" he proclaimed!

I can't keep the smile off my face.

The Velveeta Box

I got one of the best presents ever last night.

From my best sister. Well, she's my only sister. But I bet if I had more than one, she'd still be the best.

This is what was wrapped up, under the tree, just for me!

You're probably wondering why a loaf of processed "cheese" product is one of the best Christmas presents ever. Actually, there wasn't even a loaf of Velveeta IN the box, so perhaps some of you would think I got stiffed. But no.

Our family, especially dad, is big into recycling. Here in Iowa, beverage cans and bottles are recyclable, and each comes with a 5 cent refund if you turn them in. For people like my dad, he just cannot contain himself. He doesn't see cans on the side of the road, he sees nickles! When I was about 8 or 9 years old, they began construction on new houses just behind our house, and so every night we'd take a walk with a bag and pick up the nickel cans and turn them in for cash. We took our first trip to Disney World on the funds we raised from picking up pop bottles & cans!

Sometimes it would get embarassing. As in, when my dad would actually pull the car over & make Jake, who was "new" to the family, jump out and pick up a bottle laying on the side of the road. But seriously, my dad just cannot pass that sort of thing up. He used to ride his bike and pick up more, and my mom takes a bag when she jogs or walks the dog. But, it's mostly just become a way of life. Those cans and bottles look like nickels now, and knowing that they add up quickly, it's easy to just reach down & pick it up.

In high school, my dad made donations to Show Choir kids' funds, so that they could be a part of the program and take the trips, too, and he's also funded numerous trips to the National Catholic Youth Conference as well. This past summer, some of the money went to my mom & sister making a pilgrimage to Medjugorjie. He puts a lot of work into his "labor of love" and I'm sure if he ever retires, he'll become a full-time recycler.

When the cans and bottles get turned in, the store gives you cash. That money usually goes toward whatever the next trip or project is at my parents' house, and for whatever reason, it's stored in a Velveeta box.

So this year, when I opened up my very own Velveeta box, I was touched. Inside there was no processed cheese product, but a starter kitty from my dear sister.

And I know JUST what we're going to save our pennies and nickels for....a new baby brother or sister for Asher! Thanks, Sissy!

Notice anything strange here?

If you answered, there's a large pink pig in the middle of the nativity, you would be incorrect.

The correct answer is: the drummer boy is missing.

Good Little Catholic Boy

Since Asher was just two weeks old, we began taking him to Mass. Often people comment on his good behavior when we attend weddings at different churches, but he's used to being a good boy in church, so we nod and say "mmmm hmmm!" as if to say "of course!"

At 22 months now, he will say "Father, Son, AMEN!" and do the sign of the cross. One of these days, I'm sure he'll recognize the importance of the Holy Spirit, too...for instance, whom I credit to him running headlong into tables only 1 out of 10 times. If only he wouldn't "feel the spirit" to do the sign of the cross when his fingers are covered in applesauce or yogurt!

He enjoys holding hands and praying before we eat, and he participates in the sign of peace during Mass by saying "Peace, mommy," "Peace, daddy," "Peace, grandma..."

There is a picture collage of our church in our office, made up of hundreds of smaller photos of the parishioners who are in the last church photo directory. Oftentimes adults will come into our office and not be able to recognize what the picture is of, or they are very intrigued by how the photo collage was made. One day Asher was in the office and looking at the picture, he pointed out to my colleague, "Church!" She was stunned that he could recognize our beautiful church!

When the priest was walking up the aisle one day on his way to the back of the church to begin Mass, I asked Asher "Who is that?" and he replied, "Father!"

He also recently began participating in the children's offertory of Time, Talent & Treasure as his gift to God. We will out his envelope weekly with "good deeds" such as "Helped pick up my toys" or "Was a good listener for Nana & Pop." He gets let out of the pew to approach the priest when he invites the children up to the altar, but I just can't get over it when every time he drops his envelope in the basket, he looks up at the priest, claps his hands & says "Yeah!" so proud of himself!

As we approach our church, Asher knows where we are, and he will say "Hi, Jesus!" And now that Christmas is approaching, he enjoys looking at and playing with our nativity scene. He especially loves the little drummer boy! He can point out Baby Jesus, and now identifies Mary & Joseph by name, too. However, since he can say Joseph, we tried to explain to him that his name is Asher Joseph Leo. Only problem is....now he identifies, "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph Leo!"

Hindsight.

Tonight I left my house around 5:30....with the mere intention of picking up a $5 Little Caesar's pizza.

I wish I had done more.

I picked up the pizza, and remembered we needed milk, so I stopped off at the Walgreens on the corner. As I was paying for the milk, a young woman came inside, visibly upset. Soon following her was a...loser....who was screaming at her. She mentioned loud enough for others to hear that the cops had been called. She was frightened, and was loudly telling him to get away from her and to leave her alone. Some patrons and employees sort of made a "circle" around the woman and after he yelled and cursed at her some more, he did leave the store...only bothering to say he was going to "kick in her window."

She asked if we, the folks standing near her, would come outside to be witnesses for her, so that when he did kick in her window, we could all say that we had seen him do it.

Dear God...

I walked outside and I stood at her side while this...loser...kicked at her window four times.

By now a crowd has gathered...she is nervous and shaking. Others begin to ask "What's going on? Did someone call the police?" I am sure her shame and embarassment are growing. I urge her to stay....I ask her if he has any weapons on him. Another woman asks if she has someone safe and that she trusts to talk to when she gets home. She says she just wants to get to her car...but it's in the middle of the parking lot.

The...loser...has since walked out of our sight, but she is still afraid to walk to her vehicle no more than 100 yards away.

A kind man offers to walk her there when he is done making his purchases. I tell her the police will be on their way. I stand there with her for minutes...talking and trying to help her stay calm and rational. I imagine that she just wants to get away at this point, because the police are not responding as quickly as she'd like and this has now "made a scene."

Soon the kind man is ready to walk her to her vehicle. And she walks away with him.

* * *

We just had a woman speak to our bible study group about her domestic violence shelter for women and children. I wrote her a $50 check for her cause.

And yet, out of all the things I could have said and done tonight, why didn't I just tell this woman "You're worth it"?