August Visitors

Last weekend my friend Michal and her son Xander visited. Its been almost a year since we've seen each other, and Xander has grown so much! He was a little baby last year and now, at 22 mths, he's a full blown toddler! Gregory had a bit of a hard time sharing some of his toys, but all in all, they had a fun time together. We just brought them along to our usual playgroups and other activities, and it was great to share some of my life, such as it is, with Michal. She is expecting her second baby next spring, so she was absorbing the scene with two kids! It was sad for me to see them go, but we're planning to visit them in Cincinnati after their new addition arrives.


Gregory is blooming as a brother, and has so much love and affection for the baby. He always wants to hug, hold, kiss, and be close to him. The other day Asher was laying on the floor in the living room and I was getting lunch together in the kitchen. It was a little too quiet in there so I peeked in to see what was going on. Gregory had brought a stack of books and was "reading" them to Asher. SO SWEET! I'm sure its every mother's wish that her children like their siblings, and obviously its pretty early, but so far all signs point to brotherly love in our house!


Asher is just growing like gangbusters and has really woken up these last couple of weeks. Well, he still sleeps a whole lot, but he seems to be much more aware of his surroundings and more responsive to us. He has started cooing a lot and having little conversations with us. He is also really enjoying having some playtime on the floor. We did end up going to the lactation consultant because he was having some trouble maintaining suction. Turns out his palate is rather short and flat, preventing him from getting a deep latch. Since he is growing fine, there is not much to be done and it will probably improve as he grows. But it is good to know what is going on, anyway.


Grandpa Mike and Grandma Coralie were in town this weekend. Yesterday we went to the State Fair. It was fun, but a little hot and crowded... Then Dan and Grandpa went to the Vikings preseason game. We always love when grandparents visit, and they'll be back in 3 weeks for more football. I guess Fall is approaching!

FINALLY!

Asher is 8 weeks old today and he started smiling! And we got a new camera to capture it and share the cuteness with the world... Its a reeeeaaally nice camera - we spent more than we should have... Gregory will NEVER touch it, so hopefully it will last us at least like 10 yrs! So now I'm having fun just experimenting with it and learning all its little tricks...

In addition to smiling, Asher has been enjoying some exercise. The gorgeous wooden toy hanger that was subsidized by Aunt Karen when Gregory was a baby is now dangling toys for Asher's delight! He's been awake a fair bit more these last couple of days. It might be a new developmental phase, or it might be a side effect of the antibiotics I have to take for the strep throat I caught this week (I don't recommend it...) Either way, its been kind of fun to see him start playing - he figured out how to kick his toy really quick and he loves it!


PS - I forgot to mention that Asher was up to 11.5 lbs at our 6 wk checkup...he must be up to at least 12 by now!

As for Gregory, he is getting ready to start preschool, and he got a brand new backpack and lunch box that he picked out himself. He is very proud of them!

Bad News

Our camera is broken. A certain little someone threw it on the floor and now the lens won't open. And it would cost at least $200 to get it fixed, and of course you can get a new one for that much...

But the upside - we get to get a new camera! I'm shopping, hoping to get something in the next few days - we have no time to waste with a rapidly growing tiny one around here!