In Asher's first year I would take pictures, track his progress and update the blog monthly. I'm sad to say that I haven't exactly done that for you. Life looked so different in your first year. Asher was turning into a boy, we had just moved into our new home. Any extra time I had I spent holding you, staring at you, soaking you in. The blog came second every time. So I guess I'm not sad about that. But now I'll do my best to recount the first 12 months. Just so you have something.
1 Month
Weight - 9lbs, 4oz
Height - 20.5 in
You were born. You came home to Grammy and Papaw's and that's were we all lived until November 9th, waiting on our house to be finished. You were awesome. You nursed like a champ, you snuggled so well. You were so quite and for a newborn, so easy. The only thing you really required was gripe water. You didn't care for a number of things I ate (dairy, nuts, spicy food, red wine) but even when I cut those things out of my diet, gripe water was important to keep you happy.
2 Months
Weight - 10lbs, 15oz
Height - 22.5in
More of the same! We called you "Little Zeery-up" because you were so sweet and so quiet. Asher absolutely loved having you around and would lean down to tend to you if you lost your paci, cried out or even just to say hi. We finally moved into our new home when you were two months. You also got to meet some extended family. Grandpa Tony and Grandma Fern came to town for Thanksgiving and Aunt Patti and Uncle Steve came to celebrate Gramps' 60th birthday. And right before you hit three months the miracle who is now called Evan was born. He's your buddy and one of your "guys". Life was exciting when you were two months old.
3 Months
You started to spend more hours awake, giving us smiles, kicking your legs. Still, you were a chill baby. You were squishy and cuddly. Growing. You grew out of your bassinet so we moved you to your room...all the way upstairs...seemingly so far away! But we got used to it and so did you. When you were three months we celebrated the holidays and daddy had a whole month off. Paternity leave. It was a beautiful thing. We went on walks on the nature trail, we unpacked the house and we spent tons of time together. As a family of four.
4 Months
Weight - 13lbs, 11oz
Height - 24.5in
You started sleeping longer. Nearly through the night. Still nursing like a champ. Much more awake, alert, studying things. Smiling, making a little noise. You loved your brother and absolutely adored his entertainment.
5 Months
You were really starting to come alive and show us your personality. You were cautious in some ways. As we began to learn more about you, we saw that you generally took things slow. You studied things and took it easy until you were ready. Rolling over, then later crawling and then walking. You did everything on your own time, when you were ready. When you were five months we also had some more extended family come to visit. This time it was Eric, Christine and Amara. They came to stay with us for a long weekend. Even though the visit was overshadowed by the stomach bug and the monitor failing one night, leaving you to cry for a couple of hours, it was still wonderful to have them here and to have them meet you.
6 Months
Weight - 15lbs, 6oz
Height - 25.25in
A half of a year! It flew by. It really did. By this time you were trying all sorts of solid foods. You loved food. Especially carbs... We also learned something new about you when you were six months old. You had a voice. And you were ready to use it. Up until this point you were fairly quiet, rarely crying unless you were hungry or overtired. Then one day, sitting in your highchair, you screeched. It was, as daddy describes it, an octave your brother had never reached. You wanted our attention and you got it. And so it was, our sweet, quiet little peanut was....less quiet.
7 Months
At seven months you really started to roll over and push yourself up to a sitting position. Again, you did things slowly and on your own time but finally you were starting to work towards some independent movement. Your favorite foods were bananas and bread. And you went back and forth with sleeping through the night. Teething was not your favorite and you weren't shy about letting others know.
8 Months
When you were eight months old it was May. The weather was warm and we started to have longer days that kept us outside on the driveway. We played and played with our neighbor friends and you loved just hanging out. Evening picnics, toys on the driveway, watching brother fly by on his bike. Neighborhood pups walking by. You loved it all.
9 Months
Weight - 17lbs, 2oz
Height - 26.75in
At nine months it was warm enough to take you to the pool. Your first time in the water, other than the bathtub. It was then that we learned that you were a water baby. You loved it. Like everything else, you approached it cautiously at first but once you got comfortable you were thrilled with the pool. It was around this time that you also expanded your vocabulary. Mama had come first, then dada. Then around nine months you said doggie. It sounded more like goggie but your voice inflection and excitement when a pup walked by quickly helped us translate. You love love love doggies.
10 Months
In July, you were ten months and we soaked up summer, every way possible. We celebrated the fourth watching fireworks lakeside, we had popsicles and late evenings playing outside and you came with daddy and me to Fredericksburg for Travis and Annie's wedding. It was a sweet time. At that point you were down to nursing three times a day and most definitely sleeping through the night, so life was reaching a nice lull.
11 Months
At eleven months old you were on the move, crawling all over, pulling up, babbling with your few words - mama, dada, nana (banana), goggie (doggie), a-sure (Asher). You were loud when you wanted to be and very quiet when you wanted to be. We stopped nursing when you were eleven months and moved straight to milk. I just couldn't believe that eleven months had gone by. You were about to be one and life continued to move an incredible pace.
