Deep Weekend

Once again we took Asher away with us on a youth residential. This is his fourth (if you count Soul Survivor) and the fifth is coming up next month. He'll be bored of them long before he's in his teens at this rate!

We had a great time, as usual. I think for the most part Asher enjoyed having lots of people to talk to and play with. We had fun getting him to point to various things (he specialises in ceilings, doors, lights and Daddy, but will also point to noses, feet, windows and occasionally Mama). We also had a few fun games of "Who will Asher walk to?" - he prefers to walk to his Mummy, but is getting more confident at walking to other people too. It's interesting that he is now starting to choose walking rather than crawling to get from place to place unprompted. Sometimes he even carries things!

Asher's favourite part of the weekend was undoubtedly the time we spent outside. He'll just pause and look around whenever we go out (and our room was separate from the hall where the youth activities were taking place, so we went out several times a day). Here are some photos from Saturday morning.

I'm not sure what he was looking at in this picture. But he's definitely waterproof!

Asher with a very dirty stone that he was absolutely determined to keep on licking. Yum.

Asher: "Oooh! Ooh, oh oh oh, oooooh!!"

Watching some sheep

"But why can't I pick up this rock? My hand is touching it!"

"Oh, it's too heavy. Silly me!"

This was perhaps Asher's happiest moment of the entire weekend.

Splash!

On the move

This video was taken just over a week ago.

He's still only really walking in short bursts - usually between me and Noah, but also towards something he really wants (like the cat). I've also seen him stand holding onto something, clearly wanting to walk a few steps to get to somewhere else, but not quite brave enough to take the plunge. He'll step his feet up and down repeatedly on the spot but doesn't quite dare let go. Usually I take pity and give him a hand! Otherwise he will probably crawl.

But sometimes I look into his eyes and smile, and say "You can do it!" and he smiles back, and walks.

Advances

What happens when you give a one-year-old edible paint?

He eats it, of course!

He was interested, but didn't actually do any painting at all (I smeared some on the paper but he would not follow suit). The paintbrush was treated as a new kind of spoon. He had a mouthful or two, then started to cry (probably because the paint is just a thick cornflour paste with food colouring, so I imagine it's pretty disgusting to eat).

We'll try again another time (but maybe we won't bother with paper!)

In other news... he's walking!!

At the moment it's just fairly short inter-parental traverses, but he's getting more confident all the time. Watch out, Cat. Watch out, World. Asher is coming!

Big Top

My Mum and Dad got Asher a circus tent for Christmas. Here's how he decided to use it yesterday!

This morning we are rolling balls in and out through the curtains. He's enjoying that too.

As I type, the tent is on its side again!

Walking to the park

In the last week Asher has, on a couple of occasions, taken one or two independent steps before falling over/grabbing on to something. He's also been standing without holding on for a couple of seconds. He isn't very confident doing either, though, and if he notices what's happening he'll bend his knees and lower himself to the floor. I find it amusing that this kid who attempts at any opportunity to dive head first down stairs and off sofas is scared to stand on his own two feet. But then, it is a pretty daunting thing, to stand up all by yourself. And why bother, when Mummy is always there to hold on to?

His attached walking, however, is excellent. So much so that I took him for a walk to the Wick this afternoon. He clutched my finger tightly and we made it across the lawn, over the street (extremely quiet - in fact it wasn't a car that had to stop for us but the neighbours playing football!), through the little alley and halfway to the zebra crossing before he wanted to be picked up. We had a bit of a detour on the grass and - of course - he found a stick, which he carried proudly in his other hand all the way to the swings. Love!

Florida #3: Silver Springs

So another trip we took was to Silver Springs, a State Park, to look at wildlife through a glass-bottomed boat. We didn't see any alligators but I braved the fish and we saw turtles too. The springs themselves looked pretty cool as well, bubbling bits of limestone up through the amazingly clear water. But perhaps my favourite sight was the bird that swam right underneath the boat. It looked all... wet!

So apparently the Mitchell family have a tradition of "borrowing" wheelchairs when they visit places...
I think this is our 'Album Cover Look'.

We've just discovered that they sell FUDGE here!!

I was disappointed that the ENTIRE bottom of the boat wasn't made of glass - although I guess it's safer this way!

Proof that Asher did enjoy the view a bit (as well as munching determinedly on the wooden rail)

But Mum... I want to go that way! There's dirt!

Awwww!

Little boy, big tree.

Boo!

Can you tell from the picture how badly Asher wanted to get down?!

Silver Springs was a lovely day trip. Asher really enjoyed the trees, the grass, the play area and, of course, the dirt. And the day out also included a visit to the Golden Corral, where Asher happily threw about 57 different cuisines on the floor whilst I enjoyed repeated visits to the THREE chocolate fountains. Excellent. Ash even napped in the car. What more could we ask for?

Florida #2: Fun at the Park

At the beginning of our trip we had typical English springtime type weather. Mild, with lots of rain. It did get colder later - not snow cold, but colder than it was here when we got back. Which is pretty cold, for Florida. We wished we'd taken coats!

But on one of those milder days we took a trip to the park. (We had less photogenic trips to the park when it was chilly as well!)

Swings: popular on any continent

America is full of giant tortoises!
(And dirt. This tasty dirt. Yum!)

But I want to go over there, on the big slide!

It looks really fun over there...

Mmm. They were some good steps. 

Hmmm... where shall I go next?

Ooh! Oooh! Big slide!

Back home, playing giggly games with Daddy after his bath

And this mirror is so much fun too. America is so fun!!