Sewing Adventures or Cute Baby Photos: You Choose

That's right... I made some more trousers for Asher!

Unfortunately they don't fit him yet :( but I'll show you a photo when they do.

For now, I thought you might like to know that I'm setting up a separate blog to chronicle my sewing adventures. That way, if you're interested in sewing you can go there and read about the things I make... but if not you can just read about Asher :)

My new blog is at sewcanyou.org (sorry... all the better puns were taken, honest!)

If you want to see Asher's new trousers (on the table, not on him) go here.

In case you're not interested in sewing, here are some adorable photos of Asher:

I love that smile!!

I was *this* close to getting a photo of him sitting up!

"What's that I spy in the distance?"

"Oh... it's Mum!"

And finally, a picture of the cat's new favourite seat:

Enjoy.

Fresh air and exercise

We took Asher for his first walk yesterday. (In the baby backpack I mean... he didn't walk. Though I'm sure he would have liked to). Noah carried him on our four mile stroll through the fields.

Despite it being a bank holiday it was lovely and sunny. The first half of the walk was sheltered but then we walked back over a hill (ish... this is Hertfordshire after all!) and it was very windy. Asher's hat kept blowing off. He took it like a man, and did his cute little "mm!" noise which means "The wind is blowing in my face! Aaah!"

I think he enjoyed stopping for a picnic in the shade of a tree along the way. We saw lots of aeroplanes (which Noah found very exciting) and, yes, Asher had a picnic too.

We all enjoyed our little trip and we're looking forward to many more walks with Asher in the future. Lake District here we come!

Asher's latest trick...

... is sitting up!

He can do a little while by himself now.

It's interesting that while he's sitting he loses the ability to do some other things (such as picking up a toy and putting it in his mouth). Balancing obviously requires his undivided attention.

Change me!!

This baby *loves* having his nappy changed.

I think it's because I usually let him roll around naked for a while when I change him. He hates wearing clothes.

Difficult.

Noah mentioned this evening that he thinks being a parent is harder on me than he imagined it would be. At the time I wasn't sure. But sitting here at 9:45, having tried everything to get Asher to sleep - and failed - even stuff that experts say not to do like rocking and feeding him has failed - I think, yes, Noah is right. You're right. This is WAY harder than I thought it would be. I did not imagine that after four difficult months I would count myself lucky to get half an hour downstairs in the evening and only be woken up every two hours in the night. I did not imagine the screaming and howling that would ensue when I try to put Asher in his cot after rocking and holding him for half an hour. Why is our baby so rubbish at sleeping? I really, really want to use one of my catch phrases here: "It's not fair".

And it's true. It's not fair. It's not fair that he doesn't sleep. It's also not fair that he was born into a loving family with the means to support him - not all babies are like that. It's not fair that I have plentiful access to clean water and nutritious food, and that I can nourish my baby with breast milk. It's not fair that he is healthy and happy, that his eyes and ears work, that he is so alert and joyful and charming during the day. Not all babies are like that.

So as I sit here in despair, not having had a sleep lasting more than two hours for the past three weeks, with a baby who is desperately tired but will not sleep - I have to remember the good things. I have to remember that I'm not in this alone. I have to remember how wonderful my baby is. His happy face as he squeals with delight when I play with him. His determination to sit up; to stand on his strong legs whenever somebody will help him. The beautiful smile he gives me when he sees me across the room. I have to think of the child, and later the adult, he will be. And I have to ask God for grace to get me through this night because, although there's no way I can do it on my own, in God's strength I am strong. *


* In case that's all a bit heavy for you: I mis-typed that last clause as "in God's strength I am string".

Trees

I took Asher for a walk through the (small!) woods today. He was wide awake and the sky was overcast, so I could put the pushchair hood down without the sun being too bright for his eyes. He loved looking up at the trees, staring intently at the leaves. I put some sticky grass on his pushchair for him to look at, but then he wanted to eat it so I had to take it away. It's hard to help him explore the world when he wants to munch on everything!

(The photo is actually from last week - in case you wonder why he's asleep under a hood, the direct opposite of what I stated above!)

Phone Photos (Part 2)

A few more of my favourite phone photos from a couple of months ago:

The famous Glasses Photo

Asher seems to prefer sleeping with his head at a slightly alarming angle

I just had to put these trousers in the "too small" pile!

I took this one to show Ash when he's old enough to appreciate all the sweets I covered him with.
(They were for a youth weekend away)

Super Baby!
(He stopped doing this when he found out that he could actually control those hands)

So many evenings spent cuddling my baby to sleep :)

This was the only photo we got on 28th March... Not a good day!

First night in the cot (9th April)

But this is where he prefers to sleep. If only I could fit in the cot.

Phone Photos (Part 1)

I've just uploaded LOADS of photos from my phone. And look!

The first signs of Asher (July 31st)

You can see the evidence of packing (or unpacking?) in progress... was this just before we went to Soul Survivor?

Later...

Quite a lot bigger (20th December)

And even more massive (2nd January)

When Asher keeps me awake late into the night I think about being so horribly pregnant and am very glad that I now have a wonderful baby instead!

(I prefer the January-length hair, however).

But what's that? My next photo...

Baby!! (Middle of the night. That's why it's so dark.)

My boys in the hospital

They let us take him home!

This little chap was alert right from the beginning

But look how tiny he was!!

Showing off his little personality (27th January)

Oh... and here's our first ever family photo:

So close!

The second attempt was a little better:

31st January

I'm having fun looking at these old photos! A few more to share tomorrow.

Asher goes to Florida

Trying to induce a nap before going into ihop. (For Asher, not for Noah).

 24 hour breakfast restaurants are great in combination with a jet-lagged baby!

Cousins! On bicycles!

Asher's wheels for the trip...

Noah's new mode of transport...

...and a real life little red wagon!

Chilling at the lake

Baby gator! The lady in the powerboat was trying to scare him away from the swimming area but he came back every time she powered away. For some reason nobody was swimming...

Uncle Ian sharing his wisdom with Asher. (Or is it the other way around?)

Lionel came with us, of course. He made friends with some Dangling Dogs.

Asher *loved* not having to wear more than a vest. He seemed to be a bit more mobile with reduced clothing - maybe that's what helped him to roll over.

Getting ready for his first swim! (It was in a shaded swimming pool, at 5pm... but we didn't take any chances with the sun cream)

Dribbling on Nana

Cousins again! This time with (quite delicious) sno balls (slushy ice flavoured with syrup). Even nicer than it sounds due to the hot weather!

Hmm, what else can I chew on?

Enjoying his car seat mirror toy

OK, this isn't Asher... but it's about the most impressive fried onion I've ever set eyes on!

This is the face Asher makes every time he sees Horsie. He enjoyed lying on a spare seat on the plane, kicking his legs and grabbing his toes and playing with his toys. (The mini plane seat belt was to attach onto my seat belt during take off and landing - we were just using it here to make sure he didn't roll off the seat while he played).

Almost home. Sunrise from the plane.

Four Months!

Our baby is getting big!

At four months old...

Asher loves having his nappy changed, sneezing and being naked.

He dislikes traffic jams, other people's sneezes and being put to sleep.

His favourite book is still Go, Baby, Go.

His new favourite song is Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.

He dribbles. A lot. And chews on everything. Still no sign of teeth though!

He's starting to feel really heavy!

Ash has discovered that he can squeal (very loudly) with delight and has started to giggle occasionally.

He usually wants to practise standing up. Failing that, he wants to sit up. He can do this on his own for a few seconds now.

Asher has rolled over! Twice, within a few minutes, and very deliberately. He started by grabbing his toes, causing him to roll onto his side, then he pushed and pushed until he flipped right onto his tummy. Having accomplished the feat, however, he doesn't seem inclined to attempt it again.

He has tasted lemon and loved it. Also loved apple and grape, but didn't like banana. (We're not really giving him proper food but he likes to lick our fingers when they've got fruit juice on them).

He really enjoyed his time in Florida. Photos of the trip will be in the next post!