14 months

i almost cried. he brought me two bags of bread and a sack full of pears. and as he triumphantly handed over each one, nearly tripping over all of them and either squashing their contents or spilling them on the floor, i almost cried. he was helping me unload the groceries and he was SO excited to do so. i could not have gathered a sweeter moment, and i could not have been more thankful to be his mommy. i am enjoying his nearness today. these are things he woos me with these days:
* signs - after a wonderful visit from my roommate from college, rheagan, and her sweet little boy, jackson (um, LOVE YOU GUYS. thanks for coming!), asher picked up on the signs more, please, thank you, bite and all done (kind of). everything gets the sign please, which i simply cannot resist :) he waves bye bye and hello, and often accompanies those with words.
* he is a mover, and his favorite game is run run with daddy. nothing gets grins from that boy like some daddy interaction time.
* words - truck, tractor, milk, daddy, mama, shoe, sock, pear, bread, pop (for the toaster/toast), pig, puppy, bak bak (the sound a chicken makes), berry, bib, car, pumpkin, boo, papa, bumpa (we are still working on the grandma versions to both of these, but no worries, nannie and gramma, we practice OFTEN), cut (i think... he has a wooden food set), bye bye, hi, baby. of course, these are still somewhat indistinguishable, but, he is consistent, so, i think it counts. it is so fun to see him figure out how to communicate.
* asher loves music. he bounces to the ABC song magnet we have on the fridge (UPDATE: the magnet has seen its last days, due to one too many encounters with the tile floor... oops), he waves his arms and claps his hands while in the car. gosh, i just love it! and, we occasionally get a song from him, but those are few and far between.
* he enjoys food, a lot of it. he prefers any vegetable roasted, and we are still playing with seasonings, but, if you find something he likes, he LOVES it. he can consume as much bread, yogurt, eggs and cheese as a grown man, but his daddy still beats him in the milk department. asher will take no form of milk (aside from breastmilk, that is) - cow, goat, soy, rice. i have tried them all. i continue to experiment on this one.
* and, yes, he is still nursing twice a day. i am slowly gaining momentum on how to work that transition. (insert sigh here).
* he claps his hands and stamps his feet... on command, to a song, when he is truly excited about anything.
* the latest: he has started backing up into our laps to read stories. i just love to watch him come in with a book, turn around and slowly aim and fall into our laps. it makes me melt every time.

this truly is a fun and exciting stage... my favorite so far.

(a little disclaimer about the above pics: our neighbor gave asher a hot pepper costume for halloween, THANKS MEL, and, he has since enjoyed wearing the hat, OFTEN. it cracks me up to see him carrying on with it on his head.)