Mr. Mouthy

Asher is really on a roll today in driving his mother nuts. Defiance and stubbornness are set at maximum strength. Fortunately, during the part of the time when I'm not beating my head against the wall in frustration, I'm able to see the humor in some of his tirades.

Me: Asher, I'm going to go take a shower.
Asher: OK, Mommy. Can I splash you?
Me: No, not today. Mommy's in a hurry to get ready. Maybe tomorrow.
Asher: Come on, Mom. Cheer up. I splash you!
Me: Sweetie, maybe tomorrow, but today I need to take a quick shower.
Asher: NO TOMORROW! CHEER UP, MOM - I SPLASH YOU!

Asher: MOM! TRAINS! WATCH TRAINS!
Me: Asher, please be quiet. I'm giving Henry his bottle and he's trying to go to sleep -
Asher: NO HENRY BOTTLE NO SLEEP! TRAINS!
Me: Asher, you're being selfish -
Asher: I NOT A FISH!
Me: I didn't say you're a "fish," I said "selfish" - do you know what that means?
Asher: NO MOM I NOT A FISH! I NOT A FISH!

Me: Asher, it's time to change your diaper and get dressed!
Asher: No diaper change or get dressed - watching trains!
Me: You can watch trains after you get dressed.
Asher: No diaper change! OR! GET! DRESSED! MOOOOM! I busy! I have jobs to do! I watch trains, OKAAAAAAY?!

Me: Man, I am getting REALLY tired.
Asher: Tired, Mom?
Me: Yes, Mommy is tired. You boys really wear me out!
Asher: No tired, Mom! Not tired time, LUNCH time!

I am finally understanding what people meant when they said, "Just wait until they start talking!"

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Unseasonably Warm Weather

Today it was windy and gray outside, with a sprinkle of rain here and there. But, it was warm - 70 degrees - so no one was complaining! When I came home for lunch, I found two cutie patooties playing in the driveway, practicing their sweet driving skills.

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A Little Less Hair, A Little More Teeth

(1) I hate to say it, but my mother-in-law and my husband were right: Henry's baby locks had grown into a wild and crazy rattail. I mean, Henry is usually wearing more than just a diaper and doesn't drink Mountain Dew out of his bottle - he simply wasn't playing the part of white trash baby very well, no one was buying the act. So, I gave him his first haircut at bathtime, mainly just trimming up the back and sides. He was super squirmy, just like I thought he'd be, which is the reason I'd waited this long to cut it, but I managed not to pierce anyone's skin.

(2) Henry has still been pretty restless at night and cranky at times, and since his first tooth popped through a couple of weeks ago, I figured he probably had another in the works. (I remember with Asher they seemed to come in twos and threes.) Sure enough, this afternoon I felt another sharp little toofer poking out of his bottom jaw, right beside his first one. I hope he uses them for good (eating all his veggies) and not evil (biting his brother or eating my Oreos). Chomp chomp chomp!

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Seven Months of Pickles

Henry turned seven months old a few days ago. The closer he gets to the age of walking, the more excited I get! I feel so bad, but the kid really is almost too much for me to lug around anymore. We have a mirror at the end of our hallway, and the other night I was walking down it while carrying Henry. I caught a glimpse of myself with him in my arms and realized he is about half as long as I am - I really DO look ridiculous carrying him! He's exceeded the size limit of the Baby Bjorn, and we moved him to the larger car seat - so we no longer have the luxury of a baby carrier with a car seat base. He's able to sit on his own, so he can sit in a highchair or a cart, but he's not stable enough where he looks comfortable doing so for any period of time, so it's kind of tricky going shopping or to a restaurant. Poor little guy has just outgrown all of the helpful, comfy baby stuff too soon! He's getting pretty close to army crawling, though, and he keeps trying sit up on his own, so we're getting closer to independent mobility!

Henry loves to eat, so we know he's positively thrilled about sprouting his first tooth last week! Just a few more and he'll be chomping on steak in no time! We think more are in the works; this past week has been awful as far as sleeping goes.

My little big guy is so good at entertaining himself. It seemed like Asher would only last seconds when playing on his own (and sometimes that's STILL the case!), but Henry will often spend 20-30 minutes in his exersaucer or playing on the floor by himself before he starts getting fussy.

I think those are about all the updates in the Land of Pickles for now. I'm sure I'll have some more in the weeks to come...you know how babies are about constantly learning new tricks!

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It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like THREE

Not only have I been terrible about blogging, but I've been even more terrible about posting updates about Asher. You know, my firstborn - the one who, just over a year ago, had constant coverage on here. Then I went and got pregnant and basically fell off the face of the earth, taking Asher with me.

In just a couple of months, he'll be turning three. The first couple of years, I couldn't grasp how much he was growing and how quickly. Now, I'm reaching the point where it feels like he's been in my life forever and I'm thinking, three? Is that it? Seems like he's been around a lot longer than three short years...

I've heard from many that age three is worse than age two, and I'm starting to see where people might think that as we approach that age. We really didn't experience the "terrible two's" with Asher; for the most part, he's been a little sweetheart. Lately, however, my little sweetheart has been more stubborn, more loud, more rambunctious, more moody, less cuddly, more demanding and particular, and has been spending increasing amounts of time perfecting his sweet temper tantrum throwing skills.

Some of his outbursts are pretty funny and cute. Like, when he can't quite figure out how to tell me to leave him alone when I'm annoying him and points at me and tells me, "GO LOOK AT CARS, MOMMY!" Or, "I told you to BE QUIET!" Or, "I can't do that, Mommy - I BUSY!"

Some of his outbursts are downright frustrating and make me want to throw myself out a window. Like, when he refuses to brush his teeth many nights. What should take less than five minutes ends up taking fifteen to twenty. Or when he begs for something, you give it to him, and then you get, "NO, NOT THOMAS! WANT REGULAR THOMAS!" Or "regular" noodles, or "regular" juice, or "regular" yogurt...Not to mention, what he deems as "regular" seems to change on a daily basis. I had absolutely no clue that one of the requirements of being a parent was having the ability to read minds.

I have a feeling it's going to be a bumpy road to independence, which is to be expected. I just hope there will be more stories to tell of good than of bad.

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Since Winter Is Obviously Right Around the Corner...

I've had to wear my coat to work for the past week, it was sleeting on my way home at lunch, and the number of leaves on the ground is beginning to outnumber those on the trees.

Winter is coming!

Since the next round of pictures I take will probably involve snow, I thought I'd go ahead and post a few pictures I took last weekend of Henry playing in the leaves.

These are some of the good pictures. Most of the pictures, however, were of him eating leaves or trying to eat the pumpkin. And notice that Asher is not seen in these pictures. Asher was busy running around behind me like a busy little squirrel frantically searching for nuts. He has apparently decided that he will no longer participate in posed photos if it requires holding still or looking at the camera.

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Maybe There Is a Slight Resemblance...

Just about every single person we encounter swears up and down that Henry is a miniature version of Asher. In fact, this weekend, Mom and I were at Wal-Mart - she was pushing Asher in the cart, and I was carrying Henry in the Baby Bjorn - and a woman stopped and did a double take and said, "Twins?" Before we could answer, it obviously dawned on her that there was an age difference and she said, "Oh, I guess not!" It's funny so many people think they look so much alike, but I, the mom, haven't really felt that there was that strong of a resemblance.

But maybe I'm wrong.

I awoke around 3 a.m. Saturday morning. We were staying the weekend at my mom's, and Asher typically sleeps in bed with me, while Henry sleeps in the pack 'n' play. In my groggy state, I looked over at Asher and - wait - who put Henry in bed with me? Where was Asher? Feeling startled, I looked over in the pack 'n' play to find Henry sleeping soundly. I looked back at Henry in bed next to me, then back to Henry in the pack 'n' play. What the heck was going on?! How could Henry be in two places at the same time? What kind of Halloween trickery was being played on me?

Oh. Huh. That wasn't Henry in bed next to me. It was Asher. EERIE.

Then, last night, I was going through some pictures I took of the boys over the weekend, and found one in particular of Henry that reminded me of one of my favorite pictures of Asher from two years ago.

Asher, 2008:

Henry, 2010:

Yep, these boys are definitely brothers. Still not sure I totally agree with people when they say Henry is a replica of Asher, but they could never deny being related to one another. It's a good thing they're handsome boys - Henry should take it as a compliment that he resembles his big brother!

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Dragon Brothers

Last year after Halloween, when I was pregnant with Henry, Mom and I found this really cute horse costume at Cracker Barrel for next-to-nothing. Henry, of course, turned out to be really good at growing, so the horse costume was a good size-and-a-half too small for him. So, I found this cute dragon costume for him:

I had no idea what Asher should be, and when I'd ask him what he wanted to be, he'd just say, "Ummmmm....I unno." We took him costume shopping, but he seemed completely uninterested in everything there was. A monkey? "Ummmmm....sumpin' else!" How about an elephant? "Ummmm....sumpin' else!" A shark - a shark would be cool! "Ummmm.....hmmm......sumpin else?" He was no help. Even the Thomas the Tank Engine costume at Target didn't phase him. So Mom and I went to Old Navy and guess what they had there? A dragon costume! Not identical to Henry's, but a dragon nonetheless!

So we got home and asked him if he wanted to dress up like a dragon like Henry. Dragon brothers! Asher thought about this and then seemed pleased with the idea. For the past few weeks, when asked what he was going to be for Halloween, he'd say, "Dragon brothers with Henry!"

They were definitely the cutest pair of dragons I've ever seen in my entire life.

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