The A Team Week 28: Potluck

Week 28 of The A Team was a good example of our family's everyday moments...the regular family moments, turned memories.  The baths, silliness, sickness, meals, milestones, fun, laughs, corrections, and more.  It was an all-around potluck of a week, sampling a little bit of this and a little bit of that and providing a great glimpse of what life in the Migrin home is like day to day.

Good Mornings: Every morning, the first thing Asher wants to do is see his baby brother.  He cannot wait to get into Avery's nursery to say good morning to his little bro.

He looks so cute in his little robe!  :)

Bath Time: The boys enjoy playing together in the tub.  Avery loves to get as far into the water as he can, and Asher loves to help "wash" (or torture) his little brother.

Meal Time: Avery is really enjoying meal time.  He doesn't seem to be as interested in eating as Asher was and some days he will eat a ton, while others he doesn't seem to have much of an appetite.  However, he still gets very excited (and very impatient) every time we put him into his high chair.

On Thursday we also let Avery try some Cheerios for the first time.  He was surprisingly successful getting them into his mouth, considering his age and that this was his first try.  The best part though was that it kept him entertained and I was able to eat my own dinner warm and (mostly) uninterrupted!

Video: Avery Works at Eating Cheerios

Entertainment: As I've said several times before, if it was up to Avery he would be held (by me) at all times.  I often oblige, but sometimes I need to get things done and try to utilize toys or the swing to help me do so.  These days, the swing is still handy to have around, but it requires Avery to be buckled or he will push himself out and also requires some additional entertainment which involves anywhere from a single toy to a song and dance if he isn't cooperating.  He still enjoys being sung to and still seems to like my renditions of Elvis songs the best.

Video: Don't Be Cruel

Avery swinging while I sing him some Elvis.  He was enjoying the song and taping his feet to the rhythm.  Unfortunately by the time I got around to taking a video, he had started to get grumpy, but it's still cute.

Sickness: On Tuesday night we (& by "we" I mean Eric) experienced another "first".  Asher woke up during the night crying.  Since I pretty much have Avery duty during the night.  Eric usually attends to Asher's needs when they arise.  Since Asher sounded pretty upset, Eric got up to see what was the matter.  I woke to the commotion and waited for Eric's return to see what was up.  He was gone for a while and I heard him going all over the house, making me wonder if he needed my help.  I assumed though that if it was something major and he did need my help, he would come get me.  When he finally did return about a half hour later, I asked what was wrong and he told me that Asher had thrown up.  Honestly I would have assumed that vomit would immediately equal a two-parent task.  If I had gotten up, I probably would have gotten Eric up as well to help.  However, Eric took on the task all by himself even though it was the first time Asher has EVER thrown up (other than a quick sickness after spinning around once right after dinner-not as bad)!  He got everything cleaned up, changed Asher's sheets and put the dirty stuff in the wash all by himself while I laid in bed unaware of what had happened.  I have to say, I was feeling pretty lucky that night!  ...I knew I picked a good guy! :)

When Eric had gotten up with Asher he also took his temperature, but Asher had no fever.  He had eaten a lot for dinner that night (more than me), so we assumed he had just had too much for his tummy to handle.  The next morning he seemed fine so off to daycare he went.  As the week continued he was a little grumpier than normal and had very little appetite and was more tired than normal (he even asked to go to bed early on Wednesday night!) but other than that seemed fine.  Then on Thursday night when I picked him up from daycare, I gave him a hug and could immediately smell that he wasn't feeling well.  I thought he must have thrown up by the smell of him, but instead was told that he had had diarrhea all day.  :(  He still continued to act fine though so life went on mostly as normal and our week continued.

Baby Milestones: On Wednesday this week, Avery finally got the hang of sitting.  Asher officially sat for the first time just before his 5 month birthday, but it took another month or so for him to really get the hang of it.  Avery has sat for a second or so if we made him, but was always too interested in getting on his belly or sucking he toes to really make a go of it.  Today though, I sat him up and he just stayed there.  He went from basically not sitting at all to a baby-pro immediately!

Avery really sitting on his own for the first time.

Realizing that it's much easier to play with toys when you can sit!

Video: Sitting Practice

Silly Traditions: Wednesday was also April Fool's Day.  For the most part, this isn't really a day that we "celebrate" like others I know (Beth Smith, if you're reading this your antics every year make me laugh!).  However, it is tradition for Eric to send some sort of silly call/message to his dad/family...often including a dinosaur in the backyard.  This year, he tried to get Asher in on the fun, but getting a two year old to say what you want, when you want is not as easy as one might think! :)

(3) Videos: Dinosaur in the Backyard

Time Off: On Friday, it was the start of the Easter weekend and since our daycare was closed, I had the day off to spend with my boys.  Eric also took the afternoon off so that we could head up North to spend the holiday with my family, but since he was working the morning I got to enjoy a few hours with my boys before we left.  I spent the first couple of hours getting us packed up and ready to go.  Then we loaded into the van and did a little shopping together.  Both boys were really good as we walked around JC Penny and Target together, looking for nothing in particular.  We walked around, climbed on top of the big red cubes and the big red balls in front of the stores (a favorite activity for Asher) and I even got to do a little bit of clothes shopping (don't get too excited I bought a few plain, single-colored tank tops and one other shirt).  While we were in JC Penny though, we found that part of the store was entirely devoted to Disney and they had a giant Mickey and Minnie Mouse!  Of course we had to check them out and they were on sale for "only" $270!...what a deal!?  ;)  We snapped a picture and continued to browse, but as we walked away Mickey fell down from his shelf.  It took a while for me to get him to stay put again, but eventually I did and we continued to look.  Soon after a store associate came and set him back up (the right way I guess) and then shot me a dirty look, like I was a terrible mom for letting my two year old touch Mickey.  All I could think was, "seriously?!, you have a four foot tall stuffed Mickey Mouse located within a child's grasp and you expect it to remain untouched!!??"  Oh well, I ignored her and we moved on.

Fun with Friends: The sampling of our everyday life ended when we got back home.  We had bought an Easter Lily while we were at Target and before we headed to the UP the boys and I brought it over to give to our lovely elderly neighbor Marge.  I haven't told any stories about Marge in a while, so to remind you she is in her early 80's, shovels her own sidewalks, cleans up her own yard, volunteers at her church, drops random notes and surprises in our mailbox a few times a month and has an amazing memory!  I really hope that I am in even half of her shape when I'm that old!  We are so blessed to have her as a neighbor and as an honorary grandma to the kids!  After a short visit with Marge, her daughter and her great-grandson, we headed back home, had some lunch, loaded up the van and then headed North to enjoy the holiday weekend!

Marge & Asher playing (she has a great-grandson Asher's age, so there are always toys there to play with)...how many 80 year olds do you know that crawl around on the floor to play with a toddler?