3 1/2!

At the end of the 2015, Asher turned 3-1/2.  While this probably doesn't seem significant to most, I felt it required a post since children change so much at this age.  Back in July after Asher had turned 3, I wrote that he was "irritable, bossy, difficult to wake, rejecting and and will eat us out of house and home.  At the same time, he is funny, caring, polite, responsible, meticulous, organized and loving", and really none of that has changed.  Even though he is now closer to 4 than 3, his personality is still about the same, it is just the things that go with his personality that have changed slightly.

Asher is still my silly guy.  He loves to make others laugh, and seems to have his daddy's sense of humor.  Although he still likes to make up silly things and randomly call me a shoe face, apple head or similar he also likes to tell jokes.  He doesn't quite get knock knock jokes yet, but I assume they will enter our lives in the near future.  Eric did teach him the joke of "look under there!"..."underwear?" recently though and he thinks it is hilarious.

He is still very creative.  His imagination is growing and he loves to hop around the floor to avoid the "lava" on the ground and also frequently tells me about the crazy dreams he had the night before.  He also loves to tell me all about his day at daycare and rarely stops talking on our drive home, even though it is usually quite obvious everything he is telling me is completely made up.  He loves to play, but really isn't too interested in cars, trains and trucks like many of the other little boys I know.  Instead, he is much more interested in building things such as block towers, lego creations, projects with his tools and blanket forts.  He also loves to color, play playdoh and most recently cut things with the scissors he got for Christmas (he knows he is only allowed to cut what Mommy and Daddy have approved, so he was pretty happy when I told him anything in the recycle bin was ok).

As Asher grows older he also continues to be a helpful boy.  He often helps us bring dishes to the sink and load the dishwasher, he will fetch things for us and he loves to help me clean up the house (vacuuming and sweeping are apparently amazingly enjoyable) and help Eric mow the lawn or shovel the driveway.  These days I will admit that sometimes I even ask him to keep on eye on Avery for me for a minute so that I can have some eyes on him to make sure he doesn't climb or eat things he shouldn't.  In addition to being helpful he is also surprisingly responsible for such a young guy.  Just the other day he was using his marker and wipe-off flash cards (which are horribly messy for something geared toward that age group).  As he continually got marker on things other than the cards, he said, "Mommy, I'm not gonna oose (use) this marker anymore because it is for Mommy and Daddy only...I am getting it everywhere!"  Now, I had already taken precautions to make sure the mess didn't get too out of control, but I still was surprised by his honestly and responsibility to not make a mess for me to have to clean up.

At 3.5, I am happy to say that Asher is now potty trained!  I give Grandma K. all the credit in making it happen, but he is now doing great.  I don't remember the last time he had an accident and he is so excited to wear his big boy undies.  He does still wear pull-ups for nap (although he is usually dry) and at night, but that is fine with me.  It is so nice to only have one kid in diapers now!

Asher continues to be a pretty good eater, but his appetite is no longer what it used to be.  He loves fruits and likes vegetables, but we sometimes have a little more difficulty getting him to eat the main course of our meal (whatever that may be).  Some days he will loves something and the next day he will insist that he doesn't like it.  Almost every day he will ask if he can get a treat after he eats his dinner and I almost always say yes.  He surprises me though that often he decides he is done and is okay without a treat.  I hope responsible decisions like this continue.  His favorite foods of cereal, pancakes, PBJs, salami sandwiches, pizza, tacos, popcorn, fruit and suckers remain, but he has also taken a liking to oatmeal, pretzels and cheeseburgers.

These days he is much more interested in television than he used to be, but thankfully still watches a minimal amount.  He watches some TV at his daycare at the beginning and end of the day while parents are dropping off and picking up and he seems to like Daniel Tiger and the Kratt Brothers (the other day-before we knew he watched this show-he told us he had watched the Crap Brothers.  It took us several tries to understand him and some Googling to figure out what he meant).  His favorite show is still Jake and the Neverland Pirates, but he also requests Space Rangers, Chuggington and Super Why once in a while.  For movies, his new favorite is Inside Out.  He has requested that moving more than I can count and keeps asking for it.  Although I agree it is a great movie, I am not sure why he likes it so much, but I do know that he holds a certain liking for "Anger" and the fire that comes out of his head.  He also enjoys watching YouTube videos with us at times, and currently his favorites include dancing babies, with one particular one showing a dancing baby Spiderman.

His love for music seems to have lessoned.  He still enjoys listening to it quite a bit, but seems to be less interested in playing it.  He does still love to sing songs and often makes up his own silly songs.  He also likes to listen to his Disney favorites and recently we learned that he knows every word to Adele's "Hello".

Asher's vocabulary continues to grow and he sometimes reminds me of stories I've heard about myself as a small child.  He knows more words than I can count, and pronounces most things understandably if not correct, but he does often mix up the words of his sentences.  When I was a child I apparently did this as well saying things like "foot game ball" instead of football game.  Asher also says some words a little incorrectly, but in the cute-3-year-old-way that always makes me smile.  For example he says "oosally" instead of usually, "restroy" instead of destroy and only says "ever" for all words including that word such as never, whatever, etc.

Our little guy is becoming more and more independent by the day.  He gets undressed by himself and needs only a little bit of help to get dressed.  He washes his hands and get things from the fridge on his own.  He can now reach the upper cabinets with his stool so he will get himself a cup of water from the sink.  Sometimes his independence is slightly unnerving as we realize that we can't really keep things up high and out of his reach any more, but it is still fun to see him becoming so grown up.

Bedtime continues to be a struggle as he becomes more aware of different things he can use to stall bedtime and avoid sleep.  He HAS to use the potty several times before bed, is always very thirsty or still hungry, HAS to use the potty again, needs books in the living room, needs multiple kisses and hugs from Mommy and Daddy, doesn't have the right blankets, needs socks on, decided he DOES want a jammie shirt on after all instead of the sweatshirt he insisted on earlier, etc.  He is becoming a pro, and Eric and I are learning daily how to combat his strategies.  It is a constant battle.  Sometimes we win, but even then "winning" usually still involves a good +/-30 minutes of screaming/crying (usually by him, but sometimes by us).  Additionally, he seems to have recently decided that napping is not necessary.  He plays for hours in his room during "quite time" and although he is pretty good about being in there for a couple of hours, I think he knows that there really isn't anything we can do to force him to sleep (other than good old bribes).  I would be OK with this fact if he wasn't a complete bear when he doesn't get a nap, but since that is not yet the case we still work hard to try and get him to sleep.

Before bedtime, our routine is still basically the same.  Potty, jammies, teeth-brushing, flossing, stories, prayers, occasionally a youtube video, and a 2-minute (timed) snuggle with Mommy or Daddy.  His favorite books are still the "The Jesus Book", his Micky books and "Bear Wants More", but he has several others that he enjoys as well.

Socially, Asher seems to be coming out of his shell a little bit more which makes me happy.  Just the other day he randomly said "hi" to the cashier at Target and he also has been starting to play a little better with his friends.  However, he still tends to be a loner.  He loves one-on-one attention from us and even his friends but seems to shy away in groups.  Hopefully this will get better before he goes to school...and this is the biggest reason why I'd like to get him into a preschool, but at this point I'm not sure that is going to happen.

Finally, I will close by saying that although he can be a bit of a loner, he is also concerned about others and is very loving.  He likes to make us smile and genuinely wants us to be happy.  He isn't real cuddly, but that just makes the hugs and kisses that he offers that much more valuable.  He is a great big brother and although his own desires get the best of him at times, he also looks out for his little bro and will go out of his way to make him smile or feel better if Avery is sad or hurt....All this to say that I can't believe 3 1/2 years have already passed and I look forward to see what the next 6 months (or at this point 1 1/2 months) have to offer!