Asher Is 4!

On June 30 Asher turned 4.  It is crazy to think that four years have already passed since he was born.  It just doesn't seem possible.  Time passes too quickly and I already have to choke back the emotions as I think that next summer we will be preparing him for kindergarten!

At four years of age, Asher is 4 going on 40.  There are moments that he is your typical little boy screaming at his little brother and pitching fits when he doesn't get his way, but then there are also moments that he is mature beyond is years and surprises me with his thoughtfulness and wisdom. While he enjoys watching cartoons and movies once in a while, he much prefers fixing things (like placing his bike upside down and pretending to work on it), building things (using hammer and nails that we allow him to play with, stacking pieces of wood, or building a contraption with rope and other objects he finds around), drawing and helping Eric and I with our projects whether it be cleaning, mowing the lawn, or building the fence.  I love the creativity in him and relish watching in play as his imagination grows more and more daily.


Physically, Asher is growing like a weed.  He is now 42" tall and 42 pounds!  I feel like every time I get him dressed lately I have to put something aside that no longer fits him.  These days, Asher is also a talking MACHINE.  Somedays it seems he never stops.  When I pick him up from daycare, he talks the entire way home telling me all about his day, and when our whole family is in the car together, Eric and I cannot have a conversation without Asher interrupting and telling us some other story (we're working on this).

Asher is also a very caring, compassionate little guy.  If he notices a bruise on me or sees me get hurt, he will immediately give me a hug and kiss and want to know what happened.  One day when the boys and I were outside together, I was by Asher when Avery (who was playing on the other side of the yard) started to scream and cry (obviously hurt).  I started to get up to go help and comfort him, and Asher put his hand out in front of me and said "No Mama, I have to go help my baby!".Being four, Asher is really leaving his baby years behind.  He can now dress himself and often picks his own clothes (although socks can be tricky).  He is a complete lefty, but holds a pencil correctly (and better than I do!).  He is working on his scissor skills, but gets by enough to get the job done.  His coordination with sports is limited, but given the abilities of Eric and I that probably has less to do with age and more genetics and lack of interest.  He loves to cut up his own food and help us make food whenever possible, and sadly he now has little desire to sleep with a lovie (there is still usually one in his bed, but he seems mostly indifferent about it).  Asher also talks very well lately and continues to pick up on just about everything he hears.  He is slowly leaving the baby-sounding words behind, but still makes us chuckle with a few of his pronouncements: 'yudder', instead of 'other', 'oosally' instead of 'usually', 'mote retrol', instead of 'remote control' to name a few.

In the past few months, our bedtime struggle has gotten a little easier.  We still have nights that we just about loose our minds, but overall it has been better.  Although he has a hard time settling down at night and getting ready to rest, he is usually content to just look at books in his bed.  I wish we could get him to sleep without a light on, because I think it would help him to fall asleep faster, but as he grows older fear becomes more of a reality and fear of the dark is one of those.  Often, he will not even step onto the floor if it is nighttime and we are not within 10 feet of his room.  Overall bedtime has gotten easier though and Asher still takes afternoon naps and is usually good at laying down and trying to take a short rest.

Socially, Asher continues to be a bit of a loner.  He is kind and friendly, but also a bit shy and standoffish (which reminds me of my own childhood).  We are told that he plays great with the other children at his small daycare, but when he is put into larger groups (like church) he has a harder time inserting himself.  We are working on it though and hope that our decision to skip preschool will not be something we regret.

All in all, Asher is the Blessing he was named for.  I cannot imagine life without his silliness, antics, creativity, helpfulness, and daily "I Love You Mommy"s and I am beyond gratefully everyday that I get to be his Mommy!!
In closing, here are a few words from the 4 year old himself...

1. What's your name? "Asher Robert Migrin" 
2. How old are you? "Free" soon he'll be "four!"
3. When's your birthday? "Three & Five & June"
4. How old is Mommy? "5"
5. How old is Daddy? "6" (at the time that I asked these, if you put a 3 in front of Asher's answers for our ages, he'd have been right).
6. What's your favorite color? "I don't know...all the colors...yellow and purple and green and all the favorite colors" (it used to be green, but lately he isn't as attached to that color and has been asking for the red cup).
7. What's your favorite food? Pepperoni Pizza (he also loves cheeseburgers)
8. Who's your best friend? Gabriel & Hannah (from daycare)
9. What's your favorite song? Jake & the Neverland Pirates
10. What's your favorite movie? Inside out
11. What's your favorite animal? Lion
12. What are you afraid of? Lions & boats (?)
13. What makes you happy? Water splashing & bubbling 
14. Where's your favorite place to go? Disney World
15. What do you want to be when you grow up?  A mommy (giggling)
16. What's mommy's favorite thing to do? Play outside (he likes playing with me)
17. What's your favorite treat? Suckers

So that is what my Asher is all about at 4.  Now here is his 4th birthday...


Since Asher's 4th birthday was on a Thursday, Eric and I had to work.  We enjoyed a little time with him before though and he was very excited about the decorations, donut, balloon and stickers that we surprised him with.

Video: The Birthday Boy Wakes Up

Inspecting his donut.

Watching Asher eat this donut was one of the most repulsive things I've ever witnessed.  I don't know what the frosting was on top but it was a reddish-brown color and looked way to similar to many of the diapers I've changed.  Seeing him eat it and get it all over his face almost did me in.  I still can barely look at the pictures...

Once we were ready to go that morning, off to daycare and work we all went.  I was sad to not spend the day with my little man, but asked Christina to send me a couple of pictures.  She sent these after nap time when she surprised Asher and the rest of the kids with a birthday treat: ice cream!

After work, I promptly picked up Asher and Avery and asked Asher what he wanted for his birthday dinner (even though I had no doubt in my mind what he would say): pepperoni pizza!  Eric picked up Dominoes pizza on his way home and then we all headed over to the "car park" (which was also Asher's choice of park) for a picnic dinner and some playtime.

Picnic Pizza Dinner

All my boys (they DRIVE me CRAZY)! :P

Racing down the slide.

Eric and Asher went to race down the slide.

Eric is a cheater!

4 years old and climb all the way up to the top!

When our dinner and fun at the park was over, we headed back home to open presents!  Asher was really excited and Avery was not so happy that he didn't have any presents to open.  I could tell he is getting older though when he finished up opening the gifts and hopefully asked, "Are there any more??"

The night before Asher's birthday, he told Eric that he was really excited to get cake and a card for his birthday!  A card??  We rarely do cards and hadn't even thought to get him one.  Since it was specifically mentioned though, Eric went and picked one up for him.  We both thought it would probably go unnoticed when the time came, but our responsible little four year old surprised us.  When it came time to open presents, he first grabbed the card all on his own, opened it up and asked us to read it to him (showing genuine interest and excitement in it) before touching any of his other presents!

Eric reading Asher his card.  As you can see, Avery had other things in mind

Present time!

His very own Big Boy tape measure!

A magnetic silly-face maker.  (I thought this would be fun for our frequent car travels).

A second-hand Lego space shuttle!  It was used, but Asher could care less...hopefully that continues into his teenage years!

Asher had one more gift which was "wrapped" in the workroom in the basement...

A Big Boy Bike!!! (Ninja Turtles)

The was SUPER excited!!

This picture makes me laugh.  If you look toward the bottom, you can see that Avery is lifting his right leg to try to get up on the bike while Asher is shifting the left of his body to keep his little brother from stealing his new bike!  :P

2 Videos: Asher's New Bike

As soon as Asher opened his bike, he wanted to take it outside to ride.  With his tricycle, the pedals were connected directly to the wheel so pushing forward made the bike go forward and pushing back made the bike go back.  The new bike only goes forward and pushing back hits the brakes.  Asher had a VERY hard time with this concept.  He would pedal a few times forward and then push back without thinking and stop.  This picture of me isn't great (I look like a monster trying to attack the bike), but I am trying to move his feet and teach him to keep pushing forward...plus it is proof that I was there on his birthday!

Asher road all the way down the sidewalk to the end of the street.  He did pretty well, but being that he was pretty tired after a big fun-filled day, he was also getting pretty frustrated with all the stopping.  Thus, we turned around and headed back home for some cake.  I thought that Asher would have no trouble blowing his candles out, but unlike his brother (who is full of hot air), Asher still barely fills up his lungs and mouth with air when he blows (you can barely tell what he is doing).  It took some work, but eventually he got them all out.

In awe of his birthday cake.

How has he grown so much already?

Blowing his candles out.

He got a few of them.

Yay!

Video: Happy Birthday To You!

Cake Time!

When all the presents were opened and we had filled up on cake and ice cream, it was time to head to bed.  I got the honor of putting the birthday boy to bed.  We read stories and then I got to snuggle with my little blessing (be still my heart).  It was a perfect end to a great day...much like it had been 4 years ago!

I took this picture while we are snuggling.  I love the little smile on Asher's face as he holds onto his Momma.  :)

Snuggling with my little man 4 years prior!!