Asher is 6!

I am super behind in my blogging these days and Asher is now SIX (and has been for more than 3 months!).  He is growing up before our very eyes and is now in full-on "kid-mode".  He walks, talks and acts much older these days (usually).  He is getting braver in social situations but also seemingly more aware of what is going on around him (which has its pros and cons).  He is a great helper when he wants to be (which is more often than not) and still loves to help me clean (unlike his little bro).  He is now in first grade and while that is going better than last year, it is still a struggle as I believe our little man suffers from worries and anxieties that make him not want to go to school.  Asher is kind, thoughtful and creative.  He also loves his family and especially loves his little brother.  He is often found helping him out with things but at the same time will throw him under the bus and tell on him in a heartbeat.

Along with those worries and anxieties come an emotional rollercoaster which we are constantly navigating and trying to find the best ways to deal with and adjust both for him and our family.  While he can fly off the handle at a given moment, he can also be incredibly thoughtful and mature for his age.  He is still a great big brother to Avery and although they seem to be fighting more and more as they each get older and search for their own identities and independence he is always looking out for him, helping him, correcting him (even when we ask him not to) and caring for him when in need.

Socially, Asher has made HUGE improvements this year, which I assume is due to school.  He is much more outgoing with other kids now and at times will even insert himself into a group of kids that he doesn't know and introduce himself.  He made a lot of friends last year in school and now I feel as his mom I really need to do a better job of encouraging those friendships and finding ways to have playdates for him.

Although Asher has never been a snuggler and doesn't require a lot of physical contact he does need our personal time and attention, which I will admit is difficult at times.  He does not like to be alone and would be thrilled if someone was with him everywhere he went.  He especially loves when I play with him or when Eric includes him on a project that he is working on.

That said, Asher continues to be our little builder.  He loves to build with Legos and Magnet Tiles, but his great love is really just creating things out of whatever wood scraps, rope, tape, string, glue, nails, etc. that he can find around the house/yard.  I often ask him what he wants to be when he grows up and like many little boys his age he often responds with "a police officer" or "a fireman".  The other day though, I asked him this question and he told me that he thought he would be a designer or a construction worker and I had to give it to him, I would not be surprised at all by either option.

Physically, Asher continues to grow and I'm sure will someday eat us out of house and home (the kid is an eating machine...eating CONSTANTLY but with a metabolism to gain no fat...lucky guy!).  When he turned five he weighed about 46 pounds and was almost 44 inches tall.  Since then he has gained another 5 pounds placing him at 51 pounds and he has grown more than five inches, making him just shy of 4 feet tall (47.25")!  This places him at about the 90th percentile for his height and the 75th percentile for his weight!

Mentally, Asher is maturing as well.  By reaching kid mode Asher has also grown out of many of the words that he used to pronounce incorrectly (which makes me a little sad).  He no longer says 'yudder' instead of 'other' or 'oosally' instead of 'usually', but he does still mispronouncing some words that starts with 're' such as saying 'mote retrol' instead of remote control.  There are also a few words that seem to pop up in his conversation frequently such as "This is amazing" and he seems to find a way to use the word Epic it at least 20 times a day if not more.  He is also learning to read in school, but this is a constant struggle.  Unfortunately Asher has received my desire for perfection and fear of failure.  Although I know he can do it, he constantly fights us on reading because he fears he might get it wrong and therefore doesn't want to even try.  On the other hand, he also seems to have my love for math and is much more willing and interested in that area of study.

Bed time is still a struggle for Asher.  With school he does at least fall asleep fairly quickly but he is never a willing party to go to bed and continues to find 101 excuses to delay sleep and get out of his room.  Soon, he and Avery will be sharing a room (the bunk bed arrived last weekend!) and while the boys are both very excited for this I fear what it will do to both of their sleep routines.  I'm praying that it won't make it worse and that maybe having a roommate will help Asher to settle down and clear his mind more quickly...but only time will tell.

Asher also hasn't taken naps for well over a year now but he does kindly allow me to take one.  He will play in his room quietly or watch a show while I get some added rest.  Sometimes Avery will also stay up with him and they will play quietly together.  I consider it one of my luckiest moments of motherhood.

Like most kids nowadays, Asher also loves to watch TV.  We do limit it as much as we can, but when given the chance his favorite shows include Rescue Bots, Ninjago and Pokemon (which I cannot stand).  Also, while Asher isn't a fan of reading himself, he loves to listen to me read chapter books.  His current favorites are the Magic Treehouse books (which he would sit through from beginning to end i think if I allowed it) and the Boxcar Children books.

I mentioned above that Asher could eat us out of house and home.  He therefore he has many favorites, but his preferences have changed in the past year or so.  For example he no longer likes milk and will only drink it with cookies or cereal (and usually not even in his cereal!).  He still enjoys other dairy products such as yogurt, cheese and ice cream though.  He also now thinks that PBJ sandwiches are gross and he has decided he no longer likes sauce on his spaghetti.  Nowadays, his number one favorite food seems to be apples (which he would eat 3-4 a day if allowed), but he also loves most other kinds of fruits (but not a big fan of bananas).  He also enjoys eating crackers and cheese, salami, frozen gogurt, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers and celery.  For breakfast he loves the options of cereal and for dinner his favorites include tacos, cheeseburgers and pizza.  For dessert he loves to choose a small piece of candy (usually a sucker or a piece of gum if I let him), but like his mommy and his daddy he also loves ice cream and cookies.

So, that is Asher in a nutshell.  He will always will be our little Blessing as his name states and I pray that he always knows this and how much we love him.

To close, I gave him his Six Year Interview recently and here are his answers...

1. What's Your Name? "Asher Robert Migrin" (Age 5: "Asher Robert Migrin")
2. How old are you? "6" (Age 5: "5")
3. When's your birthday? "I don't know" (Age 5: "Tomorrow? (giggling)")
4. How old is Mommy? "I don't know" (Age 5: "I don't know")
5. How old is Daddy? "I don't know" (Age 5: "1")
6. What's your favorite color? "Red" (Age 5: "Red")
7. What's your favorite food? "Candy"-First Answer, "Apples"-Second Answer (Age 5: "Hot Dogs, Pizza & Cheeseburgers")
8. Who's your best friend? "Knox" (Age 5: "Elias")
9. What's your favorite song? "Speed Metal" (Age 5: "Batman & Everything is Awesome"")
10. What's your favorite movie? "Batman" (Age 5: "Lego Movie")
11. What's your favorite animal? "Dinosaurs" (Age 5: TRex or Monkey")
12. What are you afraid of? "Witches" (Age 5: "Monsters & Witches")
13. What makes you happy? "When people help me" (Age 5: "Playing with you (mommy) & Daddy")
14. What's your favorite place to go?/Where do you wish you could go on vacation? "Campground/Camping" (Age 5: "Florida")
15. What do you want to be when you grown up? "Police Man" (Age 5: "Fireman")
16. What's mommy's favorite thing to do? "Eat Spaghetti"-(Giggling) (Age 5: "Play with us")
17. What's your favorite treat? "Ice Cream Cones" (Age 5: "Zots & Skittles")
18. Who is your favorite person in the whole world? "Mommy" (Age 5: "Mommy & Daddy")
19. What is your favorite television show? "Rescue Bots" (Age 5: "Rescue Bots")
20. What is your favorite outfit? "Transformer Shirt" (Age 5: "Batman Costume")
21. What sport do you like best? "Soccer" (Age 5: "Soccer")
22. What is your favorite cereal? "The ones with the marshmallows (Lucky Charms)" (Age 5: "Frosted Mini Wheats")
23. What is your favorite book? "Look Inside Your Body"-(Random selected from the bookshelf) (Age 5: "Batman")
24. What are you really good at? "Playing Football with Dada"-(?) (Age 5: "Playing Baseball" (?))
25. What is your best memory? "Playing tag with friends" (Age 5: "Sledding with Mommy & Daddy")
26. What would you buy if you had $1000? "Motorcycle" (Age 5: "A Robot Mommy & Daddy...a 'retend' one" :P)
27. What vegetable do you hate the most? "Peppers" (Age 5: "Peppers")
28. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? "Batman" (Age 5: "Superman")
29. Who is your biggest hero? "Dada" (Age 5: "Batman")
30. What do you like to do best with your friends? "Eat Ice Cream" (Age 5: "Read Magazines")
31. What do you hope you'll get to do before your next birthday? "Fishing" (Age 5: (roughly summarized: some sort of contraption including a power line, string, bungee cord and trampoline - frightening to say the least))