...'cuz HE's a BIG BOY...just ask him.

He's growing up so quickly, and I am, this last week, overwhelmed at what a precious and wonderful boy God has given Kyle and I to enjoy and appreciate and to raise.

Of course, I've always been grateful for him...since the day I found out I was pregnant with him, but just this last few days...wow...I just can't control the emotional affection for my boy. He's so smart, and so funny, and so CUTE! Where he got that silly side, I have no idea, as Kyle and I aren't exactly silly people...or are we, and have just kept it hidden...even from ourselves...until we find ourselves sharing in the joy of Asher's latest antics?

I've been overwhelmed with the feeling that I should never take who he is for granted...That to look into his face is to look into a complex soul that must never be treated flippantly or unappreciated.

I am so grateful for his teachable spirit and his intelligence and his attitude toward discipline. He's not a kid who takes correction personally...Don't get me wrong...in the moment he is always unhappy about being corrected...but he talks so casually about it later...just jovially telling people the details of how he has gotten into trouble, and how Mommy or Daddy dealt with it...& he humorously animates the whole story with dancing around and theatrics...but when it comes down to it, he definitely doesn't repeat the offending behavior...but he doesn't  hold  the whole  experience against anybody either.

Angie and I had to laugh tonight earlier as he played "park policeman..." telling other kids not to do things that I had told HIM not to do. At the top of his lungs..."Nathan, don't go over there..." & to randoms kids: "don't go near the broken slide..." louder..."DON'T GO ON THE BROKEN SLIDE..." and repeated this vigorously until the kids got away from it. It was soooooooo funny.

What started this whole stint of reflection was a time last week when he didn't get his nap, and so was really emotional and quick to get frustrated the later it got.  Kyle and I were wrapped up in doing our own things and not paying close enough attention...Asher was bouncing around the house playing, and was trying to do something ridiculous...but it made sense in his own mind, I guess..."I want to make a slide..." he kept saying over and over. But he was just using a big ol blanket, and draping it on different things...i don't know what exactly he was picturing, but it wasn't working out for him, and he couldn't get us to see what he needed us to, so he got really distressed and started crying.  Well, now he had our attention, but not the kind he wanted, as Daddy called him over, and was talking to him about what was troubling him, and he grew more and more stressed out and upset as he was on the spot to explain himself. He's not one to cry a lot...He will cry to get attention when we play with his cousins and Nathan grabs toys away from him (baited by Asher in the first place) or Joshie tackles him (just playing...but Asher has to get dramatic)...I pretty much tell him to stop, as it's obviously a conjered up emotion in these times...but this instance the other night was just soooo sad...I couldn't shake the image of his little face in distress. The crying over really nothing isn't something we tolerate with him, but still, it broke my heart, as I saw in his face the sadness...not the manipulative kind of crying...the real distress (even though over something really quite irrelevant overall).  I just thought to myself, how would I ever, ever handle it if something really serious ever did happen to him...and inevitably, being a little boy, I'm sure something worse than not being able to make a slide out of a blanket and a coffee table or a chair WILL happen in his life...I just don't want to think about it!

Anyway, lately, he's just right and left amazing me with the things he's been observing and saying. Stuff I wouldn't expect him to take notice of...as I sure hadn't...You know...like that "reddish, grayish, Volkswagen Bug over there..." or that "that car looks like a red Mater [from Cars]..." or "blah, blah, blah...Did you notice that Mommy??" We're in the car driving, I'm not paying attention..."I said...DID YOU NOTICE THAT MOMMY...DID YOU SEE THAT??" Sorry...I didn't..."Oh...what was it, Asher?" "Oh, just a yellow car or whatever...somethin'." You may have to be there, but his "whatever...somethin'" comments are hilarious. Oh yeah...this was funny...a couple of nights ago he accidentally pulled a page out of a book of his (they are designed to come out, but we were trying to keep it intact) and he said he was going to "just stick it in here for now...and I can look at it...from time to time."

I'm just loving him. He's so cute, sweet, innocent, and unspoiled (and yet spoiled at the same time). He's always going..."I wish I had one of those..." But it's in such a cute and unassuming way, you can't help but want to run out and get him whatever he was "wishing" for...and I can't think of an example right now, but sometimes the things he "wishes" for are really funny and farfetched.

Oh yes...and I'm starting to think I just need to roll down his window and let him order his own drive thru stuff, since he's back there clearly bellowing to the person in the window specifically what he wants and how he wants it...and if I don't say it perfectly, he wants me to say it over until I get it right. Oh man...it's so hilarious and freakin' annoying at the same time!!!

What a character...I just marvel at him. I want to be a good, guiding and training mother for him. To take that character and that intelligence, and guide it and allow it to grow properly. I know I'm lacking in many areas...but I feel good in general...If I had to pinpoint my weaknesses as a parent, I could easily come up with a very good, specific list, but that's not what this blog is for. I'll leave off with this:



or even better: THIS:



..This last pic is a prime example of some of what I'm talking about. I had him lean up on this cement wall, and to pose him, I said, "Asher, be cute, I wanna take your picture," and he said, just like this, "I'm thinkin'...................This..." and made this completely cheesy pose. I just about died I was so amused.

Asher has this new habit of saying "I Can't" a lot.

I've been telling him "not to say that," so decided I needed an alternative thing for him to say when he felt that he couldn't do something. He will say it for all kinds of things...whether he can or cannot do them, or has or has not done them already in the past.

First, I told him to just ask for help instead of saying "I Can't," but decided that even that wasn't good enough because he would just dwell on saying "Help, Please," or "Need Help," just as an inadequate substitute for saying he "Can't."

I came up with something I'm really happy with now: I told him to say "Can you show me please," or "Can you show me how," or some variation of "Can you show me..." He immediately started doing it, and I just loved the result. He wasn't giving up, he was asking to learn how to handle what he didn't think he could handle. It was really great...I was so happy with the result.

So today, I was just sitting in the yard watching him play, and "showing him how" to do the things he "couldn't" do, and I had time where I just tried to focus on God a little. God showed me in that little time that I spent with him that I was just like my 2 year old...always saying "I Can't," when what I needed to be doing was to be asking God to "please show me how."

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...that's good stuff.