Apparently my kid could bench press yours

So much has been going on with Mr. Asher that I haven't had the chance to tell you about yet, so I thought I'd update you with this post.

Asher self-weaned from breastfeeding a couple of weeks ago. Talk about the weirdest mix of emotions: relief at the new found freedom, and complete anguish over the fact that this special time of connection is over. I'm sad because I really loved the breastfeeding experience, and it also feels like Asher is less of a baby now that he doesn't nurse. There are moments where I really miss the convenience of nursing, many of them (like when I was trying to get Asher to sleep at a friends house, nursing always knocked him out), but I'm also trying to embrace this phase of Asher's life. He is more independent and beginning to understand who he is separate from us, and that's cool to see develop, too.

With the end of nursing, I finally made the commitment to only give Asher organic cows milk to drink. Greg and I drink soy, but I know that Asher needs the fat from cows milk, so soy is not an option just yet. I was on the fence about what to give him, but the organic just makes sense to me, even though it is double the price of regular milk (is that not crazy??). If he's not getting breast milk, I'm atleast glad that what he is drinking doesn't have hormones or pesticides or antibiotic residue. Asher is also doing really well drinking his cows milk from a sippy cup; something he hadn't been so keen on when we first tried it.

We decided to start investigating a bit further into my concerns for Asher's gross motor development (this non-crawling/walking business). My gut has been telling me there's something there worth looking into for several months, but I actually found I had to really push to get some referrals through. Last week we started seeing both a private Pediatric Chiropractor and a Pediatric Physiotherapist. From the Chiropractic stand point, there were some issues that Asher is receiving treatment for. Some of this had to do with Asher's birth (the vacuum extractor mostly caused some alignment issues), but Asher also needed many adjustments in his lower back and hips. The Physiotherapist noted that Asher was not using his pelvis fully, which has caused the back of his leg muscles to not fully develop, and those 2 things combined are really limiting his movement options. Somehow along the way, Asher figured out that he could get what he wanted without needing to do a wide range of movements or without needing to fully use his pelvis, and since then he's been just building off of the same few types of movements he has (which, in the long run, is hindering what he can do). I'm sure the vertebral subluxations were a part of this issue developing. This, in turn though, has given him crazy upper body strength. The Physiotherapist was quite surprised with how strong his arms are. I guess that's what happens when you pull your body along all day. So we are doing tons of homework to help Asher learn how to move and use his pelvis and develop the back of his leg muscles. He isn't crazy about it but we are so impressed with the improvement he has made in just one-week. I feel like the combination of the 2 therapies really make sense and are lining up to help us help Asher in this area.

In other developmental news, Asher is really getting the hang of using a fork. It's certainly easier for him to use his fingers still, but getting food on the fork (the hard part) and into his mouth (the easy part) is really coming along.

Asher is coming out with so many words, it's amazing! So far he has mastered: Papa, Mama, ball ("baw"), hi, and "uh oh" (when he drops something). He occasionally can say up ("uppie"), book ("boah"), baby ("ba-be"), boo and wow ("woaw"). Just in the past 3 days has come out with dog ("daw"), banana ("nana"), and all done ("aw da"). It was crazy the first time he said dog. We were upstairs near the window and he heard the neighbors dog barking outside and started saying "daw" and looking out the window. I thought it was just a fluke, but then the next day we went to my moms and as soon as he saw their dog, Dexter, he said it again; "daw". Then he spent the whole time chasing Dexter around saying "daw". Then today when he saw a picture of a dog he said "daw". I find it funny because we don't even see dogs that often, so I don't make a point of really emphasizing that word with him, like I have others. He is understanding so much more, too. I can say "Asher go get your truck", or "Have a drink of milk", or "Use your fork", or "Where's your sock?" and he will respond appropriately!

Asher's teething again. He currently has 3 bottom teeth and 1 top one, but his second top tooth is so close to coming through, as well as his fourth bottom one. I love his little off-balance smile though! It's so unique.

He is also making the transition from 2 naps a day, to 1. I'd say about 2 days a week he naps once, with the rest of the time still napping the regular twice a day. I'm excited about this change because it feels like we will be able to be out and do more without him needing to sleep.

Asher's favorite things to do these days: turn the pages of a book and look at the pictures, press buttons on any phone or remote, point and say "ohhh", push his toy trucks and cars around, roll his ball, play in water, take an object out of a container and put it back in, and watch other children.

Finally, I thought I'd leave you with Asher's one-year pictures that our dear semi-professional photographer friends took. We just got the edited versions back a few weeks ago, and I realized I haven't shared them yet (the last one is my favorite). I really feel these capture Asher at 1. Love that boy!