The Armstrong 5

Grandpa Boatright intruduced Asher to this little number. Apparently
it's funny when mom does it too!

Asher did an amazing thing last week... yep... gave up his binky! It was really odd actually. One morning after his bath he was being very cranky. I went and found his binky and tried to hand it to him. He simply kept saying "done, done" and refused to even hold  it. He took it with him to naptime but wouldn't put it in his mouth. Well, actually, that day he never really napped... he just played in his room for half hour-45 minute increments, came out of his room, got in trouble, then back to goofing off again. That night, he still  wouldn't take his binky. Even while crying at night he just kept saying "done" whenever I tried to give it to him. We figured we'd take the opportunity to hide all the binkies!

A friend suggested he might have had an ear infection and that it hurt to suck. I don't know what exactly happened, but he's on the upside of his cough now and goes to sleep without the binky! He asked for it once today so I just told him "You said you were done so all the binkies went bye-bye." and he seemed content with that answer :) So yay!!! I'm so glad it wasn't a super drawn out battle or source of contention. Cole doesn't seem to be near as attached to his so I'm hoping we can raise 2 kids without power struggles over binkies at least!

On another note, I had my last Dr's appt for a while to just check a couple things out with my recovery. I've had a really sharp pain on the right side of my incision on the inside. It feels like a strained muscle does and it gets worse when I do a lot of lifting or working out. My Dr felt the incision and said it was the material they use to close up everything. I guess it's a really strong suture on the right that is in more of a knot that the rest and it takes about 3 months for it to dissolve. Where the knot is can dissolve more slowly and that's probably what's causing the pain. He said I should be painless within a month or so and to just take it easy until it doesn't hurt anymore. I wasn't really worried, just annoyed that I can't work harder to get into shape again. But that's what this summer will be for... hopefully lots of jogging to the park with the kids and swimming in grandma's pool!!

Lastly, Cole is starting to chuckle a bit! Kristi was watching the kids while I was at the Dr's today, and she said her and her daughter really got Cole laughing! I was sad to miss it but am really excited to hear it soon. He's so cheerful (as long as he's not tired or hungry) and so content most of the time. We get lots of smiles and he's becoming slightly more predictable... my kids are polar opposites! But so far, Asher and Cole seem to really love each other... as much as babies can. Cole just watches Asher run around and Asher loves to help me get Cole up after naps. Asher will go running to Cole whenever he cries and will even put his binky in when he's tired. It's so cute to see Asher take toys to Cole and just say his name, even if it is way too close to his face :) I'm glad to have these boys and really look forward to the fun times ahead.

Our first Thanksgiving with little mister Cole... it was pretty good! We're always the last ones to leave mom and dad's no matter what occasion, and true to form, we stayed from about noon until 7pm :) Hopefully they don't mind our constant intrusion! 

I cannot believe how big Asher is getting. He's learning new words every day - although many of them sound like "bee" or "bah," many other words are getting more accurate :) Like car, Cole, baby, eat, food... how come I can never think of all of them while I am writing!! Anyway, he's becoming such his own person. From the way he likes to eat his food without being watched, to the way he likes to take off his socks and pick between his toes (one by one, one after the other - it's pretty hilarious)! 

It's been a while since I took my camera out. Life with 2 kids is busy enough, much less life with 2 small kids (including a 2 month old) and moving into another home and only having 1 car! Luckily, we had TONS of help and it has not been as bad as we thought. We absolutely love the new place... it feels just like home... and what's even better, Asher seems to love it too and has had no trouble adjusting to sleeping here! What a blessing.