Bronx Zoo

We went to the Bronx zoo a little while ago with some friends from our building, and I just haven't gotten around to posting the pictures, so I thought I would do so now. We didn't have as much time as we wanted, but it was still a good time. Asher especially loved it, and it made me happy to see him enjoying the animals and knowing what they were. His favorites were the monkeys and the lions. The lions just had a cub, so the mom, dad and cub were all sitting together really close... it was cool!

The entrance

Asher and Inaya at the tiger swim hole

After lunch waiting...

Peekaboo!!

CHEESE!!

In front of the grizzly bears.  Don't mind my hair... Asher likes to play with it and pull it out of the ponytail.  It does not feel good.

I guess I didn't get any pictures of the lions... darn.

Apologize

This last semester, for one of Nate's classes, they were split up into ensembles and given various assignments to complete throughout the term. One of the assignments was to make their own arrangement of a cover song. Nate's group did Apologize from One Republic. Last week they had a concert with all of the groups and they performed Apologize. I was really bummed that my camera was almost full, so I wasn't able to get the whole song, but you will get the idea. They did such a great job, I think I like their version better! ;)

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Stars down the street

Yesterday morning I went to the grocery store, and on the corner of my street I noticed that they were filming something in this cute little cafe, called Cafe Fresh. It's always exciting to see that. Later on in the day, I was on my way home from physical therapy, coming from the other direction, and had to pass by the cafe, but they were stopping us for a few minutes as they were in the middle of a take. I took the opportunity to ask what they were filming and take a peek in the window. The guy said it is a new HBO pilate called Wonderful Maladies starring Sarah Michelle Geller. Cool. As I passed by, I looked again and saw her through the window. When I crossed the street there were tons of paparazzi with telescoping lenses trying to get pictures of her. I will have to watch the pilate so I can see our cute neighborhood cafe on tv and say: I totally saw them filming that! :)

Undies...

I finally bit the bullet and potty trained Asher. Thank you Summer for your 3 Day Potty Training recommendation. I got the e-book a few weeks ago, and have been reading it and re-reading it, and pumping myself up. I had to wait until I had stocked up on undies and had a 3 day block where we didn't have to go anywhere, and last Wednesday was my day of choice. Luckily, the weather was pretty rotten last week, so we didn't miss out on much. 

Asher did amazingly well. I was prepared for 3 days of pee and poo everywhere, but he was essentially potty trained after about 3 or 4 accidents. He decided he didn't like having wet undies, so he would tell me when he needed to go. Sometimes it was when he had already gone a little or when it was all about to let loose. But he just got better and better over the 3 days, and now he is a champion. It took a couple days more to conquer the whole #2 business... you know, with less chances to practice and all. But I think he is finally feeling comfortable telling me, and is getting his business done in the toilet.

I was a little nervous to venture out into the city with a newly potty trained kid, but he is so good at telling me. Even when he is in the stroller he tells me, and luckily, the neighborhood coffee shop owner is a very nice man to let non-customers use his potty. Even at the park and at church he told me (and the nursery leaders), and used the big toilet, which he hadn't even done at home yet. I think the big toilet is his favorite now. He has been experimenting getting on and off the toilet by himself, and trying to find the best way to sit on it... backwards vs forwards, stuff like that. He seems to be pretty proud of himself.

He hasn't had a single accident while we've been out and about, not even at the zoo. He has had a couple at home, but only when he can't make it to the potty in time. He has even been doing pretty well at night. The first few nights he woke up dry, but I think I have been a little over confident in the amount of milk I could give him at night, and he has woken up at 6:30 am or so, as he is peeing. But I am confident he will be back on track soon. I will say though, that after 3 days of being right there next to Asher ALL THE TIME, I was so tired and "done", and to be honest, really sick of Asher.  Summer said in her post that she cried on day one and two, but it was day three that I wanted to cry, because I just couldn't take it anymore.  It wasn't easy, but it was DEFINITELY worth it, and I am so proud of Asher for all of his hard work!

Haircut

I attempted my first haircut on Asher the other day. It turned out ok, nothing amazing, but better than it was before. I think he looks handsome...

Before

After

Goggles...

About Asher

Yesterday, we had some friends over for a little play date, and one of the moms started singing "going on a bear hunt". It all started out well with the kids happy and singing along, but then when it got to the dark dark cave, and the cold, wet nose, Asher's face turned very concerned and scared looking. He is now very scared of the "dark, black bear", and is a little scared to go to bed now. As sad as it makes me for him, there is a perk to him being scared. He doesn't move or make a sound after I put him in his bed. I ended up getting a crib tent awhile ago, so that he wouldn't climb into Sayer's crib at night. Sayer has been sleeping in our room for various reasons, so Asher likes to sleep in the crib. It has been nice for this bear thing, because I can tell him that he is zipped up safe and sound in his tent, and that no one will get him in there, and it works very well. He is such a sweet little boy. 

I can't believe how quickly he is growing up. He talks so well now and has a great vocabulary. I love hearing him talk about things and asking questions and working things out in his mind. He is so curious and loves to read and learn. I love being able to talk to him about things and see how much he actually understands.  We are really good friends with our neighbors directly beneath us, and Asher LOVES their mom.  He asks me to call her and will seriously carry on a conversation for 5-10 minutes with her.  Debbie is so great to humor him and ask him questions.  He calls her "Devi".  It's pretty cute.

Isn't that picture of him the sweetest?!

Drunken sailor

Sayer has been walking for a little while now... he started taking little steps here and there around his birthday, and has gradually gotten better over the last month. He is pretty good now, although he does still look a little like a drunken sailor. But I can't get over how cute he looks. Here is a little video of him walking, and at the end is a little clip of what he does when we put on music or tell him to dance. 

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Central Park Serenade

I got this really cute book for the boys from borders a few weeks ago, called Central Park Serenade. It has the coolest cartooned map of Central Park at the beginning and end of the book, and it has made me so excited to get to explore Central Park this summer.

Saturday was THE most gorgeous day, so after the boys' naps, we had a little family outing to Central Park. We just walked to the entrance on 110 and walked down. I really wanted to go see Bow Bridge, but we were only able to see it from afar, because by the time we got there, we had walked almost 3 miles, and the kids were ready for the playground. But we did see the great lawn

This is the view of some of it from Belvedere Castle, but you can mostly see Belvedere Lake and the surrounding grassy areas. It was SO crazy in the park. You would have thought there was a concert or parade going on with how many people were there, but it was just beautiful weather.

Dad and Asher climbed up to the top of Belvedere Castle

While Sayer and I chilled at the bottom

We walked down through The Ramble, and walked past The Lake

and then finally saw Bow Bridge...

... which I thought was beautiful. We walked on past Sheep's Meadow which was PACKED. I should have taken a picture... it was amazing! After that, we just went to a little playground and fed the boys dinner in-between their playing. We caught the subway home on 72nd, and were able to put the kids right to bed. It was such a fun day, and I can't wait to have many more like it, as we still have many more miles of the park to explore.

Boys...

These boys are crazy! Sayer is at such a fun age, and both boys have been loving playing together and making each other laugh.

SO excited!!

"I cooking mom!"

These boys love to read. Well, Sayer isn't a fan of being read to, but he sure loves to look at the pictures by himself. I love how the book is upside down in this picture.

This is a video of a typical night at our house. It's pretty much their favorite activity. Don't mind Asher's amazingly full diaper. It looks like it's about to fall off!

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It's a beautiful day!

Today was THE most gorgeous day! We spent the majority of it outside, because who knows what tomorrow will bring. In the morning we (and by we, I mean me) decided to pack a picnic and head over to Morningside Park. Our friends met us there, and the kids had a blast running around, playing soccer, giving each other hugs and kisses, and of course eating.

Asher and Addi hugging...

Take One:

Take two:

Take three:

Soccer time:

Asher and Addi kiss...

Take one:

Take two:

Take three:

Take four:

Take five:

Aren't they so cute?!?


Sayer and Talli...

Asher in action...

throwing a baseball:

Asher definitely didn't need his coat on, but he insisted. Addi and Talli are sisters, and are 14.5 months apart. Addi is about 6 months younger than Asher, and Talli is 2 months younger than Sayer, so they are all pretty close and are great friends. The cool thing is that they live in our building, and we will both be here for awhile, so our kids will get to grow up for a few years together, which has been, and will be fun. I have to say... if I could have asked for one thing before we moved out here, it would have been to have great friends, especially in my building. We have definitely been blessed with that, and I am so grateful, as I think I would be pretty lonely without good friends so close!

My little swimmers

Easter Sunday

We had a lovely Easter Sunday. It was a beautiful looking day, but it actually ended up being pretty cold. The kids woke up and got their Easter baskets, minus the baskets (I was too cheap to buy them). Sayer got a really soft and cuddly stuffed ducky and bubbles, and Asher got a dinosaur puzzle and bubbles. Sacrament meeting was wonderful... the choir sang most of the time, and then I think we had one speaker. I had to put Sayer to sleep, so I didn't get to hear everything, but the songs I did hear were beautiful. They sang "This is the Christ" which is one of my favorite songs.

Our church is right during nap time for both kids, so Asher was pretty tired by the time we got home, and was very grumpy for the rest of the evening. Unfortunately, I waited until the kids were "done" for the day to take their pictures, just like I did last year. Oh well, I still managed to get some cute ones in their handsome little outfits. (and just for fun, here is the link to Asher's first Easter...)

We also managed to do a little egg hunt for Asher, which he was not too excited about because he was so tired, but he enjoyed eating the candy. (please don't mind my eye pitched talking at the beginning... just tune it out!)

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Asher has really been enjoying Family Home Evening these days. I have a bunch of FHE packets that I got from doing exchanges, and some of them are so cute and creative with lots of pictures and fun games. It is not uncommon for Asher to ask to have family night on random nights of the week. Well, we never got a chance to have our Easter one during the week, so we did it on Easter. While Asher was attentive and loved all the pictures and objects, I'm not sure it all clicked for him. That's ok though. As long as he is enjoying learning about the Gospel, I'm happy.

We also had a nice pork roast dinner with homemade rolls and garlic mashed potatoes. It was all scrumptious. We invited one of Nate's home teachees over to enjoy it with us, and that was fun to get to know her better.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!!