Thursday, July 31, 2008
Updates
Not much is going on here. I've been out of town so much this summer that I am actually enjoying staying home and cleaning. I have also been staying home in part because Asher's potty training takes a lot of attention. He is doing so well! He hasn't had an accident since Saturday. My favorite part is that he is so proud of his success. He can use the potty from start to finish, even washing his hands without help too. He no longer has to be completely nude to use the potty either, which helps when we're not at home. He has also started taking afternoon naps again for which I am so grateful.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Let's Get ready to Potty!
This is going to be one of those Mommy posts that Asher may someday hate me for, but I consider it fair because of the thousands of diapers I've had to change.
Today was the first day ever that Asher used the potty all day with no accidents! He has been in big boy pants for a whole week. I am so proud of him! He doesn't even need treats or stickers anymore. Occasionally, I still have to bribe him with a You Tube video of a garbage truck. If you're interested, here is the link to his favorite one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB9ePIbRYg8&NR=1
Does anyone have good suggestions for taking your newly potty trained kid to the bathroom in a public restroom while also dragging a 14 month old along? Madeleine is impossible in public restrooms! Her favorite thing to do as soon as I put her down is to peer under the surrounding stalls to see if she can meet some new friends. This is not a preferred way to meet new people. Asher still needs help so it's really hard to hold her the whole time. It doesn't help matters that Asher feels he must be completely nude in order to use the potty, which means I have to simultaneously get him dressed again and hold Madeleine. I have to break him of some bad habits, but so far I am just to thrilled when he uses the potty.
Sorry my life is so lame that my child's bathroom habits are exciting news. My brother Zach and his wife Katie have their twin toddlers in Spain for the summer. They keep getting robbed so their lives are a bit more interesting.
Today was the first day ever that Asher used the potty all day with no accidents! He has been in big boy pants for a whole week. I am so proud of him! He doesn't even need treats or stickers anymore. Occasionally, I still have to bribe him with a You Tube video of a garbage truck. If you're interested, here is the link to his favorite one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB9ePIbRYg8&NR=1
Does anyone have good suggestions for taking your newly potty trained kid to the bathroom in a public restroom while also dragging a 14 month old along? Madeleine is impossible in public restrooms! Her favorite thing to do as soon as I put her down is to peer under the surrounding stalls to see if she can meet some new friends. This is not a preferred way to meet new people. Asher still needs help so it's really hard to hold her the whole time. It doesn't help matters that Asher feels he must be completely nude in order to use the potty, which means I have to simultaneously get him dressed again and hold Madeleine. I have to break him of some bad habits, but so far I am just to thrilled when he uses the potty.
Sorry my life is so lame that my child's bathroom habits are exciting news. My brother Zach and his wife Katie have their twin toddlers in Spain for the summer. They keep getting robbed so their lives are a bit more interesting.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
4th of July!!!
Paul leapfrogged my 4th of July post so it's out of order. We have been so busy with family for the month of July. It's so nice to be able to see everyone since we don't live close by. We should be in town for the foreseeable future, though. It's so wonderful to visit, but I am happy to be normal again.
Asher conquered his fear of riding Grandpa's tractor! Paul started it a where Asher couldn't see it and then drove it around the house and Asher decided to take a ride. He loved it! Apparently it was just the sound of the tractor starting that scared him.
Asher also found baby kittens to love.
Every 4th of July since he was born Asher has screamed in terror when the fireworks go off. Not this year though! He loved the little fireworks, and later he really enjoyed the big fireworks show. He thought he was the one making them explode. He kept saying "pop" to make them go.
Madeleine, however, thought we were insane.
This is my sister Hannah and her new dog Teddy enjoying the fireworks.
Asher conquered his fear of riding Grandpa's tractor! Paul started it a where Asher couldn't see it and then drove it around the house and Asher decided to take a ride. He loved it! Apparently it was just the sound of the tractor starting that scared him.
Asher also found baby kittens to love.
Every 4th of July since he was born Asher has screamed in terror when the fireworks go off. Not this year though! He loved the little fireworks, and later he really enjoyed the big fireworks show. He thought he was the one making them explode. He kept saying "pop" to make them go.
Madeleine, however, thought we were insane.
This is my sister Hannah and her new dog Teddy enjoying the fireworks.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Like Father, Like Son
Its my (Paul's) turn to post again.
At the end of last week we got a visit from my sister Rachel, her husband Marco, son Damian and daughter Naomi. Damian is a year older than Asher, but Naomi and Madeleine are just a month apart in age. It was lots of fun to have them in town and we took them down to the Playground of Dreams. They had lots of fun playing first on the playground and then in the fountains. Asher's favorite toy was the digger. He got pretty good at working the controls.
He loved the digger so much that we had to drag him away to play in the fountains, but he got over that quickly and had tons of fun.
Madeleine had a good time with the fountains, but didn't play with quite the same gusto that Asher did.
We traveled to Portland as the kids crashed that afternoon. The next day my dad and I took Asher on the downtown transit tour. My mom drove us to the bottom of the Oregon Health and Sciences University Tram. We took the tram up to the top of the hill. Asher (and I) loved soaring over Interstate 5 and the rooftops. He wanted to know if we were going to fly over Grandma's house. 
The views were spectacular. You have great views of downtown Portland and the brand new towers that are getting built around the tram's lower landing. We rode the tram to the hospital, where we got some snacks and then headed back down, because the tram was just the beginning of our adventure. Once down off the hill, we hopped on a waiting streetcar to head downtown to catch the MAX train for the Beaverton Transit Center where my mom would pick us up. 
Asher was so excited to ride on the streetcar. It made me happy to see that he shares one of my interests. It was also really nice to spend some quality time with my dad. 
Asher sat next to me at first, and then quickly ditched me for my dad, but I didn't mind since it was a rare 1-on-1 opportunity. Asher was glued to the window and loved every minute of it. 
All in all the weekend was a roaring success. We had lots of fun with family, but a real highlight for me was to share an afternoon with my son and dad, and sharing one of my real interests with Asher. I don't know if his interest will last until adulthood and in the end I want him to make a profession doing whatever he would like, but it sure was fun for me to share that with him.
At the end of last week we got a visit from my sister Rachel, her husband Marco, son Damian and daughter Naomi. Damian is a year older than Asher, but Naomi and Madeleine are just a month apart in age. It was lots of fun to have them in town and we took them down to the Playground of Dreams. They had lots of fun playing first on the playground and then in the fountains. Asher's favorite toy was the digger. He got pretty good at working the controls.
He loved the digger so much that we had to drag him away to play in the fountains, but he got over that quickly and had tons of fun.
Madeleine had a good time with the fountains, but didn't play with quite the same gusto that Asher did.
We traveled to Portland as the kids crashed that afternoon. The next day my dad and I took Asher on the downtown transit tour. My mom drove us to the bottom of the Oregon Health and Sciences University Tram. We took the tram up to the top of the hill. Asher (and I) loved soaring over Interstate 5 and the rooftops. He wanted to know if we were going to fly over Grandma's house. 
The views were spectacular. You have great views of downtown Portland and the brand new towers that are getting built around the tram's lower landing. We rode the tram to the hospital, where we got some snacks and then headed back down, because the tram was just the beginning of our adventure. Once down off the hill, we hopped on a waiting streetcar to head downtown to catch the MAX train for the Beaverton Transit Center where my mom would pick us up. 
Asher was so excited to ride on the streetcar. It made me happy to see that he shares one of my interests. It was also really nice to spend some quality time with my dad. 
Asher sat next to me at first, and then quickly ditched me for my dad, but I didn't mind since it was a rare 1-on-1 opportunity. Asher was glued to the window and loved every minute of it. 
All in all the weekend was a roaring success. We had lots of fun with family, but a real highlight for me was to share an afternoon with my son and dad, and sharing one of my real interests with Asher. I don't know if his interest will last until adulthood and in the end I want him to make a profession doing whatever he would like, but it sure was fun for me to share that with him.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
lots of Blanchards
Last weekend, we had a Blanchard family reunion at my Grandma's house in Leavenworth, WA to celebrate her 90th birthday. She lives on a beautiful property surrounded by the cascade mountain range and much of her property is looped by the icicle river. Growing up, my cousins and I would start with rafts or inner tubes at one end of my granparents' property and loop around. It used to take us about 15 minutes. When I was about 12 there was a drought and I could walk almost the whole way around the river. This year the river was really high, fast and cold because of the large amount of snow that fell in the mountains.
I really enjoyed seeing my grandma, cousins, and aunts and uncles. My mom and 9 year old sister Emma were the only ones able to be there from my immediate family because of Girls camp and work schedules. There were 7 2-3 year old boys and 3 1 year old girls so my kids had a terrific time playing with their cousins. I slept at my aunt Lynn's house for two nights and then Paul joined me and we camped out on the property. Madeleine woke up as soon as the morning light hit at 4:30am. Paul, the Saint that he is, walked around with her for 2 hours while Asher and I slept. Paul even met his very first bear while walking around with Madeleine! Luckily he only heard grunting noises and the bear running away. Paul's favorite part was the sandy beach and making a warming pool for the kids using his engineering skills.
Me, my mom, Asher Maddie and my Grandma Blanchard. I know I look awful, but keep in mind I was camping. Do you see how curly Madeleine's hair is becoming?
This is the view of the back of Grandma's house from the sandy beach.
Madeleine, her second cousin Eliza, and Emma in the background
This is part of the front yard
I really think that it took Paul an hour to finish his pool. He used boulders and driftwood for the structure and then piled it with sand it make it water tight. The boys were fascinated with the construction. The water warmed up enough that they were able to splash around a bit. And then they were delighted when they got to help demolish Paul's creation.
This is my sister Emma
I really enjoyed seeing my grandma, cousins, and aunts and uncles. My mom and 9 year old sister Emma were the only ones able to be there from my immediate family because of Girls camp and work schedules. There were 7 2-3 year old boys and 3 1 year old girls so my kids had a terrific time playing with their cousins. I slept at my aunt Lynn's house for two nights and then Paul joined me and we camped out on the property. Madeleine woke up as soon as the morning light hit at 4:30am. Paul, the Saint that he is, walked around with her for 2 hours while Asher and I slept. Paul even met his very first bear while walking around with Madeleine! Luckily he only heard grunting noises and the bear running away. Paul's favorite part was the sandy beach and making a warming pool for the kids using his engineering skills.
Me, my mom, Asher Maddie and my Grandma Blanchard. I know I look awful, but keep in mind I was camping. Do you see how curly Madeleine's hair is becoming?
This is the view of the back of Grandma's house from the sandy beach.
Madeleine, her second cousin Eliza, and Emma in the background
This is part of the front yard
I really think that it took Paul an hour to finish his pool. He used boulders and driftwood for the structure and then piled it with sand it make it water tight. The boys were fascinated with the construction. The water warmed up enough that they were able to splash around a bit. And then they were delighted when they got to help demolish Paul's creation.
This is my sister Emma
Monday, June 23, 2008
Snow
Look who I just caught playing with "snow". Asher found the salt in the food storage. At least salt is only 50 cents for a whole bottle.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Our very own water park
We've been enjoying the beautiful June weather! These pictures are from last weekend. Paul filled up the swimming pool and put our little slide over it. He even lined the top of it in plastic and filled that to the top. Asher's favorite thing to do was wait to go down until he thought he had a good chance of knocking down Maddie.
In other Smith news, our yard is finally fenced in Yay! Our raspberries are ripe and Madeleine heads right for the raspberry bush every time we go outside, she'll eat everything remotely pink and then goes right for the green ones if we don't catch her in time.
Both kids have also been sick this week. Aren't we supposed to be immune to illness during the summer? It seems like at least once a month our health fails us. This time it is just an unexplained high fever that seems to last about two days and then disappear. Asher had it Thursday afternoon and all day Friday. He just wanted to lay on the couch. I haven't been that productive since he was born. Is it terrible to enjoy your toddler's illness? Now Maddie is sick though and she just wants to be rocked and held. I am enjoying that a bit too since she isn't much for cuddling anymore.
In other Smith news, our yard is finally fenced in Yay! Our raspberries are ripe and Madeleine heads right for the raspberry bush every time we go outside, she'll eat everything remotely pink and then goes right for the green ones if we don't catch her in time.
Both kids have also been sick this week. Aren't we supposed to be immune to illness during the summer? It seems like at least once a month our health fails us. This time it is just an unexplained high fever that seems to last about two days and then disappear. Asher had it Thursday afternoon and all day Friday. He just wanted to lay on the couch. I haven't been that productive since he was born. Is it terrible to enjoy your toddler's illness? Now Maddie is sick though and she just wants to be rocked and held. I am enjoying that a bit too since she isn't much for cuddling anymore.
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