Sunday, April 29, 2012

Moving on Up

I recently told you about my great feat. My parents thought they could keep me down by taking the stuffed animals out of my crib, and I gave them a day to let them think they had won this battle. Then I became a leaping gazelle, flying over the bars that once trapped me. Within seconds of being put in my crib, I was over the top and running down the hallway, tearing my diaper off as I went. Mom tried closing the door to my room, but as soon as she left I was over the bars, climbing up the changing table and rocking in the rocking chair.

Mom decided to take action and an amazing thing happened. My crib turned into a "big boy bed." There are suddenly no more bars. I can roll in and out as much as I want, and I have freedom! So far I have managed to use that freedom to get out of two naps, but I'm planning on making my parents think I'm going to sleep through the night with no problems. They're not going to know what hit them next week. They thought Gillian coming in to their bed, kicking them and stealing the covers was bad. Just wait until they see what I can do.

Freedom is awesome. As is being a big boy. The world is my proverbial oyster.


Thursday, April 26, 2012

I Love Being Two! (Part 2)

Being two is totally rad!  I finally have the height and motor skills necessary to complete the most awesome of tasks. Yesterday, I scaled the walls of my prison, conquered the bars that have prevented me from mischief--yes, I climbed out of my crib. Gillian was super excited when this happened, but no one else seems to be. My parents cheer and go crazy when I pee in a little yellow bowl (and Liana shouts, "Bravo! Encore!"), but this great accomplishment just got my stuffed animals taken away. (Yes, I did pile them up to create a stairway for my escape, but that wasn't their fault.) They think they can keep me down, but those bars are made for climbing.


Monday, April 23, 2012

Bird is the Word

This weekend Uncle Jack and Aunt Lisa came and visited.  It was awesome.  We went to a lot of places and got some fun crafts.  Jack played video games with Dad and Lisa had some nice girl time with the sisters.  Sunday morning we went to the neighborhood garage sale.  We walked around and bought other people's stuff.  I think I really like garage sales.  I wanted to grab anything with wheels that I saw.  I did not care if it was a Hot Wheel, Big Wheel, Wheel Chair, Spinning Wheel, Wheel of Cheddar, Wheel of Fate, Wheel of Fortune, the Wheel in the Sky (keeps on turning), The Wheelers (from Return to Oz), Stealers Wheel, 18 Wheelers, Popping a Wheelie, and a Train.  You all know I love things with wheels.  But that is not the best thing we saw.  We found art. 

Now I love paintings, sculptures, photography, and all other sorts of creative expression.  What we found was something truelly spectacular.  Sitting, leaning up against a car, stood a canvas taller than me.  Solid orange, black, white, blue and yellow stood the bird.  The bird and I made eye contact and it was over.  I must have you, I thought.  This must be mine.  I was strapped to Mom's back and she kept walking.  Why were we not buying this amazing piece?  All I knew was that the street looped back so we would see it again. 

As we were passing it again, I tried to explain to Mom that I really wanted the Bird.  She was not listening to me.  I think part of the problem is that I still do not speak English.  I made eye contact with Dad and he knew what to do.  He intervened on my behalf and it began.  Uncle Jack made the artist sign it, money was exchanged, and now The Bird is sitting in our house.  It does not get any more awesome than that.  Take a look for yourself.  IS THIS NOT AWESOME?
The Bird

Monday, April 9, 2012

Trains, Trains, Trains

I'm in a train kind of mood these days. Ok, I'm always in a train kind of mood. Trains are awesome. They are the best things ever. I could "woo woo" around my train table and around my house all day. I have even tried to sleep with my trains before, but I was "woo woo"ing too much and wouldn't fall asleep, so they got taken away from me.

Anyway, since everyone seemed to enjoy my post about Good Dog Carl a few weeks ago, I decided I'm going to start doing book reviews (and possibly movie reviews, but I don't know if I'm ever going to watch anything but The Little Engine That Could ever again). I know I have a lot of toddler and baby fans out there, so I'm going to enlighten you on the best the library has to offer.

So, my introduction about trains wasn't completely out there, tonight's book is The Goodnight Train by June Sobel. This book takes the process of getting ready for bed and turns it into a train ride, complete with a whole train car full of cookies. Why don't I get cookies when I'm getting ready for bed? But, I digress. I love this book. Aside from the cookies (which I pretend to eat as I turn each page), there are lots of other fun things in all the train cars, plus an alligator that gives kids and other animals a bath with a toothbrush. There's even a mermaid, so Gillian likes it. You also get a lot of chances to make all kinds of different train sounds: "clickety-clack," "chug chug," "toot toot," etc. It's fun, so fun that even when Mom or Dad is reading another book, I shove it in their faces while yelling "woo woo." But, then they took it back to the library. That made me sad. Don't worry, though, I've become obsessed with many more books and you'll be hearing all about them. They're not even all about trains.

I'm a burrito!

Sunday, April 8, 2012

I Think I Can

Stay awake all night, that is! It's currently 9:30 pm on Sunday night and normally I am asleep by about 7:15 pm. You would think I would be super tired this weekend. We were out until 10 pm on Friday night for the first seder, so I wasn't asleep until close to 11. I did get my normal nap on Saturday, but then we were at Nana and Gaga's house until about 9:30 that night for the second seder, so I wasn't in bed until about 10. Then we spent today at the Botanical Gardens and I missed my nap, so I should have been asking for bed at the normal 6:30-7ish. Well, my parents made a mistake. They let us start watching a movie before bed and then did not let us finish it. Normally I don't really care about TV--even Thomas the Train doesn't keep my attention very long. But, this week we had the best movie ever from the library--The Little Engine That Could. It's awesome! It stars the likes of Jamie Lee Curtis, Whoopi Goldberg, and Patrick Warburton, and it has lots of talking trains. And a ballerina named Jillian (so our Gillian was excited about that, and Liana was excited that it was spelled with a J instead of a G). So, even though I have seen this movie three or four times this week, I was upset about not finishing it tonight. The girls fell asleep as soon as they got in their beds...before 7 pm. But, I spent the next two hours screaming "woo woo" in my crib, so Mom and Dad finally gave in and are now letting me watch the rest of the movie. I may only be 2, but I know how to get what I want. Especially when Mom and Dad are as tired as the rest of us from the busy weekend and don't feel like fighting the angry, screaming Asher. I rule! So does this movie. Go watch it now! Scream at someone until you can see it.


Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Spring Break Part 2

Sorry I left you all hanging there with our spring break adventures. I'm not sure exactly what happened--something about Mom and Dad having real work to do and not wanting to be bothered by helping me with my awesome blog.

Anyway, I updated Spring Break Part 1 with links for all the places we visited, in case you are interested. Now on to Part 2.

Thursday--Dad went to work at Best Buy, so we had a Mom only day. I think she was planning on it being a lazy day, but soon realized we couldn't have a whole day at home without the girls hurting each other. So, we went to the library (watch for more upcoming posts on my book recommendations--I have many) where I got to read more Carl and Thomas books, and play with the fish. The fish is my favorite part of the library. He's awesome. I also like running away when Mom is checking out books. 

After the library we went to the mall. Liana had been asking to get her ears pierced, so I guess Mom decided today was the day. Gillian then also decided she wanted her ears pierced.  I have to give Mom credit that she tried very hard to talk them both out of it. And I think she hoped that after Gillian saw Liana do it, Gillian wouldn't want to do it. But those girls were determined. So, we went to Sweet and Sassy, where all the other girls apparently go to get their ears pierced, and started looking at earrings. Now, if you know the girls, you know that Liana is obsessed with green and Gillian is obsessed with blue. We all thought they would choose earrings according to those colors because that's how they make every decision in their lives. But, they suddenly became obsessed with having their birthstone colors. So, Liana chose the yellow topaz and Gillian chose the red ruby. And they both went through with it. It was amazing. The piercers were actually very good--two of them worked together to do both ears at the same time, and they hid the guns behind their backs until the girls closed their eyes. They did it so fast Gillian didn't have a chance to be freaked out and change her mind. So, now the girls have pierced ears. They seem to regret it now because they don't like cleaning them every day--even though Mom did warn them repeatedly about it--but they're stuck with them (pun intended)!

Friday--We had another boring morning that included grocery shopping. Then in the afternoon Grandma Lynn came to visit! Liana had a previous engagement and went on a date with Aunt Louie to the Art Museum, where she brought a sketch book and spent the afternoon creating her own art based on the art she saw (I'm not sure she's really only 6 years old). The rest of us went to Kohls, where both Mom and Grandma Lynn have an unhealthy addiction, and then went to synagogue for a cappella Kabbalat Shabbat.



Saturday--Started with the usual children's services at synagogue. Then we went to Powder Valley Conservation Center where we played in the visitor center (huge fish tank!) and walked the trails. I most enjoyed seeing the huge turtles and playing with the owl puppets (owl is one of my new favorite words).


That's bear poop, in case you were wondering.





After that we had an early dinner and then went to Laumeier Sculpture Park, which is a huge park filled with lots of outdoor art.






Sunday--A final lazy day for the last day of break. We played at the park in our neighborhood and then Grandma Lynn had to go home. We played at Nana and Gaga's house in the afternoon and then headed home for an early night.





It was a whirlwind week, but it sure was fun! I could definitely handle more spring break.