Early February

I'm VERY glad we decided to go with the more expensive travel system for Asher (thanks Uncle Dusty and Auntie Chrystal for the money for his stroller and infant carseat back in the day!).  It has served us well for a looooooong time.  We decided when I was pregnant to get the more expensive, larger infant carrier... mostly because my best friend, Bec, had just had a pretty large baby boy who would definitely size out of his infant carrier (in weight) long before his 1st birthday.  The rule/law (at least in IL) was that babies had to be one year-old AND over 20lb to be legally safe to be turned around to a forward facing position.  The problem with this is if you buy the cheapest infant carrier, and you have a big baby (especially a boy), your baby may size out of the carrier in weight or height before their 1st birthday.  There are convertible carseats that are larger and can go rear-facing or forward facing, but the goal is to get the most use out of the infant carrier as possible, and also to keep them rear-facing as long as possible (as it's the safest position for babies).  Infant carriers typically come in weight capacities of 20lb, 22lb, or 30lb, and we opted for the 30lb option.  I knew I was having a boy and I had a STRONG sense that he would be large, which he was.  He's 22lb and some change now, but he's getting close to sizing out of the rear-facing infant carrier in length, so this weekend, we decided it was time to buy the "big boy" convertible seat we had picked out long ago for when this time came.  This way he would have more room, but more importantly he will no longer be so reclined (infant carriers are bucketed back in a constant deep recline, as that's safest for young infants), AND he'll now be forward-facing.  HE LOVES IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm hoping and praying this will make for some more enjoyable car rides, since now that he's a crazy active toddler, he's NOT a fan of laying down in a rear-facing position in the car.  He LOVED watching out the front and side windows as we drove.  He was completely silent for a 20 minute drive that would typically having him whining and fussing.  He LOVED to watch the snow fall, cars pass, and the horses and trees we were passing!  He looks soooo old in it, which I'm not sure how I feel about just yet, but he seems to enjoy the new perspective, so we're happy about that!  We can still use our stroller in an upright position which we have been for many many months... and it's a freaking sweet stroller.  VERY happy with our choice way back when we first got it  ;)  Of course playing with/in the carseat box was quite entertaining as well.

 
Laundry time... Asher LOVES to "help".  He gets sooooo excited.  Ross picked out fancy washer/dryer units for us, and they play a song when the cycle is complete.  Asher is familiar with the tune, and he's gitty when he hears it.  He drops whatever he's doing, looks at me with a huge grin, then goes sprinting to the closed laundry room/mud room door off the kitchen yelling, "HEP (help) MAMA!  HEP MAMA!"  He helps switch the load, push the buttons, close the door, get laundry in and out, and his favorite part is pushing the full (and sometimes quite heavy) laundry basket across the kitchen floor to the living room where he dumps the contents all over.  He LOVES it.  Washcloths often imitate hats (because you have to keep an endlessly curious easily intrigued toddler busy somehow, so he doesn't wreck every second of work you do with folding and sorting!).  In this picture, Elmo got a little babushka "hat" to wear too.  Folding just one load with Asher takes probably 30 minutes, but it's worth it!  :)  He's "spirited" through and through, and one of keys to raising a spirited kid is to be as careful as possible not to stifle their creativity and curiosity whenever possible.  If he's not doing something dangerous that could cause him harm, or doing something to hurt/destroy property/an object, or something that is hurtful to someone/something else, we try to limit the "NOs" whenever possible.  He's surrounded with "NO NO!" for safety reasons and for lessons in how to obey, so for things that don't matter (like having perfectly folded laundry untouched by a toddler), I say, who the crap cares?!  Let the kid have fun!  :)

He has a mini finger puppet "theater" with a few finger puppets that live in there.  He only recently has become interested in them... he likes to wear them and say, "BOG (frog).  ribbit... ribbit!" and "TUTLE (turtle)", and "WAAAAH WAAAH WAAAAAAH (quack quack quack)!"  hahahaha!  Crazy kid.  He's not sure what the snail is... nor does he have a sound effect for him just yet  ;)

He's been learning body parts for some time now, and has known several for a long time... but he's still super interested!  He's loved this "My first BODY book" for several months now!

He's got some mad hops.  He's SO proud of his "jumping" skills!  :)