Baby Belly #2

Before I show you my attempt at self-portraits, let me just tell you that I hate self-portraits! (And not just because I don't like pictures of myself.) They frustrate me beyond words! I can't hold the camera far enough away to click it myself, so I have to use the timer. But the auto-focus won't focus unless I am in the picture when I click it, which I can't be, so I have to put some kind of object in my place for it to focus on. Then I have to click the button, sprint to get in the right spot and move the object...and most of the time it doesn't work anyway. Grrrr. I really should just wait until I have someone to take them for me. Oh well. So here are my lame attempts at a self portrait.

Hopefully you aren't offended by my bare belly. If you are, join the club. It offends me when I see it, too...

Tomato Seeds

Ashton got a tomato seed stuck on the end of his nose during dinner tonight. He had an enormous fit every time I tried to wipe it off, so it stayed there for most of the night. Looked pretty silly...

Hypnotized

Ashton's new favorite show (grown-up show, anyway) is Dancing With The Stars. He calls it the "dancing show." Sometimes we don't get dinner finished before it comes on, so we watch while we're finishing up. Well, there is a reason you aren't supposed to eat and watch TV at the same time...

Ashton gets so mesmerized he won't even eat his food!!! I wonder where he gets it from? (Perhaps you can partially see a hypnotized Tyler in the background...)

He also does this with American Idol. Or as he calls it, the "singing show." Oh dear.

Window Watching

On days when it's cold and yucky outside (which it has been a lot lately), Ashton stares out the window with this look on his face, like, "Oh when will the sun ever come out again???" So instead of playing outside, he looks longingly through the window and names everything he sees. Trucks, cars, garbage cans, dogs, houses (sometimes he says he can see grandma's house...), water (the lake), trees, grass, etc. If it's raining, he points and says, "All wet out there!" And if it's snowing he says, "Snow out there!" Poor kid. Hopefully it will decide to warm up soon, so we can go outside and have some real fun.

Crazy Obsession

Ashton's love for balls is now a full-blown obsession. Everything he does revolves around balls. When he wakes up in the morning, the first thing he asks for is one of the balls. When we sing songs, he sings about balls. When we tell stories, it has to be a story about balls. When we draw pictures, we have to draw balls. We eat with the balls, play with the balls, take naps with the balls... ahh! It is getting a little old for me. But not for Ashton. Even on the rare occasion that he plays with another toy, a ball is still somehow involved...

One day we got some coupons in the mail for Denny's, so we decided to eat there. Ashton was in heaven! The kids' menu was page after page of balls that he could color and "read" and look at. His pancakes came fried like doughnut holes, so they looked like balls, and the syrup was drizzled to make a basketball court. And the best of all--his juice came in a cup with a soccer ball lid, and he got to keep it! He was so so so happy to hold his cup and drink out of it, and even more happy when it got to come home with us.

Another day, Ashton was talking to himself about balls. He pulled up his shirt and said, "little baseball tummy!" I decided to ask him what kind of tummy I have, and he said, "big basketball tummy!" Hmm. I suppose I did ask for it. When Daddy got home that night he said the same thing--he has a little baseball tummy, and I have a big basketball tummy. So Daddy asked, "What kind of tummy do I have?" And he thought for a second and said, "soccer ball tummy!" Ha ha!

Chatterbox

Ashton has become a little chatterbox and I love it! His little voice is so cute, and I love the way he says his words. I want to remember it forever and ever, so I made a few videos. He says some of the same words in each one, but I couldn't choose between them, so I posted both. Unfortunately he kind of clams up when the camera is on. Usually I don't have to tell him what to say, and he doesn't usually mumble and whisper. But close enough!

Small side note: Ashton made up a song about his basketball. (Yes, he loves it THAT MUCH!) It goes: "Oh big fwiss (which means orange) basketball!" And sometimes he says blue instead of orange, because his grandpa has a blue basketball. Just so you aren't confused. :)

Big Helper Boy

Ashton is becoming such a good helper! He is always asking to help or to just do something himself. I seriously hope this lasts and isn't just a phase, because it is excellent. Here are a few of the things he is good at helping with:

Babysitting: One day we watched a little boy named Gavin, who is about Ashton's age. He had never been to our house before, so when his mommy left, he was VERY upset about it. After a while he didn't want me to hold him anymore, and he just laid on the floor in despair and whimpered. Ashton was so worried about him. He went and laid by Gavin and put his arm around him and said, "Otay Gabin," until Gavin fell asleep. It was SOOO cute. I was very proud.

Cleaning up after dinner: Ashton loves to put his plate in the sink and push his chair up to wash his hands. He would stay there all night playing in the sink if we let him.

Putting things away: He is very good at putting things away when I ask him to. And if he sees us putting something away, he usually wants to help. At our Pinewood Derby the other night, he saw all the men putting away chairs and wanted to help.

He's also very good at picking up his toys (when I tell him to), putting dirty clothes in the hamper, helping with laundry, and emptying the dishwasher. Hooray! Here's hoping he is always so cheerful and willing to help around the house... (I get the feeling I should cherish it while it lasts!)

Bookworm

The only thing that can distract Ashton from the joy of basketballs and baseballs, etc., is a pile of good books. He loves them. He piles them all on his lap at once and "reads" them over and over--which means he points to the pictures and names what they are.

I think he has a little of his father's brains. Perhaps we should start learning a letter or two...

Big Balls

Well, we finally did it--we got the big balls when we were at Wal-Mart this weekend. Ashton was soooo happy! He wanted them all piled on top of him in the shopping cart so that he could hold all of them at once.

Ever since we got them home, he hasn't let them out of his site. He brings them to us and proudly says, "Big basketball!" "Big baseball!" "Big soccer ball!" And the best part of all...they don't get lost like the little ones did! Thank goodness.

Colors

If you ask me, I'd say that Ashton is a little smarty pants. I am his mother, though, so I am supposed to think that! One thing he has mastered in the past few weeks is his colors, and now he loves to tell us what color everything is. This morning he went in my drawer and grabbed a handful of socks, and then he proceeded to tell me, "blue sock," "green sock," "pink sock," "brown sock." So of course I ran for the camera and snapped a quick video for all of you to see:

Pretty good for a year and three-quarters, eh?