Mommy has been remiss in keeping this blog updated! I’ll get around to posting pictures from specific events very soon, but in the meantime, here’s some of what’s been happening with Ashton since I last wrote:

• Climbing furniture – easily accesses couches and dining room chairs. Daddy had to secure the lamps on the end tables and we can’t leave any dishes or electronics there. Dining chairs have to be pushed in to keep him off the table. Fortunately he is not strong enough to move the chairs which are solid wood.
• Stopped eating books – hurray! Still likes to pull ours off the shelves though and leaf through the pages which are likely to get very wrinkled or torn.
• Has adopted “Blues Clues” as favorite TV show. He loves ALL TV, but this is the only show that he’ll reliably sit or stand and watch – so it gets used as babysitter when mommy needs to take a shower and nobody else is around to watch him.
• Got a whole mess of new teeth. I don’t even know how many now, but there’s only a couple empty spots remaining in his mouth. Guess they’re still coming too, cause the drooling and excessive chewing continues.
• Ended the ban on green foods. He’ll now eat zucchini sticks or peas, though still in such small quantities that it barely counts… but still it’s progress.
• Started sleeping in his own bed – a queen size air mattress on the floor of his room. Now he doesn’t cry much when he wakes up – he just runs into our bedroom and stands by the bed waiting to be picked up. But often he just rolls over and goes back to sleep, since now he doesn’t have to get mad or scared about being confined in the crib.
• Adopted strawberries as a favorite food – but will only eat them if given whole (without stem) rather than cut up.
• Can open all our doors, so external doors must be kept locked so that he doesn’t escape.
• Cries anytime someone closes a door if he is on the other side.
• Understands lots of words and instructions, but still not speaking any intelligibly.

Ashton developed a preferred nap schedule starting back when he was around 9 months old. This schedule includes a morning nap. The time has varied somewhat before settling into its current pattern of being 3 hours after wake-up (usually around 10/10:30. Unfortunately, this is when 95% of the playgroups, library laptimes, mommy and me classes, etc. meet. This is generally a long nap, and not to be skipped. As a result, we have been rather reclusive. And clearly Ashton needs a little more variety/stimulation. For several weeks I tried moving the morning nap later and later so that he’d have a single midday nap. This greatly backfired, as it made him super cranky in the late morning and harder to get down for his nap (over-tired). Same thing happened in the evenings as he was skipping the afternoon nap too.

So we went back to the previous nap schedule and decided to form a playgroup of our own. Using Meetup.com and advertising on a number of mommy lists I’m on, I set up a group for 1-2 year olds for moms preferring afternoon events. We got about 22 signups, though turnout for actual playdates has been low. Still, we’ve had a couple good ones and met some nice people.

Daniel and Grandpa Anderson completed an afternoon of re-arranging furniture with the goal of moving Ashton into our upstairs office space, and moving the office into Ashton’s current room. Why you ask?

1. Ashton still waking up during the night and needing our assistance. Because he refused to sleep in his crib and the fact that sleepy parents did not want to trek downstairs in the middle of the night, Ashton slept in a home-made bed in our room – and often in bed with us.  We were growing weary of this arrangement.
2. The new baby will sleep upstairs with us for a while in the small crib, so why not have both kids in close proximity.
3. Having the boys share a room for a while will prolong the number of years we can keep the guest room (giving up the office is not an option).
4. The upstairs space is large enough to house a regular bed for Ashton (instead of a crib) and still allow for play space. This would have been a tight squeeze downstairs.

The new room has been a success! We put a queen-size air mattress on the floor for Ashton to sleep on and he loves it. Night awakenings have been reduced, and instead of waking up crying, he often just pitter-patters over to our room (usually to mom’s side of the bed) and waits to be picked up.

These are pictures of Ashton’s room before the move. Still need to take pictures of the new upstairs room.

I took Ashton to Neary Lagoon Park but could not get him to go the playground. He was more interested in watching the cars driving by the park, as they would trigger an automatic gate. I eventually had to pick him and carry him to the playground through his loud protests, but then he happily played in the sand with another little boy.

We had originally planned to go to the Scotts Valley fireworks celebration at Skypark, but were warned that the crowds/parking would be horrendous. So instead, we tailgated in the nearby Wallgreens parking lot (many others had the same idea). Ashton played in his wagon until the show started, then watched from Daddy’s shoulders. He seemed intrigued and mildly concerned about the activity in the sky. In retrospect, I’m glad we weren’t sitting right underneath them because I think the volume would have scared him. Ashton didn’t sleep well that night, and acted very oddly the following day – still don’t know whether this was in any way a reaction to the fireworks or something independent of the affair.

For months we had decided that Ashton was just lazy. He had the muscle strength to be on his feet, and easily cruised around furniture and walls – but wanted nothing to do with walking. For a while he would walk with us while we held both of his hands, but it had gotten to the point where he’d curl up his legs in a sit position and refuse to even stand (usually accompanied by a tantrum).

Well, finally around late May, he started taking a few steps. Tentative at first; mainly between his play table and the couch. Over the past few weeks, he has gotten more and more daring. Now he can do an entire lap around the living and dining room or make it half-way accross the yard before falling on his behind. Arms out in front of him Frankenstein style, he charges off with great enthusiasm and no fear. He still can’t pull himself up to a stand without the assistance of walls, people, or furniture, but we see progress each day. Today, he even stepped up a 5-inch step without falling.

Early Walking Video Clip

• 1st time playing on beach
• 1st time seeing a concert
• 1st time riding the merry-go-round

Ashton and I went to the Boardwalk Friday night band series with Stacey, Erin, and Kaylin. On stage were The Fixx, a band that I had liked a lot back in the 80’s. As with most of the mid-life crisis tours by formerly popular bands, I had low expectations, but they actually sounded pretty good. Ashton wasn’t all that interested in the band though, because this was his first time playing in the sand. I brought the wagon and some new sand toys and he had a great time. He also enjoyed people watching, and looking at the people on the overhead people mover ride.

After the show, we walked around the Boardwalk, and took a ride on the Carousel. He loved sitting on the horse before the ride started, but seemed kind of nervous as it started going up and down. I noticed that this merry-go-round seemed faster than others I’d been on. It had probably been like 20 years since I last rode this particular one.

Ashton loves playing outside and often throws tantrums when we don’t let him go out. One of the reasons I didn’t let him out as much before was that our yard has a lot of rough terrain, and our little guy hates wearing shoes. But now he knows that when the shoes go on, he gets to go outside.

Daddy built him a sandbox in one corner of the bocce ball court. We’ve still got to get more sand and build a cover to keep the cats out. I bought him a little picnic table so that he can have snacks and activities outside. And we’re in the process of hunting down a landscaper who can put grass in the remaining part of the bocce ball court. We’ ve also got some stone pavers on order for laying a small patio near the garage end. Soon we will have a yard that is a little more kid friendly.

We held a  party on Sunday May 10th (also Mom’s Day). It was almost cancelled as Ashton had been sick the previous few days, but he was in excellent spirits on party day and did surprisingly well, given all the activity in our house and people that were “semi-strangers”. In attendance was his grandma and grandpa Anderson, both great-grandma’s, aunt’s Stacey and Erin,  cousin Kaylin, Sara’s aunt and uncle Linda and Rick and cousin Mike, friends Ben, Julie, Olivia, and Kimberley.

I made jerk chicken, rick, beans, and pineapple sals (inspired by AT&T Park’s cha-cha bowls). And of course cake and ice cream. Ashton loved his assortment of balloons, playing with 10-month old Olivia and his new wagon and little people farm. I think he enjoyed the jerk chicken and rice slightly more than his cupcake.

More pictures will be updated as I get them. My camera died half-way through the festivities, so am waiting for photos from my mom.

While waiting at the airport in Albequerque to go home, we learned that my step-grandmother Judy White had just passed away. We quickly re-booked our flights and flew to Kansas City to be with family and attend the funeral in Independence. Ashton came down with diarrhea and vomiting only a few hours after we checked into the hotel there, and we spent much of the first day mopping him up and trying to figure out what to do (it didn’t clear up fully for about 5 days). We suspected problems with the hotel water or with the non-sanitized bottles we were using, though Daddy got sick after we returned home so guess it was just a virus.

Ashton attended funeral services with us on Thursday (since we had no babysitter) – Daddy had to keep him in the back room for most of it. The grave-side service was being delayed, but we drove out to Mound Grove Cemetary to see where it would be, and visit Ashton’s grandpav who is buried two plots away from where Judy’s ashes will go (she is being cremated).

It’s too bad that our visit was under sad conditions, however the family was happy to meet Ashton, and Grandma Kay was happy to see him again. Ashton also got his first birthday gift.