Category — Family

He turned 9 months old last week. Nine Months. That’s almost a year. I just can’t believe how quickly the time is passing, how big his feet are getting, how much he’s eating. How much I love him.

He has so much personality, such long eyelashes. He’s standing up now, and taking wobbly steps with his push-toy thingy. He laughs uncontrollably when I wear sunglasses, or talk on the phone. He weighs 20 pounds. I miss him when he sleeps at night.

He’s a champion sleeper. At least thirteen hours every night and three good naps every day, this boy loves catch some ZZZs. Of course, he still wakes up to nurse every four or so hours at night, but that’s perfectly fine with me. Because I miss him when he sleeps at night.

He’s such a lover, easy with the smiles. Everyone always asks, “Is he always this happy?” ‘They’ say that the nine-month mark is when stranger anxiety usually sets in. I hope ‘they’ are wrong.

He loves everyone, but he has a special bond with his Aunt Ba. He’s a different baby when he’s with her, more comfortable than with anyone else besides his mama and daddy. It’s because he knew James and Jake when they were in theire mom’s belly and he was in his, and they asked him to take care of her for them. He does.

He appreciates good shoes, like his mama. He loves to dance and sing, bouncing when the music’s playing and LaLaLa-ing when I’m belting it out in the car or in the kitchen or in his face.

His face lights up when Mark walks in the door every night. He can pull himself off of the floor by digging his fingers into his daddy’s beard. He loves books and food and kissing on the mouth and making raspberries. He’s happy, and usually patient. He is his father’s son.

He loves to be worn, and held close. He tucks his hand into my shirt when he cuddles, and wraps his fingers through my curls when he nurses. He giggles til he hiccups when I nibble on his feet.

I can’t believe how much I love him, how much I need him.

How much he loves Sesame Street.

Guess who was named tiny*prints Adorable Baby of the Week? Check him out, yo.

Guess whose papaw and grandma went to Nashville for spring break?

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And isn’t this the most darling thing you’ve ever seen?

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Late to the game as always, I just signed up for the March of Dimes March for Babies. I walked last year with Team James & Jake, and on Sunday I’m proud to be doing it again. I’d like to say that I’m prepared this year, but no. I didn’t train at all to walk six miles. Everything worth doing is worth suffering for, right? That said, I would be so grateful if you would donate to our team. You can just click right over there on the big purple widget and git ‘er done.

Our lovely team leader Beth is an amazing photographer, and she just opened an Etsy shop showcasing some of her best work. This is good for you, because duh: beautiful prints, and good for us because all proceeds from every sale made by April 30th will be donated to the March of Dimes. Everybody wins!

When our son was asking to be born, we went into the hospital with a short list of names. We had narrowed it down to three from almost one hundred, collected in a spreadsheet with columns and numbers and ratings. We didn’t intend to play the ‘let’s meet him first’ game, but in the end that’s what happened anyway.

Still, it wasn’t immediate; we weren’t sure who he was until the day after he was born, when my husband looked at him, cradled in his lap the way my husband holds all small babies, and said, “He’s Asher William.” It was, like him,  perfect.

Asher comes from the Hebrew word osher, meaning Happy. He is the happiest boy you’ll meet. So many times I’ve heard, “Is he always this happy?” or, “What a beautiful smile!” It’s infectious and contagious.

He’s my joy bringer, my little bundle of pure honey.

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My gram died today.

Five days ago she was admitted to the hospital, three days ago we learned how sick she really was. Tomorrow she was going to be transferred to hospice.

We’ve been at the hospital every day, even though there wasn’t much we could do except be there. I wasn’t sure if it was ok to take Asher with me, but it was the only way,  and I needed to be with my gram and my family.

I’m so glad we were there, because my perfect boy, my joy bringer, affected everyone whose eyes he looked into. Even strangers in the ICU waiting room, families so visibly distraught, looked away from him with softer faces and relaxed shoulders. I heard a woman say, “I can’t help but smile back at him.” It’s his gift.

I think that’s why we were there, to be the break from grief that everyone needed.

He emanates love and happiness, and glows with joy. I don’t know how I got so lucky to have this boy in my life.

But we all need him now, so much.