though slightly late, here are our two-month letters to ascher...
my dear bug,
my goodness how the past month has flown by! busy, busy, busy...we kept you on the move this month. this month included a lot of firsts for you...first flight, first hotel stay, first shots, first bottle, first move, first whited family dinner! we were active and you survived all of the chaos. and so did we!
i'll try to go in chronological order: first, we flew to ohio to look for a place to live. work situations forced us to consider relocating earlier than expected. daddy was hired at a company in cincinnati and from then things just fell into place. we were apprehensive traveling with you and had actually considered having just daddy make the trip. but here's the thing...mama was scared to stay at home for several days with just the two of us! that's right, i was scared of my little bug. i'll let you in on a little secret, though...your dad is a pretty handy guy to have around and helps me out a lot! turns out, we were worried for nothing! you were an excellent traveler. you slept through all of the flights and only cried during boarding (only because you were hungry, my little piggy!). and to our amazement, you survived looking at homes for two days in a row! our realtor (scot) showed us almost 30 homes in the two days! you were such a trooper!
because of the impending move, we had to move up your two-month doctors appointment. we went in on your 6-week birthday (august 11). dr. williamson suggested getting your shots out of the way so we wouldn't have to deal with it right when we arrived in cincy. needles? i wasn't prepared for shots! you were not happy with the situation, either! the nurse gave you one of the oral vaccinations while you were sleeping in daddy's arms. you must have thought you were having a sweet dream...all that yummy cherry-flavored syrup! daddy helped the nurses lay you on the table and he held your arms while they counted to three and gave you shots in each leg. your mama is a wimp...i stood in the corner, covering my eyes and crying! we did get good news, though...your weight was an encouraging sign that you were thriving and you were already up to almost 12 pounds!
daddy anticipated his last day of work and we got the apartment in order in preparation for our move. we had a stressful week of waiting to hear about our future home in cincy. thank goodness they accepted our offer (finally)! we know that we will create a lifetime of memories in our future home, watching you grow and expanding our family. we hope that you love the house as much as we do!
after the movers packed up the apartment (and after a brief stay at the courtyard where mama had worked for the past year), it was time to hit the road. while i would like to say the drive was all unicorns and rainbows, there were some stressful points! let's just say that at an hour into the drive, i had nursed you in the post office parking lot, you had puked in my crotch (yeah, you're impressive), and we both had broke down in tears. i wondered what the hell your dad and i were thinking. those parts of the drive were so stressful. overall, you did amazing in the car, though. we stopped a lot and stretched. for the most part, every time we got you out of the car, you were smiling and happy. we arrived at the apartment (temporary living for the next month) on saturday afternoon and you were back to your happy self. i felt like you were telling us it was going to be okay. i know that we took a giant leap of faith moving you cross country, but i felt like we were making the right decision. your ability to adjust so smoothly helped me feel even better about the decision.
with daddy still off work, we were able to spend time together. we made a trip to lafayette and indianapolis to visit family. you finally met your uncle israel, aunt tammy and aunt cera. only aunt sis left to meet! you met cousin dahlia and you're almost as big as she is! she's got some catching up to do!
enough about what we did...what about you? you did a lot of growing this month! when i look at your hospital pictures, you look like a completely different boy! you react to us so well...smiling when we smile. my cup runneth over when you look at me with that big grin. you have found your hands and you love chewing on your fists. you hold your head up much better than you probably should at your age. you tolerate tummy time, but in general, you're not overly enthusiastic about the situation. you stare at me with the most intense concentration and i wish i knew what was going through your head. what are you thinking those times? you love kicking your feet and you flail about in your bouncy seat. i sit you in the kitchen and you watch me cook. you have grown out of clothes at a rapid rate! you love hearing yourself "talk" (oh so much like your mama) and have a very high pitched squeal. please forgive me for calling you ashley when you make that ear-piercing sound (i say that ashley is your evil twin)! you should probably discuss it with your therapist when you're older. just put that on the laundry list of topics...there will be more, i'm certain of it!
regarding parenting, things have started to get easier. well, maybe things aren't easier...maybe daddy and i are just learning how to handle things better. we are able to distinguish cries and are typically able to figure out what's bothering you. we are slowly developing a routine (though that will change once we move into the house) and i finally feel comfortable going places with you and feel fairly confident you won't have a complete meltdown in a public place.
overall, you are an amazing boy and i love watching you change on a daily basis. you amaze me to no end and i am so proud of you. i adore being a mother and feel so protective of you. i wish that i could bottle this up and save it all for later, but i look forward to the next month of changes. i don't want to forget a single moment of your childhood.
all my love,
mama
I am not sure I want all of your posts to be based on a single word theme, but it just seems to fit again this month. The word for month number two is, travel. Your second month started with a trip to our new hometown, Cincinnati, OH. After only thirteen months in New Hampshire, an opportunity to take a new job and move back to the Midwest was just too good to pass up. It was a difficult decision but we packed up your diapers and hopped on an airplane to look for a house to call home. Your trip started out great. We made it through security with no problems and found a nice quiet place for you to eat while we waited for our plane. Then the complications began… it seems there was a bomb scare in NYC where our flight was supposed to be connecting, so instead getting into OH at noon, we arrived at 7pm by way of Charlotte, NC. Funniest thing, you probably handled the delay better than we did. Seems you just love to be on the move, something we will begin to learn over the next few weeks. The home finding trip went well and we ended up finding the home of our dreams. It has tons of space and I can’t wait to watch you grow up in it.
The best part of your second month for me was that I got to spend 2 full weeks of it with you and mommy. I took two weeks of work off between Stryker Biotech and Amylin Pharmaceuticals, to make the move easier. The time off did help the move, but the unexpected benefit was the bonding time with you. Spending the whole day at home watching you grow, was amazing. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was missing lots of milestones while I was off to work. I will forever remember those two weeks as the time I got to know my ‘bugga’.
The final weeks of the month were spent where it started, traveling. The move from Lebanon, NH to Cincinnati, OH covered 850 miles, 5 states, and two full days in the car. You handled the car well and laughed along with dad as mommy played girls gone wild in every truck stop between NH and OH. We were pleasantly surprised with the temporary apartment and it was here that you spent your first night outside of mom and dad’s room. I only panicked once and moved you into our room to make sure I could keep a closer eye on you. I was certain you weren’t breathing… of course I was wrong, but a daddy can’t be too careful.
The month of travel ended with a long weekend in Indiana. I will leave it to mom to describe the trip, but a boy’s first trip to the infamous ‘West Point’ is always a memorable one (ask your mom about your mustache). So there you have it, nearly 2000 miles covering 7 states; New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio, and Indiana. You are quite the traveler little boy, and this is only the beginning!
Love your captain and chauffeur, Dad
