Glenwood Hot Springs Pool

Our last day was spent in the Glenwood Springs pools. Heated by natural springs, the big pool is something like 90-95 degrees and the smaller hot pool was 104 degrees. Riley jumped off a diving board for the first time here, and we all had fun swimming, splashing, floating, and relaxing before heading home.

Asher is Three!

Finally, I have a good reason for a belated post! Things have been hectic around here for the last few weeks. We have tried to keep things at home as consistent as possible for our kid, especially Tyson, but we've got a lot of balls that we're trying to keep in the air right now. So far everything is working out, and we are reassured that we are moving in the right direction. As I told my grandparents when we talked this morning, we're just trying to keep our heads above water and our feet underneath us.

Fortunately Asher's birthday happened before all this craziness hit, so we were able to have a celebration that he was pleased with.

Asher was thrilled with all the birthday cards that came in the mail during the days leading up to his birthday. I'm convinced that nothing makes a three-year-old feel more important than getting mail from people he hardly remembers meeting.

Scot was still home taking his "family leave," so the whole family went to lunch at one of Asher's favorite places, McDonalds. He proved he was a big boy by making it all the way to the top slide in a rather confusing Playplace, without any help from his big sister.

For dinner Asher requested his favorite: slow-cooker lasagna. I've made all my kids' birthday cakes until this year. He had been telling me for weeks that he wanted a Lightning McQueen cake for his birthday. My friend Maggie had given me an idea for an easy way to decorate a Lightning McQueen cake and I debated doing it myself. But in the end, I decided to cheat. I still felt like my hands were full with three kids and we were preparing the house for showings. But the deciding factor was that I knew Asher would be happy with any birthday dessert, as long as it was colorful and made of chocolate.

At his 3-year check-up Asher was in the 5th percentile for height and the 25th for weight.

Asher is the sweetest little guy. He talks a lot, but is very quiet when he's out of his comfort zone. With another child in the house with a strong personality, we are reminded just how easy-going Asher is. Honestly, he is a good buffer between Riley and Tyson.

Asher's favorite things are cars, trains, Dora, singing, bath time, chocolate, ice cream, pizza, his super bouncy ball, penguins, playing with his cousin Brady and his friend Gunner, books, aquariums and fish tanks, dipping food in Ranch dressing, playing on Riley's scooter, and making Tyson laugh.

Their Favorite Things

Riley's new favorite song is "My Favorite Things" from "The Sound of Music" soundtrack. She especially loves the "When the dog bites, When the bee stings" part. Singing it to her this morning made me think of more of my kid's favorite things right now.

Asher and Riley both loves books. One strategy I've tried to employ lately to get things done without having them underfoot is to have Riley "read" to Asher. It sounds like a fantastic solution, in theory. In reality, Asher seldom sits still for her, Riley doesn't like sharing the chair with a wiggly boy, and her arms aren't long enough to keep him from trying to eat the books. But when it has worked out, it's adorable.

Riley has never been a big fan of bathtime. Her brother, on the other hand, has always loved being in the water. And his enthusiasm is starting to wear off on her. The other night Riley was at the front of the tub and Asher was at the back. She was occupied with a bath toy as Asher crawled toward her and watched her for a second. Then he raised a hand in the air and brought it back into the water, right next to Riley. Then he waited for her reaction. Unfortunately for him, she didn't seem to notice. So he crawled back to his spot and found a toy of his own. A few minutes later Riley had moved closer to Asher. He looked up from where he was sitting, smiled in her direction, and deliberately splashed her with two hands. This time she noticed and laughed. Asher responded by giggling, and it quickly turned into a splash fight, with both of them squealing and laughing.

Lastly, the two of them both really like each other. Riley has lots of pet names for her brother, including "Cute Boy," "Ashee," and "Handsome." And just in the past day or two Asher has started saying her name a lot. When Riley is in preschool or taking a nap, and it's just Asher and I, he'll repeat "Wywee" over and over.

First "Real" Bath

Asher had his first “real” bath on Sunday afternoon. His umbilical cord came off a week earlier, so I didn’t need to stick with the sponge baths. But I don’t have my handy little baby tub here, and I was intimidated by the big bath tub.

Finally I came up with the idea of laying a folded towel in the tub and filling it just to the top of the towel. I know, it’s not that original of an idea. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner. But I’m glad I eventually did, because it worked really well.He screamed at first, but he always does when I take his clothes off. As soon as my Mom and I started splashing that warm water on his legs and belly he calmed right down. And after we were finished he was probably the cleanest he has ever been.

UPDATE on termination of birth parent's rights

UPDATE: We found out today that the birthfather’s rights have been terminated by the court! The hearing was heard in front of a pretty thorough judge who indicated he was pleased with the process that the agency went through to terminate the paternal rights. Everything is now in place for the adoption to be finalized, most likely in early October!

Here are a couple cute photos.

First Real Bath

Yesterday, Riley's umbilical cord fell off so we can now give her real baths! Ok, maybe we were way more excited than she was. We think she was a little cold, which we already mentioned she doesn't like. When we were swaddling Riley, Bernie showed a lot of interest, so Scot swaddled him too. Neither of them seemed to mind, but I think the look on Riley's face shows us she can't figure out who the baby is with all the white hair.