A Beautiful Sunday

Hello blog readers, apologies for the short hiatus. Ashton's mom (ahem, myself) had a big event in NYC last Wednesday for my old employer and got pretty busy. But there's good news: First, 3.13.12 was my first night away from my baby and I survived it! Minus the pumping in random closets at the Nasdaq Marketsite as well as in the Amtrak bathroom (yuck). I missed Ashton terribly and thought about him all the time (um, Tate, not so much you, sorry buddy). It's such a catch-22 because although I yearn for breaks, when I actually get them I feel guilty, sad, or anxious to get back to him. The rare times that I'm not with Ashton, I am either talking about him or looking at his picture. Motherhood is so annoying.

Anyway, I left Ashton in Jason's incredibly capable hands but even still, I cried when I left :( Jason told me it was just one night, I was going to do great and he was so proud of me, and THAT just made me cry more! Again, so annoying. But the event was a great success (too many details to share here) and everyone is already talking about next year, so I guess that's a good sign :)

The more important question is, what has Ashton been up to since my last post?? Well, for one thing, he has been outgrowing his clothes:

Just after I took this picture, the belly snap couldn't hold on any longer, flew off and hit me in the face. I told Ashton that was it, no more fries.
(Fun fact: the silver rattle in his grubby little fist belonged to me when I was a baby :) )

He also has been on his first playground swing:

I took a few videos of this momentous occasion but they are even more boring than what I usually put up so I'm not going to post them. Picture Ashton swinging back and forth and the only sound: birds chirping. No laughter, cute giggles, nothing. He was like, "Great, I'm swinging. So what?" It must have been the brown bear outfit I put him in. Are the ears not cool?

And that's about it until today. Today was a perfect 10, the best day of the year so far. 70, sunny, not a cloud in the sky. Jason had the day off but was off doing all kinds of house projects so we were left to our own devices. Ashton had his first iced coffee (along with his peaches) for breakfast:

I know I don't need to explain what an important milestone Dunkin Donuts is. After that, we headed outside to play on the deck for the first time this year!

After that, tummy time. Ashton's still not up on all fours or scooting but he does do these interesting yoga poses which I will fully document in another post. For now, he just looks cute on the floor.

The most blissful part of the day was 4-6 pm, we went to the park and truly, the clear air, blue sky, perfect temperature, and slight breeze made you close your eyes, breathe in, and think, "My god it's nice out." The kind of afternoon where your blood pressure is low and your heart feels calm. We set up a blanket and I just had to take a couple pictures.

Then Ashton's friend Owen came. Now, Owen was born on 12/22/10, so he's twice Ashton's age at almost 15 months and totally Ashton's role model, see?

Now, I'm very good friends with Owen's parents (especially his mom Chera) and have relied on them for a lot during the past 7.5 months of Ashton's life. Watching Owen is like watching a preview of what is to come and it has been invaluable. Also, it has scared me to death. Of course I know that the day will come where breastmilk won't cut it and that Ashton won't stay where I put him, and I can only hope Ashton turns out to be as cute and as adventurous as Owen is.

This is my usual post time because it's after Ashton goes to bed and right before dinner (I know, we eat late). So if you'll excuse me, my very handsome husband is making chicken piccata and I'm starving :)