burn pile

Asher with his auntie Gen. In the backgound is the remnants of the small stand of trees that used to house our shower. Our first site preparation for the next round of building this summer and fall.

wee lad

Here Asher, still in his knitware, sporting the small wool cap our friend Massimo made. It is good to be getting ourside more with Asher...there is so much to do around our place.

agency

Asher seems to have discovered his first real sense of agency in the world. He figured out that by pumping his legs he is able to rock his hammock and jiggle the hanging "mind shapes." He will now lay there for upwards of an hour and alternately pump his legs and watch the hanging shapes. The position and activity also seem to promote his bowel functions, as a further bonus.

He is also much more engaged with the world now, through his interest and his eyes. He is checking things out and, at times, can't seem to take it in fast enough.

And somehow he does keep getting cuter in our eyes...

concentration

interpretive dance with rabbit

i'm with the rabbit

out

Asher is sleeping and waking in longer cycles already. Still doesn't match up exactly with our schedules, but we are adapting...

cushy

Asher in his sheepskin lined hammock. He doesn't spend a lot of time hanging out like this, but handy when we want to get dressed or otherwise use our hands...

new

At almost six weeks, he is not so new anymore. This hand painted onesie (along with several others, including the hopeful message, "this is what a feminist looks like") compliments of our friend Robin who incidently forwarded me this link on man milk. Something to consider.

light

Asher is still fascinated by light and will spend ages, when he is not trying to poop, gazing up at our skylights, or at a candle. He continues to pack on the weight fairly quickly, as evidenced by this photo.

slung

This is one of Asher's favourite positions, flung over someone's shoulder, preferably with some bouncing and back patting. It seems to relieve some of his gas pains and promote burping. He continues to get cuter every day. Knitware by Marge (see below).

leprechaun

Asher ready to head out for the St. Patrick's Day Strata meeting/potluck. The sweater and matching hat are knit by Asher's surrogate Gran, Marge. The wool is a lovely marino wool in the colour lichen apparently. I wish I could fit into the jacket.

the boys

Zena and the boys--Zylo in the middle, Asher zonked, and Asher's new friend, Arlo, on the left.

looking up

Asher spending some more time on the floor. He's getting pretty good at lifting up his head and looking around. It is remarkable how much stronger and larger he is after just five weeks out of the womb.

adoration

Here Asher is giving his mama an adoring look.

peek

a boo

rocker

Zena nursing in the "library"--the little space under our stairs, in the rocker lent to us by a good neighbour, Victor. He continues to be a prodigious eater but is starting to sleep for longer stretches at a time.

growth

Asher had his fourth weigh in at the midwives yesterday, and tipped the scales at 10.5 lbs. Apparently he is healthy and, as we suspected, a vigerous and effective eater.

outfits

I can see why people get into baby clothes and gifts. Asher is more regularly in clothes these days and trying out his new stuff (thanks to Auntie Donna for this one). He still has squirmy, gassy nights, but he has been calm during the days, either hanging out like this, nursing, or sleeping...

one month

Asher is one month old today. He is out at Seedy Saturday today, with the girls, while I am at the cafe with my laptop.

elfin booties

Asher is quickly becoming more engaged with the world, spending stretches looking around and hanging out. He is also spending more time in clothes...here in his little Robeez booties, thanks to Juniper and Sylvie in Montreal...

askance

Interestingly, Asher has the opposite asymmetry as Zena, with his right eye being noticeably larger than his left. And he likes to look askance at things.

I just came across the following passage in the novel I am reading, More Die of Heartbreak, by my current favourite writer, Saul Bellow:

When he spoke of staring at the azalea, the twist of his gaze altered his entire face—again a physiognomic peculiarity of one of those passionate natures who long to find and to see what perhaps does not exist on earth. That’s how the Russian poet Blok once put it in a similar case. He also observed that in such persons one eye (usually the left) is smaller than the other. (The loops of the figure eight are not identical in size.) Such a hunger to see lasts all through life, up to the grave, perhaps beyond the grave. By such signs I understood that the Citizen of Eternity is not cut off from his inner sources.”

pat a pat

Asher is still suffering, from occassional gas, so we spend a lot of time burping him and trying to facilitate the passage of gas and liquids.

in the white robe...

Asher drying off after his bath.

big mitts

It seems that we are settling into a routine with Asher, as parents must, to survive. The infatuation is still there, but we are going steady now, learning more about each other's quirks. Asher does have gas from time to time, but usually he is very good natured and sleeping well. Yesterday Zena and I were hanging out with him and got what seemed to be his first intentional and sustained smile.