asher's first year portraits

I decided before Asher was born - as I imagined my entire future unfurling into a perfectly coiffed Pinterest page - that I wanted to do a monthly series of photos during Asher's first year (possibly longer than that) profiling his changes as each month ticked away. Pinterest had a way of making the photos look pristine, like every new mom had a photo studio in her home and could easily stage these photos with perfect lighting and wardrobe styling. Alas, my reality is decidely less glamorous, more harried and chaotic. I still took the monthly photos. Maybe a few days off the actual monthly birthday, but I did it! I did it for a full year! And here's hoping I can keep it up for another ... I have a feeling I will appreciate my dedication many years from now. However simple the photos, they still chronicle my little man's growth from newborn to living breathing toddler. Full on human! All boy! Eager and happy, excited and curious, always on the move, always ready for a hug and a kiss, a cuddle, a wrestle, a laugh or a romp in the grass.

Here is the first year of Asher's monthly portraits. Here's to another year of beautiful memories.

And I just realized I never got around to formatting his 12 month photo quite like I did the others. So here, in case I forget again later, are some of the things I should have added to the photo:

Asher is 12 months old and full of energy, smiles, laughter and silliness. He is playful and coy, he claps, says "mama", "dada", "pop", "baba", "clock" and "fan". And he recognizes a few colors and other objects that he can't yet say like car, red, blue, yellow, fishies (his mobile), chair, door, and our three cats. Oh, and "no", of course. He scrunches his nose and gives us the stink eye whenever we say it. He is 32 inches tall and 26.6 pounds (97th percentile). He sleeps about 12 hours a night but has been a little off lately with a growth spurt, teething and a cold.

And on August 27th, Asher took his first unassisted step!! He hasn't really wanted to walk independently since then, but is getting stronger and more confident every day and he loves his push cart from IKEA. He'd really rather crawl because he is so dang fast! But I'm really trying to encourage walking instead (if he's not walking he's being carried).