Asher's Firsts

Adopting an older child presents the situation of missing their first moments- first smile, tooth, steps, word.. etc. It's often sad to think about the fact that we were never able to witness several of the major "firsts" for each of our adopted children. It's even sadder to think that we know nothing about Asher except for the fact that he was abandoned at a printing press right next to the orphanage when he was 2 weeks old. We have the dates for his cleft lip, palate and abdominal surgery.. but other than that we have nothing else to go on. We don't know if he had chicken pox, when he got his first tooth or what he's seen in his short life.
But with all that sadness.. we are able to witness several of Asher's firsts, which are just as special as seeing his first smile. =)
Asher has had a great month of firsts.. he participated in his first holiday celebration.. well, if you count Halloween a holiday! (Our kids sure do!) Asher attended two fall festivals, picked out pumpkins at the pumpkin patch, helped us carve pumpkins and dressed up as a Bionicle! (Ian picked out his costume!)
He's also starting to pick up a lot more English lately. Why is it that the first words our kids have learned always seems to be something we DON'T want them to say? Just last week there was a battle ensuing between two unnamed members of our family. As I stood there trying to referee the fight, I heard from across the hallway (clear as a bell) "SHUT UP.. (unnamed person)" I didn't know what to do.. laugh or scold? I ended up laughing because it was funny to hear him say something that he has (sadly) overheard. Guess we can add that to another of his firsts!
The last month has continued to be full of ups and downs, as is continued to be expected. Asher has his really good days, and then he has his bad days.
We're looking forward to celebrating another month with Asher during November. Especially since we have a few exciting things planned.. including Thanksgiving and a hunting trip to Georgia!!

For more pictures and updates, please visit us on our family blog: Two Twin Terrors. I'll continue to post monthly updates on this blog, but for now it's just much easier to post all of our updates on the other blog.