This year, Asher asked for a Star Wars party. Well, actually he asked to dress up like Darth Maul, and have “light saver” duels with his friends. Star Wars party = totally doable. But, Darth Maul dress up with duels? Darth Maul has got to be the scariest-looking villain of all times, right? Besides, he appears in only 1 of the 8 million Star Wars movies, for what? Maybe 30 seconds total. Despite Asher’s insistence on becoming Darth Maul, I just couldn’t bring myself to agree to this. So, we set about the delicate dance of compromising with a preschooler. Reaching a compromise came easily, though, once we understood his angle on the whole thing. With the right questions, we came to learn that he likes Darth Maul mainly for 2 reasons. 1- he’s a good fighter. 2- he has a double light saber. Now we’re talking. We made pool noodle light sabers for all the kids (a double, of course, for birthday boy), dressed Asher in an awesome Darth Maul party shirt (thanks, Pami!), and called it a day. Unfortunately, I didn’t get many pictures from his party. We were rather busy, dueling.
In addition to the birthday party, we had a great weekend celebrating Asher. Pami and Papa paid us a visit and we made the most of our time together. Asher requested shrimp and rice for dinner, so we took him out to a hibachi grill. Ironically, after living in Japan for 2 years, this was Asher’s (Isla’s, too) first hibachi dinner. We also visited San Antonio’s Japanese Gardens. We didn’t exactly plan for a Japanese-inspired weekend, it just turned out that way. It was nice, though, to reminisce a bit about Japan. And to reminisce a bit about our baby, Asher. I know, I know, he’s not a baby. He skips, swings, skate-boards, schemes, and steals our hearts on a daily basis. He’s fun, happy, chubby-cheeked, and giggles on the regular. He’s starting to enjoy coloring. He’s signed up for his first soccer season. He sleeps often and deeply. He weaves tall tales. His sweet tooth rivals mine. He loves his sister unconditionally. He gives great compliments and often starts his day with the following positive affirmation- today’s going to be a great day. Asher, may your life be filled with immeasurable great days. We love you.