Friday, November 2: Four Weeks Old

Well, it's been a long time since I've updated the blog! It's been a busy but great couple of weeks. We took Ashton home on Friday, October 19--exactly two weeks from when he was born. It was so nice to finally have him home! He came home on oxygen, and he's still on it, although it's barely even anything. We're weaning him off of it, and he's doing really well. He can actually last a couple of hours without it now before he starts dropping on his saturation levels. We're really hoping to have him completely off of it this next week.

Having Ashton home has been really great. I almost feel like we missed parts of his life in the beginning since we weren't able to be with him all day and night. I love having him here and being able to get to know him better. It's funny, because I always thought that newborns were a little boring. I didn't think they had much of a personality, and that all they did was sleep all day. I couldn't have been more wrong! Ashton has tons of personality. When he gets hungry, he is ravenous and gets really aggressive. He throws his head from side to side and growls and grunts, and it's almost impossible to get the bottle in his mouth, let alone get it in right with his tongue in the correct position. We've also learned that, unless he's completely out of it and in too deep of a sleep to care, he can't fall asleep unless his feet and arms are free and out of the blanket. He hates having his legs and arms bundled up. He's pretty much adorable :-)

One of the funniest moments for me since we've brought him home happened when we were giving Ashton a bath one night. I was holding the towel and as Kirk was handing him to me, Ashton started peeing. A fountain of urine went all over Kirk's chest and stomach. I could not stop laughing, and for the rest of the night I would just burst out in giggles every time I thought about it. So far, he hasn't peed on me, but he has done a few nice numbers on our sheets, quilt, and bedspread. That kid has great bowels!

We took Ashton to the pediatrician for the first time two weeks ago, and he weighed 6 lbs 2 oz. Then, we went back one week later and he was 6 lbs 15.5 oz! I can't believe how fast he's growing, and now he's four weeks old and I feel like the past month has just flown by. Pretty soon, he'll be walking and then talking and then, before I know it, he'll be graduating high school! I wish he could just stay like this forever--an adorable, innocent little baby.

The past few weeks have definitely been pretty exhausting, and I feel like I'm running on adrenaline with some added energy in the form of Mountain Dew, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Some nights I actually look forward to waking up multiple times in the middle of the night to feed Ashton and change his diapers (I'm pretty sure that will wear off soon enough). Ashton has been such a blessing in our lives, and has brought so much joy to us already in the short amount of time he's been with us. We love him so much, and I'm so excited to watch him grow and get stronger (and cuter) every day.