Happy Birthday - Week 4

So it's been a month! Wow four weeks have gone in the blink of any eye. And just like his one week birthday I was again able to celebrate with Asher at the actual time of his birth (4:42 a.m.!) It's amazing that no matter how many books you read or people you talk to nothing is going to teach you what your child needs but your child. Every day Heath and I wake up looking for any routine or pattern to Asher's needs - unfortunately, we've yet to find them but we're still hopeful!
In the above picture Asher is actually holding his rattle - another exciting milestone! He was even trying to shake it. I suppose he probably didn't know what he was doing but we can pretend!

While it still feels like we have a REALLY long way to go to knowing what Asher is trying to tell us and to getting a full night's sleep we have come a long way. We can now give him a bath in no time, we can get the diaper on to avoid leaks (almost every time) and we know some of his favorite positions to settle him from a meltdown!

Week 3

Today is Asher's 3 week birthday! Hard to believe 21 days have passed since his birth! We celebrated today with eating, sleeping and pooping (I suppose very similar to all the other days!) but we also enjoyed just a few minutes of tummy time on his playmat - he's even start to lift his head a little and some play time loving kicking his legs!

Every day is a new Milestone!

While I feel a little like every day is Groundhog's Day, I also feel like every day is a new milestone. We're cautiously optimistic that we're getting in to a routine. Eating every three hours (a little longer at night) and and one time in between feedings when Asher's awake the entire time and ready to play! He loves kicking his feet and is working on getting his hands in his mouth. We even had a few minutes of successful tummy time were he lifted and turned his head. Plus he was able to track one of his favorite toys.

But in addition to the regular feedings, burpings and diaper changes, Asher has had some pretty big accomplishments! He just lost his umbilical cord yesterday! He also is continuing to enjoy outings here and there and especially likes Neighbors! He even visited his daddy at work!

Perhaps one of the biggest and best milestones for his mom was his weight check today. While Heath laughed a little (because it's pretty clear he's gaining weight) over-anxious, crazy mom had to take him to get weighed. Asher was not overly excited about getting stripped down AGAIN (seems like he's always naked, that's mom's preferred method of feeding to keep him awake!) but mom was super excited to see that now at 18 days he weighs 7 lbs 12 oz - almost 2 lbs more than when he was born!

Grateful for Family

Over the last 18 days all four of Asher's grandparents have been able to meet him and love on him! Papa Ewing made it down for the weekend, Grandma Jane got to stay the whole week, Papaw Jim was here for two weeks and we were lucky enough to have NeeNee Ann here for 3 weeks (after a few tears and an unexpected plane ticket purchase).

Asher already loves his grandparents very much and feels blessed to have them. He loved snuggling up with all of them and even peed on Papaw Jim and loved reading with NeeNee.

We're excited that they are already planning their trips back to visit!

13 oz

If you'd asked us 10 days ago we would have said 10 onces was nothing, but today we considered it a huge milestone! Asher went for a weight check at the pediatrician's office and now weighs 7 lbs 12 oz! That's up 13 onces from last Thursday and from his birth weight. What a crazy feeling to know that things are going well and little Asher is gainging weight but to almost be a little sad to know that soon he'll be out of his newborn clothes and he'll never be that small again.

It seems like everyday for the last ten days we mark a milestone and in all the craziness it's really hard to document them all! Today we also went out to lunch. Asher did great and Heath, NeeNee, Papaw and I had a great lunch at Panera.

4:42 a.m.

Of course 4:42 a.m. will now be a time I'll never forget since it's when our little Asher came in to our life. Apparently, it's also going to be a time I'm never going to forget because I'm going to see it quite often!

Not to leave Heath out - we both were up and taking care of Asher to celebrate the exact moment of Asher's one week birthday!

For those of you who know me well you know that I am NOT a late night person and the idea of being up at 2, 3, or 4 in the morning is about the last thing I'd want to be doing. But over the last nine days there have been several late nights. And while some have been more stressful than others and there have been some tears shed by both Asher and mommy they are moments I'll never forget and always treasure.

Of course, I must admit I'd never make it through them without all of the love and support from Heath, my parents, in-laws and family and friends. Thanks for all of the help!!!

Where to start?

Nine days after after Asher's birthday the Ewing family seems to be doing OK! At some moments we feel like he was born yesterday - many of the days seem to be the same: eat, sleep, poop. Other times it seems like the little guy has been with us forever and of course as crazy at is sounds it's hard to even remember what our life was like with out him.

We've had a lot of milestones over the last nine days and already taken hundreds of pictures. Asher had a little jaundice so we had two doctor appointments his first few days home. He passed with flying colors he even made it back to his birth way by the Thursday after his birth. His weight is still in the 10-25% for his height but we're working on that awfully hard!

Asher also had a two hour photo shoot for his newborn pictures and he was quite the trooper! Aside from a little pee and poop that is going to have to be photoshopped out of the pictures he did great.

Another milestone was Asher's first trip to Target and his first lunch out at Montana Plains!