ashford: week 2

as a whole, week 2 went more smoothly than week 1. i hope i'm not coming off as whiny or ungrateful in these posts. i feel silly because i know i'm not the first person to have 2 kids or a demanding newborn. i always hear people say "just enjoy the newborn stage, it goes so fast." but i still struggle. i am slowly adjusting to our new normal. some days i feel like i'm totally on top of things, then the next day i feel the exact opposite. if that doesn't sum up parenthood, i don't know what does. 

highlights:

one last christmas celebration with my mom's side of the family, weight check appointment, "celebrated" new years eve, met more friends, newborn pictures, first bath at home, lots of friends brought us dinner (so so nice!)

here are some pictures from our final christmas get together. ashford got to meet lots of extended family for the first time. he and azalea are the youngest ones by about 18 years, so they get a ton of attention :) 

stats:

ashford had a weight check appointment on 12/30 when he was 9 days old and weighed in at 7 lbs, 8 oz, which was up 4 oz from his 1 week appointment. the doctor was very happy to see it (and so was i!). the doctor said we didn't need to come back again for another check for a week. woo hoo! hope this trend continues.

on new years day, we did ashford's newborn shoot with our awesome photographer alison bents photography. ashford started off the session asleep, which was great, but he soon woke up and proceeded to cry the rest of the time. sigh :) here is a little sneak peek. i can't wait to see the rest of the pictures. 

hair and eye color:

same as last week - blonde hair, blue eyes. basically mini thatcher :)

clothing:

still rockin the newborn stuff, and a few 0-3 onesies. 

wearing his daddy's newborn jammies :)

sleep:

we had a huge turning point for sleep this week, thanks to my new best friend, the rock n play sleeper. i had heard so many good things about this cradle, so i figured it was worth a shot. i ran out at 7:30pm on new years eve and bought one at target. low and behold, ashford started sleeping 3-4 hour stretches that very night...and every night after. amazing! i lay him down in it swaddled, after nursing and he stays asleep. it's worth a million bucks!

feeding:

feedings continued to get better this week, as well. ashford started spacing them out a little more - ya know, like every 1.5-1.75 hours. 2 hours  would be ideal, but 'll take it. the initial latching pain is almost gone, which makes the frequent feedings more bearable. hoping we get another good weight report next week and can keep on going with nursing.  i've already made it longer than with i did with azalea.

most used gear:

rock n play sleeper (amen!), he's warmed up a little to the bouncy seat, but doesn't like it all the time, we've also used a sling a few times around the house, with some success. 

first bath:

ashford's umbiical cord stump fell off around day 7 or 8, but we didn't get around to giving him a bath until day 13 (how you know you are a second child - haha!). he was sort of unsure about the whole thing. he was calm and looked around at first, but then started to cry after a while. he was such a slippery little dude - i had forgotten what that was like! azlaea enjoyed "helping" with bath time. 

likes: 

same as last week....eating and being held.

dislikes: 

same story....dude wants to eat all.the.time. so if you aren't offering him a boob, he probably doesn't like it. haha. 

azalea's adjustment: 

azalea did pretty well this week. she spent more days at daycare, which is part of the reason i'm surviving right now ;) she shows some interest in him, but mostly does her own thing.