10 months!

On December 28th Derek and I celebrated our 3rd year anniversary! We also celebrated Ashton turning 10 months! We can't believe how fast time goes!

Ashton is such a fun baby! That is how we describe him- he is just fun. He smiles and giggles all the time and just wants to play and have fun. The other day we were at my parent's house and Jaxon was playing with my moms foot and Ashton laughed so hard he could hardly breath. Later we were playing Mexican train and every time we hit the train button and the train horns went off he would look and laugh! We will do anything to make him laugh- I have never made so many ridiculous faces and noises but I will do just about anything to hear him giggle! He has the cutest personality! 

We have gotten a lot of snow already this year so Ashton got to play in it for the first time. He was definitely not sure about all the snow clothes I put on him and he particularly like the gloves. But once we got him outside he seemed to warm up to the idea of playing in the snow. He hates the wind on his face so that didn't go over well with him and he didn't like making snow angels in the front yard but he loved getting pushed around in our little red wagon. He is lucky to have such a fun daddy that will do exciting things with him!

Ashton got to meet Santa Clause for the first time! Everyone told me that he would scream and cry as soon as he sat on Santa's lap but Ashton really enjoyed Santa actually! He was a little unsure at first but warmed right up to him. My mom set up our own little photo shoot with Santa and the pictures are adorable! I am glad we got to capture time with Santa for Ashton's first Christmas!

Another thing that Ashton loves is paper so Christmas was Heaven for him! He loved unwrapping the gifts but didn't care about what was inside he just wanted the paper! He got the cutest red car that we can push him in and he loves it! He loved the books and toys he got as well! He was definitely spoiled!

We had his 3rd swallow study at Primary Children's to see if his disphagia is improving. He screamed through the entire thing so it was hard to see how he is really swallowing but even in distress he showed improvements so we can thicken half as much now. Unfortunately they found cobble stones (bumps) on the back of his throat so his reflux is worse than we had thought. Hopefully giving him medicine again will help.

Ashton is crawling faster and faster everyday! We turn around and he's gone. On Christmas ever we were doing a white elephant exchange at Sue's house and he was in the middle of all of us and one minute he was there and the next we were all looking for him! He had crawled behind the chairs and was playing with my bag. He is into everything that he should be. He still loves cords and tubes but has developed a new interest in dog food and his dads shoes! He is getting so strong and pulls himself up onto everything and is starting to walk along furniture. His legs are strong but doesn't have the best balance so I'm not sure he'll be walking too soon!

Ashton still is just not a fan of food. We keep telling him that if he wants to fit in in our families he will have to learn to eat! Hates baby food or anything mushy. He loves cucumbers, apples, crackers, chips, and diet pepsi (bad grandma and aunt Cole!) He still only weighs 18 pounds- just not growing too fast.

We finally broke our 3rd tooth on Christmas! It was the first top tooth and was a killer for Ashton! He was miserable for 3 weeks and drooled like a dog! Nothing really helped but luckily he was still able to sleep well. Along with his first top tooth he got his first ear infection and was a miserable baby for a week :(

At 10 months Ashton:
- claps his hands or waves his arms when he gets excited
- throws everything he can get his hands on
- waves hello to everyone
- dances when he hears music and it is the cutest thing in the world
- yells as loud as he can for no reason- and is especially loud in restaurants and church
- is a little violent- he pinches and bites. I think the biting comes from teething. He pulls my hair and then giggles- he thinks its so funny to hurt me. We will have to do something about that!
- brings us more joy than we ever thought possible! He brightens dark days and brings smiles instead of tears! We are so grateful for and love our 10 month old Ashton!!

9 Months!

It is amazing how slow time seemed to pass when I was pregnant for 9 months but time has gone so fast having Ashton here for 9 months! It's also amazing how much he has changed since the night he was born! He has grown and learned so much in such a short amount of time.

Ashton is all about fun at 9 months! His favorite thing to do is hang upside down from his feet. His dad and grandpa are the best at having fun with him! He loves funny noises, peek-a-boo, and having little things thrown at him :) We got him some wooden blocks and Derek will make towers or walls out of these blocks and he gets a big grin on his face and knocks them all down. He doesn't want the blocks stacked or in a nice straight line. The messier the better!

We had a very challenging first few months with Ashton. He struggled with many different things and we always said things like "he will get better at 3 months." or "Ok maybe 4 months." then "at 6 months their stomachs can handle more and he will be happier then." and "He just wants to move so once he can move he will be even happier." And truthfully all of those things really happened. He started sitting up around 51/2 months or so and we saw a drastic change in him. But then we could tell he just wanted to move. For about a month Ashton  crawled backwards and just couldn't figure out how to go forward. He would get stuck somewhere and get really frustrated. Finally one day he got going in the right direction! His crawling was more like a frog hop! It was the cutest thing ever. He has got the crawling thinpg down and is now into EVERYTHING! He is such a happier boy now that he can get what he wants when he wants! Because I have to pump his crawling is a little bit of a problem! He gets away faster than I can grab him so I have to put him in the pack n play or a laundry basket to keep him contained. He is loving his ability to move around. He is also pulling himself up onto furniture. He's just getting to big too fast!

 

When Ashton was younger he loved to have his diaper changed. He loved to lay on his back and play with us as we changed him. For a long time we all volunteered to change diapers because that was the time when he smiled and giggled the most! Now things have changed! We lay him on his back and he immediately rolls and takes off! He can't sit still for even a few seconds to get a diaper changed there are just
too many things to get into!

Ashton has a few food allergies but milk does not show up on his tests so we decided to try introducing  cheese and yogurt. We took him to the doctors office and fed him some cheese- he loved it! However, we got home and 3 hours later he was throwing up pretty violently. It was so sad :( No dairy for Ashton for another little bit which also means no dairy for mom for another little bit.

At 9 months Aston:
- Loves to eat table foods but hates baby food. He loves cucumbers, potatoes, crackers, chips and apples.
- Loves the Christmas tree but loves the Christmas tree cord even more!
- Is crawling and pulling himself up
- Is a small little guy- only weighs 18 pounds (only 10th percentile)
- Is a tall little guy- 75th percentile
- Loves to play with blocks
- Loves the remote control but only the one he is not supposed to play with
- Loves to hear his own voice- especially during church!
- Has quite the temper when he doesn't get what he wants

We love you Ashton!!