Winnie the Pooh and Ashton, Too!

Winnie the Pooh has long been a favorite of Ashton's. It had only been a week and a half since Tristan was born, but we heard it was in the dollar theater, and we thought that would be the perfect "date" to take Ashton on. It was the first time he'd ever gone to the movie theater, so it was kind of exciting! We told him we were going to see a show on a very big TV, and he seemed intrigued, but we didn't tell him what show. When we got to the theater, he saw the Pooh poster and was very excited that we were going to watch a "Pooh show."

(Hmm, overwhelmed much? I was in denial about it, but I don't think I was ready to be seen by the public yet...) In the theater, Ashton did a pretty good job waiting patiently for the movie to start. He sat in the chair and talked to us about all of the "Pooh Bear guys" and played with the rock he insisted on bringing in from the parking lot.


When the commercials and previews began, he started to get excited. But then when they showed an animated short before the movie, he thought we'd turned on the wrong show. He would watch for a few minutes and then tell us, "The Pooh show!!!" I think he was worried that we'd changed our minds about a Pooh show, or something. But then the actual movie started and Ashton was in 75 minutes of heaven! We could not get him to sit down, so he stood on his chair the whole time. And he kept shouting everyone's names at the top of his lungs ("Pooh!" "Eeyore!") and laughing hysterically. (Luckily there were several other children doing the same thing, so he wasn't really bothering anyone.)

He was completely absorbed!

And no, we didn't take pictures during the movie. Those last two were during the end credits, so imagine how excited and absorbed he was DURING the show! He was so glad we went, and we were so glad we took him. He talked about Winnie the Pooh and all of the characters the whole way home. And to his surprise, there was one more treat in store:

An ice cream cone! The perfect date for a two-year-old. :)

Reverting

Now that Tristan is around, I think Ashton wants to be a baby again! He is suddenly and for no reason obsessed with the pacifier. In order to keep him from stealing Tristan's, we had to dig his old one out of the diaper bag--which he hasn't even liked or used since he was a few months old! But now he wanders around with it clenched in his teeth. Backwards, yes, but whatever works...

And whenever Tristan has a binki, he has to make sure he has his, too. (Hysterics ensue if we can't find it.)

He also tries to swaddle himself with a blanket and pretend to sleep. His favorite spot to do this is the baby car seat.

Oh brother, what are we gonna do with this crazy kid?

P.S. In other news...we have a belly button! And it only took 8 days. :)

1 Week Old!

Has it really been 7 days already???

The First Few Days

The first few days of Tristan's life were difficult in a lot of ways, but they were also very special. It's really interesting to see how a new little baby fits instantly into the family. So even though I was mostly bed-ridden and often in pain, I was also enjoying the discoveries we were making along the way.

Discovery #1: Tristan loves to be swaddled. Which is complicated by Discovery #2: Tristan wiggles just as much outside of me as he ever did on the inside! There are a few little blankets that I used to swaddle Ashton in as a newborn, but I can't use them on Tristan. They're too little, and within a few minutes he's wiggling right out of them!

Discovery #3: Tristan is very yellow! His bilirubin kept climbing, and Tyler kept having to take him back to the hospital every day to get it tested again. It got up to 14 (I think), and if it had gone any higher we would have probably had to get a UV blanket or bed, but luckily it started coming down the next day. Phew!



Discovery #4: Ashton is having a harder time adjusting to a new baby than I would have liked. Don't get me wrong, he LOVES his baby. (And yes, he calls him "my baby.") I think he just wasn't ready for the change. Things are different, but in a way he can't understand. And not only am I completely helpless at this point, but our attention is now divided by this new baby, and I don't know that Ashton knows what to do with that. Thank goodness my mom was here for a few days, to love him and spoil him when I couldn't. And after she left, Tyler's mom came and took him for a little sleep-over. Beyond that, Ashton is getting to have his way a lot. Yes, my friends, we are proud to say that we resort to spoiling him! Not too much, though. We mostly just let him run around in his PJs (or nothing at all), and we try to give him lots of treats or rewards when he is being good, and bottles when he thinks he needs them. Poor kid, it just breaks my heart some days. I can't blame him, though.


But like I said, he totally loves Tristan. He constantly tries to climb in the pack-n-play so he can sleep with him.


And he wants Tristan to "watch" shows with him. (Let me just say that Sesame Street has been my saving grace so far...) It's really quite adorable.


Discovery #5: Tristan make funny faces and studies everything around him when he is awake.



Discovery #6: Tristan LOVES to sleep. Most of the time he is totally unconscious.

Every now and then he'll wake up to say hello...

...but then it's right back to Dreamland.

At night he even goes 4-5 hours until he eats, which means I can feed him before I go to bed and only have to feed him one time before we get up! It is beautiful. I really hope this continues. Ashton used to wake me up every 2-3 hours for months after he was born, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed...

Going Home

Tyler (always the smart one in our family) paid a visit to the billing people at the hospital and found out that the way they bill a hospital stay is to count every midnight that you pass as one day. So, even though I'd been in the hospital a day and a half, they would only bill us for one day if we went home before midnight! I know this will sound weird, because most people can't wait to get out, but I ridiculously love being in the hospital. I love not having to worry about anything and having everyone take care of me for a change. It's probably because I'm completely bed-ridden and because I'm there for a happy reason, though. I'm sure if I felt perfectly normal, or if I were there for something not-so-happy or for a longer time, I'd probably be itching to go home, too.

Random tangent. Sorry. Anyway, even though I was a little sad to leave already, we decided it was pointless to sleep there one more night and be charged for two days, when we could just go home that evening and save at least $2,000. (I can't believe how much these things cost!!!) We let the nurse know when we would be ready to check out, had my prescriptions brought over, ate dinner together, and waited to be checked out. And we waited. And we waited some more. Finally, a long time after we'd wanted to check out, the nurse came in and apologized and explained that right about the time we should have been checking out, someone rushed their car into the parking lot and had a baby. In the car. In the parking lot. Apparently, the baby came too fast and they didn't have time to even walk the ten steps to get to the emergency room! (Now I'm terrified that something like that will happen to me someday...) All the nurses were down taking care of the baby and the mom, and helping the dad clean up the car. So that is the story of why we didn't get to go home until almost midnight!

Once we were finally checked out, paperwork-wise, I changed and got myself ready, while Tyler got Tristan changed and took a few pictures. He looked so tiny and adorable in his first outfit!

Once he was strapped in his car seat, he seemed like he might almost be smiling and happy to go home with us. (Although I'm sure it was just gas...)

The nurse came to wheel me down to the car, and just like that our hospital stay was over. We headed back to real life, but this time as a family of four. Thank you, thank you, thank you to such a great hospital and staff! We'll definitely be seeing you again someday.

Hmm...

This was Tristan at 2pm:

This is Tristan at 2am:

I think someone is confused.

Oh well. I'm still in the adrenaline rush of having a baby, so at least for now, I don't mind. The second time around is a lot different than the first. It's not as scary, and it's not as new, but it's just as special. And now it's even familiar. Tristan is so similar to Ashton in a lot of ways, but also very different at the same time.

Their faces look very similar. Same shape, same eyes, same nose and mouth. Though at the same time there is a slight difference that I can't put my finger on (in their nose and lips, I think) that makes them look unique. Ashton was not born with the same round cheeks, because he was more than a pound lighter than Tristan. But after a few weeks, once Ashton gained a pound or two, his cheeks rounded out and they looked just like Tristan's do now. Tristan is not only heavier, but also taller--which I could tell when he stretched out inside of me, before he was even born! And he is a GREAT nurser, unlike Ashton. They both have exactly the same ears, but Ashton's stick out from his head a little and Tristan's don't. Ashton had ridiculously long fingers, but Tristan not so much. And although both of them have long feet, their toes are completely different. Tristan must have Tyler's, because Ashton definitely has mine. Ashton was born with only a little bit of hair, and it was blonde. Tristan has more (though still not tons), and it's much darker and longer. He also has a weird cowlick in the front-middle of his forehead that Ashton definitely does not have. I'm interested to see what that will do to his hair when he gets older. Tristan is very alert when he is awake, as was Ashton. However, it's already obvious to me that he is not colicky like Ashton was. (Thank goodness!!!)

Maybe some people will disagree with my assessment, but oh well. It's still what I think. :)

Meeting Ashton

It was very convenient that Tristan was born in the morning, because everyone could come see him right away. The first visitors to come were my mom and Ashton. I couldn't wait for him to meet his new baby brother! Unfortunately I was slowly making my way out from the bathroom when they came in, and Tristan was laying in his bassinet right in front of them, so Ashton saw him instantly. Tyler and Mom both said that his face lit up and he smiled and said, "My baby." So sweet! And I was two seconds too late. I'm still kinda sad about that one. But it was fine, I still got to watch them get to know each other, and I was so happy that we were finally all together.

This is the first tentative kiss he gave to his little brother.

I love how his face looks so stunned in these first two pictures, like he's thinking, "What's happening here...?"

After a while, though, he warmed right up to Tristan.

And then he wanted to rip off the blanket and see if there was more to this kid than just a head.

He found Tristan's knees...

...and his fingers...

...and his toes...

...and then I think he was satisfied.

From then on, he loved him. He kept asking to hold him, and he kept trying to kiss him. The problem was that every kiss got longer and a little rougher, until he was practically suffocating the baby! Poor Tristan.

The final seal of approval: he shared his ball with him. Now that is love.

Luckily Tristan got a little reprieve from his loving big brother. Becky, Royce, and Bryant came to meet him! I'm glad Becky thought to ask Tyler to take a picture of her with Tristan. I was too out of it. I wouldn't have remembered. I didn't even think to get one of my own mother! (Although she is the one holding him in lots of the pictures.)

It's crazy how big Ashton suddenly looked to me!

It was nice to have so many visitors. (Carlton even came after work for a few minutes.) Tristan definitely won them all over!

The First Bath

Tyler said that Tristan did a great job at his first bath. He waited very patiently for them to get everything ready.

And he didn't even cry while they were checking him out.

And then Tyler got to go watch and help with the actual bath--hence, no pictures of it. But here he is just after, all clean and fuzzy!


And then I got to have him back! It had only been an hour or so since he was born, but he was already looking a lot less smooshed.

Such a sweet baby boy!