White Christmas :)

Ayson's first Christmas is white! Pretty exciting since we don't get too many of those around here. The snow is so pretty, but we are missing our family. We were able to make it to Bartlesville yesterday and get home before the roads were too bad. We had a great time celebrating Christmas with Mimi, Bruce, Aunt Jenny, Uncle Michael & Kierslynn. The Wilcox crew was supposed to be coming over this morning, but the highways are closed, so we won't get to see them until Sunday, along with the Milliron's too! Grammy and Pops were going to bring Christmas dinner here, which means I didn't plan for anything, so we may be having Christmas brats or something! Haha...oh well, definitely a holiday we will never forget!




Aaron cooking our impromptu Christmas eve dinner in the blizzard. what a guy :)







Our first Christmas eve as a family of three.









Ayson is already enjoying one of his presents from the Waggoners





We took Ayson out in his first snow this morning.







He didn't really know what to think about it, but he looked so cute all bundled up.





The snow really wore him out!

Christmas Lights & Appointments

Today was a busy day. Ayson got his monthly Synagis injection. He will continue to get it once a month until March (which is the end of RSV season.) As always, he did great...only getting mad during the shot, then all is well :) He weighed 11lbs 1oz. And you can really tell he's putting on weight when you try to carry him around in his carrier!
He also had a follow-up appointment with his Pediatric Cardiologist. He has not been seen by cardiology since his PDA surgery in the NICU. He got the work-up this morning! He got an echocardiogram and an EKG, in addition to his chest x-ray. An echocardiogram is basically a highly sensitive ultrasound of the heart, and an EKG measures the wavelengths in the heart through several leads that are put on the outside of the chest. In order to get a good test, the patient must be calm (ideally sleeping), so I was a little nervous about how that was all going to work out, but Ayson did great! He laid there like a good little man for both tests! We got great news from Dr. Lundt. Ayson's PDA is completely closed!!!!! Thank goodness! The tests did show that he has a small hole in between the top two chambers of his heart. This is very common in babies and usually resolves itself within the first year of life. Dr. Lundt is not concerned since it is not causing him any problems, and she will follow-up with him in a year to make sure it has closed. So, all in all it was a great visit. We are so happy that Ayson's PDA surgery was a success!

This evening we took Ayson to look at some Christmas lights. We always go to Broken Arrow to look at the lights at Rhema Bible Baptist College. It is so amazing. These pictures don't do it justice. Since it was nasty, rainy and cool, we didn't get out of the car, but we can't wait till next year when we can push Ayson around the campus and look at all the lights up close!
We are so excited to celebrate Ayson's very first Christmas!!! It might even be a white one :) We are going to be spending Christmas eve in Bartlesville with Mimi, then Christmas Day here in Tulsa with Grammy & Pops if the weather cooperates. Then we will be off to AC on Sunday to celebrate with Papa Doug and the rest of the family from both sides. We cannot wait to see everyone!

Handsome Boy

Our handsome little man got a visit from his papa Tim today. It has been a long time since he has seen him so Ayson had a great time catching him up on everything that he has been doing. He was chatting away, making sounds we had never heard before.


























I mentioned a couple days ago that it wouldn't be long before he was putting things in his mouth, and today I caught him!!! If it's not his hands, its something else.

And finally, this is Ays and I during story time last night. He loves to lay on the floor and be read to.

On the Go!

We had a pretty busy weekend. Ayson spent his first night away from home & mommy and daddy since coming home from the NICU. Mimi watched Ayson on Saturday night...and he had a great time! Traveling in the car with Ayson and two dogs can be very interesting. Sophie just wants up front with us. Here she is with her head smashed between Ayson's carseat and the front seat. She literally stayed this way for the whole trip to Bartlesville.




Then, Max insists on laying in the carseat with Ayson! Good thing he weighs less than 5lbs! Ayson doesn't seem to mind either :)




Since he has figured out how to hold on to his toys, he does it all the time now!




He loves the toys we have attached to his rocker too. Every once in a while they will make it to his mouth. It won't be long and he will be chewing on everything.






It's so fun mom!!!!







And finally, little man LOVES to sit up. He would much rather be sitting up than doing anything else. So, last night we decided to put him on the floor sitting up, to see what would happen. To our surprise, he sat up all by himself!








He eventually did start to tip over after about 15 seconds, but he sat by himself several times. Such a big boy!!!!

Having a Good Time!

Ayson is starting to really show an interest in his toys. He loves to bat at them on his activity mat, but yesterday, he started hanging on to them. He's got a pretty good grip! In this picture he has ahold of both of his toys on his tummy time mat.


This cute little monkey he is hanging on to is from his best friend Asher...he loves it!!!!



This is the video of him from this morning hanging on to his new toy and swinging it around! Just having a ball!

Ayson also had to have a chest x-ray done this morning. This is for an appointment we have next week with a Pediatric Cardiologist. Cardiology just wanted to follow-up with him four months after his PDA surgery that he had while he was in the NICU. You wouldn't think that getting an x-ray would be that big of a deal, but they had to sit him upright in a plastic tube that was clamped around him with his arms above his head. It was so sad!!! But, he did really good! He screamed for about 10 seconds then just sat there with a big frown on his face...he is such a trooper. The appointment with the cardiologist is next Wednesday...will let let you know how it goes. We certainly don't expect any problems though!!!

More Tummy Time

Ayson got to spend time with Grammy yesterday while I did some Christmas shopping! Thank you Grammy for watching little man for the day! He got a good report from Grammy too...he was awake and happy for most of the day! We got a new tummy time mat for Ayson. Here he is trying it out. Tummy time is definitely not his favorite thing in the world; he would much rather be sitting up looking around than laying on his belly!



He has figured out that if he rolls over he doesn't have to be on his belly, so every time we put him on his tummy, he will immediately roll over. Hmmm, he's trying to outsmart us already! Here he is on his way over :)






Max decided he wanted to get in on the action

This and That

After a few days of not feeling so great from the shots, Ayson is back to his old happy self. Here a few videos and pictures from the weekend. We learned that Ayson likes to help us out in the kitchen...he will sit in his bumbo and just watch us.


We also learned from doing this blog that Aaron doesn't believe in wearing shirts when he is home...I promise he is fully clothed when he leaves for work ;)

Ayson was having such a good time on his activity mat this morning. He has figured out that if he kicks or hits his toys, they will move. He loves to lay on his mat and kick and wave his arms now.

He is also becoming quite the chatterbox. He is so funny once he really gets going.

4 Month Well Baby Check-up

Ayson had his 4 month check-up today. That means more shots...ugh! His vaccinations go by his real age, so he got his second round of shots today. The poor little guy took it like a champ though...he only screamed during the shots, then once they were done, he was done crying. This was him right after we got home, you can tell he quickly forgot about those horrid shots!

Dr. Gordon was really pleased with how little man is doing. All developmental milestones go by his corrected age (which will be 2 months on the 13th), and he has reached all milestones for a two month old, plus a few (such as rolling over) for four month olds! She was also really impressed by his head control. He is still putting on weight too...today he weighed 10lbs 8oz!!!! His length was 21.5in and his head circumference was 39.75cm. On the adjusted scale which compares him to premature babies born less than 3lbs, that puts him at the 50% for length, 45% for weight, and 75% for head circumference...he's smart already :) These are all great numbers because he is moving up the scale!!!! At his visit two months ago, on the adjusted scale, he was in the 7% for length, 16% for weight, and the 41% for head circumference...such great progress!
Everything else checked out great at his visit :)

I caught Daddy and Ayson taking a little nap last night. Awe, so sweet!












Hanging out with mommy on the floor









He wanted to wear his I LOVE DADDY bib today, because daddy didn't take him to get his shots

4 Months Old!

Can you believe it?! Our little man is 4 months old already! Each and every day he does something that makes our day; like this smile!



He was soooooo happy this morning. He must have known it was his birthday ;)






When I came into the living room after making his bottle, this is how I found him...looks like he's trying to roll over from his back to his tummy! Go buddy go!








Look at these socks! They are from Great Grandma JoAnne...perfect for our "little man!"

Practice Makes Perfect :)

This seems to be Ayson's new favorite trick. Look how high he can hold his head up...Pretty impressive!



He was really showing off for Aaron yesterday when he got home from work.






So, after some playtime on our activity mat...





we practiced holding up our head and arm strength with the help of the boppy:)

Lazy Weekend

We had a lazy weekend. Aaron was off, so it was fun to hang out, just the three of us. Ayson is really working on holding his head up...he gets a little better at it each day :) He is also starting to eat a little bit more and sleep a little bit longer! Last night he slept from 10:30-5:00! He's such a good baby! We have his four month check-up on Thursday and are looking forward to seeing how much progress he has made in the last two months.

Ayson and his little buddy Max taking a cat nap :)







Hanging out with his paci buddy that we named George :)






Ayson has never needed a paci, he is really good at self-soothing...which is a great thing! But every once in a while he will take it for a little while, usually right before a feeding while we are getting his bottle ready:)

Getting Stronger

Ayson was working on holding his head up today. He is starting to get pretty good at it. Once he can get his elbows underneath him, he can hold his head up pretty high. Practice makes perfect :)

0-3 Months!!!

Yay for Ayson! He is finally starting to fit into some 0-3 month clothing! We can finally start dressing him in some "little man" clothes! He is also on his last pack of newborn diapers, which are finally too small...size 1, here we come!


Sitting like a big boy in the chair, sporting his new RL jumper :)






This video cracks me up. He does this all the time...he just can't quite figure out if he wants to be happy or mad.

Little Love Birds!

Ayson got to meet his girlfriend, Makinzie Brown, over Thanksgiving. We think it was love at first sight! Isn't Makinzie the cutest in her pretty pink flower and tutu!

This picture cracks Alyssa and I up because it looks like Ayson is all googly eyed already. Ahh, young love ;)

Eye Appointment

Ayson had a follow-up appointment this morning with a Pediatric Ophthalmologist. He was seen by a retinal specialist in the NICU because preemie babies can have a number of issues with their eyes due to exposure to the environment outside of the womb before they are ready. He passed his vision screen in the NICU, so this appointment was just to make sure there had been no changes since his release. We are happy to report that Ayson's eyes look healthy! His eyes are still fully vascularized and his optic nerve looks great! We are so lucky to have Ayson under the care of so many great physicians who understand, and stay on-top of the many issues preemies can experience during their development. Luckily, Ayson has dodged all major problems associated with prematurity!!!!!! He's such a little fighter :)









Look at those beautiful blue peepers!