It's hard to believe it has already been a whole month since you became part of our family! After a month of being your Mom and Dad it is finally starting to feel more normal to have you around. For the most part you are easy going and are a very sweet baby. You only seem to cry if I don't start feeding you quickly enough or if you are getting overly tired. In the last week or two you've gotten in to a pattern of getting cranky around 7:00 each evening and keep it up until 10:30 or 11:00. Apparently this is normal and goes away in the next month or so. Soothing you all evening is a lot of work and to be honest we're hoping it is a phase you outgrow sooner than later. Your poor Dad only gets an hour or so (at best!) with a happy baby each evening before you become a cranky pants!
You are growing and developing quickly and it is fun to see you become more of a baby than just a little curled up newborn. You are plumping up nicely and you are starting to get cute little rolls on your arms and thighs. Since we brought you home from the hospital you have been sleeping in our room so we can keep you nearby for peace of mind, and it is easier for me when I have to get up to feed you and change your diaper at night. There is a little bassinet that attaches to the Pack 'n Play where you have been sleeping. The last few nights I've woken up to find that you've scooted yourself to the end and your feet are hanging off! We removed the bassinet last night and now you're sleeping down in the Pack 'n Play like a big boy. Speaking of being a big boy, you slept for five and a half hours straight on the eve of your one month birthday! Unfortunately it may have been a fluke as you were back to your usual middle of the night shenanigans the next day. Good thing you're cute. ;-)
You have a voracious appetite and are a very efficient eater. You and I have gotten in to a better rhythm with breastfeeding and have come a long way since those first few challenging weeks. I think (and hope) it will continue to improve as your mouth gets a bit bigger, and as my body starts to regulate the amount of milk you need. Often after you finish eating you sneeze and cough a bit as the milk sometimes makes its way in to your sinuses. Generally speaking you don't spit up very often, but when you do it sometimes dribbles out your nose (weird!). Burping is one of your talents-- they are usually impressively loud for such a small guy, and I can often feel the rush of air on my neck when you burp!
Your umbilical cord stump fell off just shy of your one week birthday and you have been taking baths in your whale tub since then. At first you weren't a big fan, but now that we've made the water a bit warmer and learned to keep you semi-covered you seem to really like bath time. You seem to particularly like it when we pour water over your head and body and you'll get this sweet, calm look on your face. I guess you may become a water baby like your Dad!
In the last week we have noticed that you are becoming more aware of your surroundings. For example, you sit in your bouncy seat on the floor while Dad and I are eating dinner. If we get in to a conversation and haven't acknowledged you for a few minutes you will sometimes start to fuss until we talk to you and touch you. You have also started locking eyes with us on occasion and sometimes we feel like you might be giving us a real smile (not just the reflex type). This melts our hearts like you would not believe and we shout, "He smiled at me!" to each other when it happens.
(This picture is an example of what one of my friend's calls "Baby Soup". A pot of boiling water to sanitize pacifiers, bottles, and breast pump parts!)
You have been a strong, alert baby since the day you were born, and we do "tummy time" each day so you can continue to work on strengthening your muscles. If you are laying on the floor or one of our chests you can hold your head up for an impressively long time. During tummy time you can usually pick up your head and turn it all the way to the other side. Sometimes you get tired halfway through, though, and face plant on your blanket to rest. It's pretty funny.
We both love you in a deep, instinctual way because we are your parents, but we haven't felt that over the top storybook kind of love for you just yet. At first we were feeling sort of guilty about this, but have decided that it just takes a little time to fall deeply in love. These little inklings of you acknowledging us by looking us in the eye and maybe smiling are opening our hearts to you, and maybe it is your way of falling in love with us, too. Your Dad and I are looking forward to your developments in the next few weeks and months as you become more socially aware and are able to interact with us a bit more. We certainly want to become crazy in love with you!!
Your one month pediatrician appointment went really well. We saw one of the nurse practitioners and she said you are very healthy, and that your growth and development is right on track. Right now you have a case of baby acne mostly on your cheeks and a little bit on your neck and chest. She said it will go away over time and is a result of the hormone transfer that occurred while you were still in my belly. You also have a very mild case of cradle cap along the front of your hairline, as well as a closed tear duct which gives you a goopy looking eye on occasion. Fortunately all three are very common and will go away on their own. The nurse practitioner gave us a few things we can do at home to improve the appearance of your cradle cap and goopy eye, but it won't necessarily make it go away any faster.
At the end of the appointment you got the second dose of the Hepatitis B vaccine (you got the first dose while we were still in the hospital) and you only cried for a few seconds! We think you got over it so quickly because the nurse gave you a Transformers band-aid. haha I got a bit teary knowing you were in pain, but as the nurse said the pain of getting a shot is far better than dealing with a case of Hepatitis B!
Here are a few fun facts about you as a one month old boy:
Nicknames: Baby, Mr. Peepers, Mr. Bubbles, Crank-a-potomus, Mighty Max, Lovey Love
Loves: Eating, staring out the window, staring at the wall, taking a bath, letting us sing to you and move your arms and legs around (well, you don't really seem to care about that one, but we like to think you enjoy it!)
Dislikes: Being cold, having to wait to eat, being ignored
Diapers: Since we've been home from the hospital we have changed your diaper 280 times (more if you count the times you immediately peed or pooped in your clean diaper resulting in a second change).
Feeding: Since we have been home from the hospital you have nursed 329 times for a total of 76 hours and 20 minutes (note that this is actual eating time- the time to accomplish each feeding is longer!). I've also pumped breast milk on a few occasions and you've had a bottle nine times. On average you eat about every two hours from start time to start time.
Height: 22 1/4 inches (70th percentile)
Weight: 10 lbs. 8.4 oz. (67th percentile)
Head Circumference: 15 inches (47th percentile)
Clothing Size: A mix of some newborn sizes and a few 0 - 3 month sized outfits. You have already outgrown two of your newborn onesies! Also, we started you in cloth diapers about two weeks ago and it is going really well.
One Week Old:
One Month Old:
We are so happy to have you as part of our family, and kiss your sweet face at least 100 times each day. Your Dad and I look forward to getting to know you even better in the coming weeks, months, and years. Hope you're having fun!
Love,
Mom
