Nicole and Brandon: February 2018

Beautiful baby girl, you are a month old already! As I sit here typing this with one hand because you are just falling asleep in my other arm, I'm reminded of how quickly time flies. We've adjusted pretty well to life as a family of four so far, but, daddy goes back to work now and we'll see how it goes without his added help. Overall, you are a great baby; you eat like a champ and sleep well.

I'm SOOO big! :)

Memories from the first half of month 1:
-You sneeze and cough a lot. You often will sneeze 5 times in a row!!
-You are a "barracuda" feeder. You chug. Which leads to the next point...
-You spit up a lot and sometimes vomit large amounts. We actually had to call the on-call pediatrician on a weekend because you had vomited twice that day. Turns out it's mostly due to my crazy milk flow. Sorry baby girl.
-You are a projectile pooper. Warning: poop story ahead. ;) You like to shoot (literally) poo out of your butt in a mathematical arc when we are changing your diaper. We've learned to prepare for it now and lovingly call it "poopageddon" but the first couple of times you made mom scream and hit the fan. Excuse the french, but we can't ignore the phrase that "S*#% hit the fan". Twice. Yes, your fan is next to the changing table and we've had to clean it (with a q-tip) a few times.
-You also pee sometimes when we change you, but since you are a girl, it doesn't cause quite the same commotion as it did with Blake. ;)
-You're not a big fan of sponge baths.
-After your middle of the night feedings we hold you for 30 min. Then you are sound asleep and we can swaddle you, lay you down, and go back to bed without a peep from you. It works like a charm for us!
-Daddy and Grandpa built more shelves in the basement knowing that more tubs of clothes are coming. :) They also discovered that we need a new hot water heater....so they were quite busy working on all of that your first few days home.
-Blake mostly ignores you and is probably sick of people asking him about his baby sister. He has had some sleep regression and is a bit more emotional.
-You eat every 2 or 3 hours. You have days and nights mixed up and like to stay awake during the 11pm -2am time range. Mommy sometimes just sleeps on the couch in the living room with you since I get anxious about the baby monitor in the bedroom. (I don't know how to explain that anxiety...it's weird). Daddy keeps the monitor on his side of the bed now so I can sleep better in bed.
-It only takes you about 20-30 min total to nurse which is fabulous!
-Daddy and Mommy pretty much split kid duties. I'm with you and Dad is with Blake. It won't be like this forever, but....survival.
-You have a little bit of jaundice but it never became a concern and resolved on it's own.
-Your umbilical stump got ripped a couple of times so we had a few days where we had to keep you stripped or in a onesie we didn't mind getting blood on because we were trying to let it dry up again.
-You don't like: diaper changes, getting strapped into the car seat, having clothes pulled over your head, and your feet being touched.
-You do like: snuggling, sleeping, and eating.
-You weighed: At birth: 7 lbs 9 oz
Discharge: 6 lbs 13 oz
2/1/18: 7 lbs 1.5 oz (38th percentile)
1.5 weeks (at breastfeeding group): 7 lbs 9.9 oz (Back to birthweight!)
2/19/18: 8 lbs 5.5 oz (40th percentile)
-Your height: Hospital: 21 inches
2/1/18: 20.75 inches (94th percentile)
2/19/18: 21.5 inches (87th percentile)
-Clothes: Size newborn and even some of that is baggy. You have two pairs of TINY socks that fit you. They're adorable. :)

Memories from the second half of month 1:
-Your umbilical stump finally came off and you had your first few baths in the kitchen sink. You didn't like it at first but it's growing on you. :)
-You graduated to size 1 diapers during week 3.We will be switching to our cloth diapers soon. Mommy bought you some pink ones!
-You are still in newborn clothes with no end in sight (okay I'm sure it won't be too long).
-When I last weighed you on 2/22/18 you were 8 lbs 12 oz before eating and 8 lbs 15.5 oz after eating. You're getting bigger!
-You have a pretty consistent schedule with feedings around 6:30 am, 9 am, 12 pm, 3 pm, 6 pm, 8 pm, 10 pm, and 3:30 am. We let you sleep without setting an alarm at night now since you are back to birth weight.
-Three nights before you were officially 1 month old you started sleeping 11pm until 6 am (5 am the last night)....you scared mommy the first night when we got up and saw it was 6! I'm not sure if this will stick, nothing ever does with baby schedules, but we'll take the extra sleep! Dad's especially excited since it coincided with his first week back to work.
-You are starting to coo and it's adorable. You squeak and surprise yourself!
-You also have the highest pitched cry when you're feeling upset. It's very girly. :)
-If spitting up were a sport, you'd be a world champ. You still spit up a LOT and we go through several burp cloths a day. We're working on finding solutions to this but part of it is probably just your age.
-We've started venturing out of the house a lot more. Mommy is not good at staying home for extended stretches. ;) You've been out to eat a couple of times and to lots of stores. You're already an excellent shopper. Haha!
-I wear you in the Onya (baby carrier) when I'm out alone with you and Blake. You love it and fall right asleep. However, getting you in and out of it in parking lots is still a work in progress.
-Honestly you're a very easy going baby. The only thing that makes you cry is gas after some feedings.
-Blake tries to smother you with kisses and love all the time now. We have to watch him because he also tries to pick you up....by your butt.
-Zoey also wants to smother you with love....but is told to go lay down. Poor dog.
-Your hair is still strawberry blonde but getting a little darker.
-You developed some cradle cap already on your eyebrows. We've got a great shampoo that takes care of it at least. You also have some infant acne on your face and a little on your back.
-I *think* you might end up being a snuggly baby. Blake was not (sigh). You like to push yourself up until you're nuzzled into my neck and you hold your arm tightly around my shoulder. Melts my heart.
-Today (when you are exactly 1 month old) I put away most of your newborn sleepers because you've outgrown the length. You are so long! We'll see how 0-3 month clothes fit....might be baggy but at least you'll be able to extend your legs if you want to!
-You love to sleep with your hand up by your face. Adorable.

PICTURES:
-These mostly go in order from when we came home from the hospital until now.
-I promised myself I wouldn't take too many pictures because we print and label them all and it's annoying to label 5,000 newborn pics....but how can you limit yourself!? You're only this little for such a short period of time.