A whole month you've been in the world! The days have creeped on but the weeks sure have flown by. Time really passes more quickly with my second boy than it did with my first. This time, I know not to blink. I'm trying to soak up every bit of you so that I don't miss a thing. In the hospital and the first week at home, Mama just held you and breathed you in. I knew that once our help was gone, I wouldn't have the luxury of simply holding you while you sleep. You are so sweet and so beautiful, dear boy. I can't get over how blessed I am - TWICE. You are a good baby, very relaxed and easy to please. Though I have felt stretched and unable to balance my mama duties while taking care of both you and your brother, I can say that easing into my role as a mother of two has felt less stressful and exhausting than being a first time mama. We are still tired and I would love an entire night's sleep but I certainly wouldn't trade one for you!
Eating - Since the moment you first latched on you were a fantastic nurser! You didn't waste a drop of colostrum. In fact, aside from your diapers, I never even saw evidence that it existed. Nursing the first few days was extremely painful for me. You sucked so hard that I was bruised (black, cracked and bleeding)! I even cried several nights while having to feed you. Once my milk came in we were doing much better. All your effort was rewarded with more milk than we know what to do with. Nursing you is so different for me and I am thankful for confidence and experience this time around. It has greatly improved my ability to feed you, I am sure. You nurse just a few minutes on each side and are done. I love and appreciate that you are efficient. For the first two weeks you slept next to me during the night and nursed in my bed. While I have wished we were not attached every minute of the night, this seems to work best for us in that I am able to get as much sleep as possible. When Daddy left for Kansas I decided to make you be "big" and sleep on your own. After your first two feedings I now place you in your rocker and you sleep there. Only around 5 or 6 am will I put you in bed with me. This helps Mama get more quality sleep and feel better rested. You have taken a bottle from both your Daddy and Baba. You don't love the bottle nearly as much as you love nursing and will take it much better if you're really good and hungry. Still, I am able to pump and leave you for a couple of hours at a time and this is helpful. While I am tired, I am not nearly as exhausted as I know I could be. Over the last few weeks you have considerably stretched the length of time you are able to go without eating and just before turning one month old, you gave your mama 4 consecutive hours of sleep. Bless you, boy. Sleep is a gift that I do not take for granted.
Sleeping - You love to sleep! The night you were born I had to actually wake you up to feed you. I wasn't quite sure what to do with a baby that slept longer than one to two hours at a time! A few days in, you started staying awake a bit more but most of our photos are of you quietly napping after a good feeding. In these early weeks, I'll always remember people asking me if you ever wake up or show your eyes! It has been rare, but you do. I let you sleep when you want to. You nap in your crib, pack n play, rocker and swing or in someone's arms or mama's bed. It is reassuring that you will sleep without being held but sometimes, I just want to snuggle up and nap with you! You do not like to be swaddled and prefer to be covered but have access to your hands. I may try to swaddle you again when you're a bit older and are ready to sleep in your bed. Just this past week, you have been able to sleep in longer stretches at night. I pray this sticks and that you are sleeping through the night much sooner than your brother ever was.
Measurements - You were born 8lbs 12oz and lost almost a pound within a two day period. I was afraid I would have to supplement if my milk didn't come in, but it did - just in time! At one week you weighed 8lbs 6oz and at three weeks you weighed 10lbs 5oz. I stepped on the scale today to get an estimate of what you weigh now and it looks like you're around 11lbs 4oz. I can't believe how chunky you are and am continually amazed at your ability to get bigger! Around week three I had to put away all the newborn onesies and pj's, most of which you'd worn just once. We've moved on to
0-3 month clothing and size 1 diapers this week. My boys are so different from one another...Parker was nearly two months old before he was this big!
Things You Do - You hold your head up like a big boy and push against me with your feet to "stand" when I'm holding you on my shoulder. You love to be up high on someone's shoulder instead of being held like a baby.
This Happened -
Visited the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch at 4 days old
First family photo session
Umbilical cord fell off
Took your first bottle from Daddy 03.31.14
First restaurant dinner 04.06.14
First trip to the San Antonio Zoo 04.12.14
Daddy left us for an entire week to go turkey hunting in Kansas
You Like -
snuggling next to your brother and having Parker talk to you, kissing on the lips, bath time, being talked to, nursing, music, sleeping, riding in the car
Mama Loves -
The way you stick your bottom lip out just like Parker did. It's the one way you're most like him and though I can't stand to see that lip I love that you have this in common. I love your easy going personality, that you look like me (it's sweet and special for me since Parker looked so much like Daddy), finding your hidden dimples...they are there but don't make an appearance very often, holding you on my chest when you're all clean. Nothing is better than a sweet, sleeping baby boy who smells so yummy!
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