Hello little lady! Today marks Elizabeth's one month birthday. Happy birthday princess.EJ is growing quickly and having two really makes time go by even faster than before. Here's a recap of the last month in our world.
Highlights:
- EJ eats about every three hours (sometimes she goes a little longer at night, but not quite four hours yet).
- She's met Dr. Campbell, but her first big check up isn't for another two weeks (stats to come!).
- She can track objects with her eyes, and even turns her head to look at light, noises, voices, and faces.
- Head control has a long way to go, but every time she is awake, she does more and more lifting and turning. We started tummy time the last week of this month to help encourage that even more.
- She likes to be held. Will (even today) could take us or leave us for the most part. He's generally very independent. Mommy has her fingers crossed this little one will turn out to be a cuddler.
- I've fallen in love with her. It happens fast.
What we forgot about newborns (EJ quickly refreshed our memory):
- They are small. Even at 7lbs 12oz, EJ looked tiny those first few days. Everything is tiny, the head, the hands, the feet, the diapers! We don't remember Will ever being so small - but he was the exact same size just a year and a half ago.
- They sleep a lot, but not at night. The first two weeks EJ had her nights and days mixed up (standard newborn feature). It made for some long nights, but that passed quickly. Even though EJ is only awake for a few hours a day, she is sure to wake up every three hours for a visit with mommy (thank you sweetheart, I miss you too). Will preferred to see me every 90 minutes, so I'm thankful for (and encouraging of) the rhythm EJ has fallen into this first month.
- Endless laundry. I was a bit neurotic with Will and washed his stuff often, but EJ has a nice little spit-up habit requiring a load nearly every day. I have stopped counting the number of times she has managed to soak her outfit, blanket, burp cloth, and mom. Gross. BTW - Ryan, if you read this - I have NO IDEA how you ever managed cloth diapers on a newborn. Your washer must have been running non-stop.
- Crying. Yep, they cry. About everything. Newborns do NOT like to have their diapers changed, and they do NOT like wardrobe changes. They cry when they are hungry, they cry when they are tired. Sometimes they cry just because they want to be held, or moved, or for no reason at all. Dad says he doesn't remember, but she cries far less than number one did at this age. Although I hear it several times a day, EJ really doesn't cry much and when she does, she settles pretty easy.
What is different in round two:
- Early eviction. Newborns are noisy little things, even when sound asleep. Will got a month pass in our bedroom, EJ got one night (EJ, you can hold this against us later if you'd like, but you seem very happy in your own room).
- Man-on-man defense. So it begins. We were warned. Given EJ sleeps for like 17 hours a day right now, I can only imagine what we are in for a year from now.
- Less panic. At our first doctor's visit with Will we had dozens of questions. With EJ, we just wanted to hear the doctor say "she's healthy". Although we've forgotten lots about this newborn time, we are much more confident about what is "normal". She eats, she sleeps, she poops, she cries some, and we can see her growing before our eyes. Exactly what a newborn should do.
- Parent directed routine from day one. With Will we followed his lead every minute of the day and night for his first month. With EJ, we've tried to guide the pattern of her day more. We've followed an eat, play, sleep schedule with her from week one. Far less chaos in our world, and I think contributes to our ability to meet her needs when she does cry.
- A little crying is okay. When EJ and Will are tired, sometimes they cry. (Don't hate me attachment parents, but we're okay if our babies cry at the start of a nap for a few minutes.) With Will I rushed to him every time he made a peep - I thought my heart was going to break anytime he cried. With EJ, I have more confidence about what is causing the crying, and faith that the crying will end if we address it correctly. When she's tired, given a few minutes on her own, she falls right to sleep (for hours!).
Overall a great first month with our new little girl.
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