I'm going to try really hard not to spend your recaps comparing you to your sister. Not that I would ever (consciously) do that in a negative light (NATALIE did this when she was a baby; why aren't YOU?), but I want you to have your own recap, with your own (embarrassing) stories. You've got a little grace period, however, because newborns hardly ever do anything embarrassing (... besides peeing on your shoulder. You did that, by the way. Daddy and I may or may not have laughed.)
Here are my observations thus far:
You love being swaddled, you love your bassinet, and you love being outside. You don't like laying flat, so I'm wondering how moving you to your crib in your room will pan out. You are the sneeziest, snore-iest, snortiest, and hiccup-iest baby I've ever seen. You typically sneeze in triplicate and get the hiccups no fewer than twice a day. I think part of your sneeziness and snortiness might be due to your swollen nasal cavities. At your two-week checkup, Daddy and I mentioned how your nostrils seem small. She agreed and said they looked pretty swollen. We've started using nose drops on you in the hopes it'll open your nose up a bit. You eat a LOT. I'm not fighting it, because I don't think putting a one-month old on a feeding schedule is any kind of possible. But I'm hoping in the next month or so, you'll learn to be more efficient with your nursing. I try not to let you go more than 2 hours in between feedings during the day, trying to fill you up so that you'll sleep well at night. It doesn't work. You're like a teenager - you sleep all day and party all night. I feed you between 9 and 10pm and you can usually make it until 12:00am or 1am. That's your 'long' stretch. Har. After that feeding, however, it's anybody's guess as to when you'll be hungry again. Sometimes it's 2am. Other times it's 4am. (Side note: I know you don't know how to tell time, but 4am is waaaaay better).
You have reflux. Not even a hundredth of the degree that Natalie had (in other words, I'm not covered in baby vomit 24/7), but you seem to be in pain after every feeding. I'm hoping
Zantac will help reduce the time each nursing session takes (nursing + burping), because an hour is a wee much. Just a wee.
Your Daddy rocks (hopefully you're well aware of this when you actually read this). After your last feeding at night, I go to sleep in our bed while Daddy sleeps on the floor in your room. He does a great job at trying to get you to go a long stretch before your next feeding. He'll rock you, he'll turn on the hair dryer (side note: you're really comforted by the sound of the hair dryer), he'll put you in the swing, he'll do whatever he can think of just so I can get at least 3 or 3.5 hours of sleep in a row. See? He rocks. After the next feeding, Daddy goes back to our bed and I sleep on the floor in your room. Wearing earplugs. Because on my GOSH, you're so noisy. (I know I could sleep in my own room and just go get you when you start to fuss, but you sleep so lightly at night that you wake up a lot. So if I'm only inches from your basinet, I can stay half-asleep while I rock you. And I know I could sleep in my own room and move you to our room so that I'd still only be inches from your bassinet, but I want Daddy to get a long stretch of uninterrupted sleep since he has to go to work in the morning.) Hey, I've got an idea. Why don't you just start sleeping 5 hours at night consistently. Then Daddy and I can sleep in the same bed and neither one of us has to sleep on the floor. Sound good? Good.
Instead of having your 2-week growth spurt in one or two days, you dragged it out for over a week. Survey says? NOT cool. I'd much prefer a rough 24-36 hr stretch instead of a rough 5-hr stretch every day for 9 days. Perhaps you could change your method for your 6-week growth spurt. I'd hate to have to return you to Baptist Hospital for being defective. I'll find the receipt, trust me.
I know you're a boy and you won't want to read something like this about your mom when you're older, but it must be said. So I'll just put three words. Mastitis. Thrush. OhmygoshohmygoshohmyGOSHpain.
Your head gets patted a lot by Natalie - it's her favorite thing to do with you. I'm not sure if she thinks a genie will pop out of your head or what, but your head is never lonely. It's actually pretty adorable and you don't seem to mind at all, so it's a win-win situation. She's a pretty great big sister - she's only yelled at you twice to stop crying. I had to politely remind her that yelling at you doesn't do any good. If it had worked, though, I might have given her $5. But, alas, it didn't.
I seriously can't wait for your first purposeful smile. You do a lot of milk-coma-smiles, and if your actual smile is even a tenth of the cuteness of your milk-coma one, I might, in fact, have a tiny heart attack. Your dimples are simply delicious. As are your feet. And your neck. And your belly. I thank God so often for you. You're simply magnificient, my sweet Charlie Bear.
Hugs and smooches,
Mommy & Daddy
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Headlines for December 9, 2011
- Secret Santas pay strangers’ layaway bills at Kmart
- Injured model sees face after propeller injury
- Police: Virginia Tech gunman acted alone
- Romney Hints at Gingrich Face-Off
- Osama Bin Laden's Wives to Go Free
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