One Month

Dear Lucy,

You turned one month old on Sunday! When I look back on this past month, it was not at all what I expected and while in some ways it seems just yesterday that you were born, in other ways so much has happened that I can't believe it was only a month ago that you were born. But through everything, you have been my little joy in life. One of my favorite songs to sing to you is "You are my Sunshine" and it is true, bad things may be all around but you are a happy little ray of light to the whole family.

You are still an "easy" baby. You are getting more and more alert every day and love to look around. You really like faces now. I was told you liked mine more than anyones but it wasn't until this past week that I could tell. You also really like curtains. I'm not sure why but maybe it has to do with the contrast between them and the wall? Your hitting your milestones perfectly (or maybe slightly ahead :-) You can hold your head up quite well for a few seconds before you get tired. You can track things across the midline. You can bring your hands together and are getting better and better about finding your hands to suck on. You still can't hold onto your thumb or fingers very long but I'm trying to stick that one out and avoid the pacifier. It's getting hard though.

You haven't had a "real" smile yet if by "real" you mean a social smile but you do smile when you are happy and I don't really see why smiling back at someone is more real than smiling because you are happy. You smile in the morning when you wake up. You love mornings.

You smile during bath time. I think getting a bath is one of your favorite things. Baths in the sink are okay but we both like baths together best. I like them because I feel I've got your held more securely and we don't make quite as big of a mess. I think you like them because the water is deeper and your tummy doesn't get cold. You had only cooed once or twice before your last bath but you were just talking away once we put you in the water last time. The sounds you make are so much fun to listen to.

It's a good thing you like baths since we will be having to take them fairly often to make sure your face is cleaned off. You have an awful case of baby acne. I know it doesn't hurt you and it's not like you are self conscious about it but it looks so bad. As long as I only take pictures of you in cold places when it isn't so red, I can probably get away without photoshopping you. Photoshopping baby skin seems wrong.

You also really like to be massaged. I borrowed a book about it and it says most babies don't like it at first but you did right from the start. The book is confusing and I can only figure out a couple of the techniques but you love the few I can do. I use coconut oil so afterwards we call you our popcorn baby.

You are growing like a weed. You are 21 inches long. I don't have access to a baby scale here like I do back in our town but you were 9lbs, 3oz when I weighed you over a week ago and according to the adult scale (using the old "Craig+Baby"-"Craig alone" trick) you weigh 11 lbs (or at least 10.5 if you factor in rounding). I don't think that is right but I'd guess you are at least 10lbs. You have already grown out of your newborn clothes and some 0-3 month clothes (why do Gerber clothes run so small?) but that was just a good excuse for Grandma to buy you more clothes since I was not thinking about you growing when I packed for this trip. You are still in newborn diapers but they are getting pretty snug. I'm hoping you can make it through this week with them since that is all we have until we go home.

Considering how much you've grown, it shouldn't be a surprise that you are a big fan of eating too. I was prepared for 6-8 challenging weeks of nursing before we got everything figured out but by 2 weeks, you were a pro and we haven't had any problems since. And I've finally figured out some of your early hunger cues so you don't even have to start screaming to get your meal anymore. You still don't eat very well when we are out and about but I think that is because I don't have my pillow and you can feel my tension. I'm sure with more practice we will get there.

And last but not least, you love to sleep. People always ask if you sleep through the night and I hate to say no because it really doesn't show how great a sleeper you are. If you get your normal long afterenoon nap, you'll be happy in the evening then go to sleep around 7 or 8 and stay in "night time" mode until 8 or 9 the next morning, only waking up long enough to eat and be changed then passing out again without a peep. You had been waking up every 2-3 hour but have recently started having a nice 4-5 hr stretch in the middle of the night. If you miss your afternoon nap or take a bunch of short naps instead, it takes a bit of swaddling, bouncing, and singing to get your to go down in the beginning but even then, once you are down, your down for the night. And I'd much rather deal with a cranky baby at 9pm than 2am so I'm okay with that. But as long as you have a full tummy and an empty diaper, your pretty much happy. And I'm pretty much happy with you too!