one month

You've heard it before - I've said it before! And I'll be saying it again and again... Where does the time go? It flies. How is my baby girl one month old already?! I blinked and here we are. And I can't believe it. It goes so much faster the second time around, too. It doesn't quite seem fair. We sure are lucky to have this little angel with us, though. She has been the perfect addition to our family. For one, I'm no longer out numbered ;) But the presence of little bows, pink jammies, tiny newborn diapers and the sounds of baby noises... It has been such a challenge this last month, for all of us, but such a blessing - to get to experience this again, learning and loving and raising a new baby - our little baby girl... 

Size: At three weeks old (because she didn't have a four week/one month appointment) she weighed 9 pounds 8 ounces, more than two pounds up from her coming home weight. She was also over two inches taller (!!!), 22 inches long. She is growing out of her newborn clothes (as you can see), mostly wearing size 0-3 now, and is in size 1 diapers.

Sleep: Ezra is an awesome-ish sleeper. Since coming home from the hospital she has gone down for bed around 9:30-10, wakes up one time around 4, again around 7 (which is usually when Uriah and I get up for the day) and then is up and awake for a few hours around 9. Once a night? I know, I'm pretty lucky! I paid my dues with Uriah ;) But... She's loud. So, so loud! The girl grunts and moans and strains and sighs and squeaks and breaths so heavy. She doesn't wake up, never opens her eyes, just makes noise all. night. long. It's not easy to sleep through - we've tried putting her in every room of the house, trying to find a place where we won't hear her grunting but I will still wake up to her when she's hungry - no luck. So, Stephen wears ear plugs and I try my hardest to tune her out while I silently pray she'll stop with noise. She has also consistently taken one long nap since coming home from the hospital - conveniently during Uriah's nap time. She goes down just after he does at 1 and is up again at 4, which means I get some good one on one time with Uriah when he wakes up at 3. I also get some good "Allison time" while they're both sleeping! She's just as loud of a sleeper during the day, but when I'm awake and not always in the same room as her and their are other noises in the house, it's not so easily noticed.

Eat: Nursing has gone smoothly from day one and I am so pleased! I tend to feed her whenever she's hungry, vs trying to get her on a specific schedule. With Uriah, I was trying so hard to create a schedule and be consistent - I always had my phone with me and my little nursing app up to make sure it'd been at least two hours, no more than 5... Eventually I gave up and fed him whenever he was hungry and it worked! - He created a schedule all on his own and I only wish it hadn't taken me so long to "go with the flow". Typically, though, she eats about every two hours in the morning and afternoon before her long nap. She'll eat, be awake for about an hour, snooze for an hour and so on. In the evenings, from 6:30-9:30, she's awake and eating every hour - like clockwork. It's a lot, but she sleeps good long stretches at night, so I'm not complaining.

Likes: She's always straining to see the light, especially when she's on our bed and the back door is open - she loves the sunlight and fresh air and being outside! She loves being worn in our Solly Baby wrap and I love carrying her in it equally as much. She's never minded the carseat, loves her binki and being swaddled. She loves when someone is close and in her field of vision talking to her - she's so close to smiling intentionally! She prefers to be bounced instead of rocked and likes her bum patted. She had her first bath in the tub and, much to my surprised, loved the water!

Dislikes: She isn't a fan of getting dressed (but what newborn is?) or getting her diaper changed, though when she's not hungry, she tolerates it pretty well. She doesn't seem to like pooping - she's got all sorts of sounds and faces of discomfort when she poops. And that's it - those are really the only times she's upset! That and when she's hungry ;) Such a dream baby!

Thank you, Jesus, for this crazy beautiful gift and for the opportunity to be apart of her life. You are so loved, Ezra Lee!