Ari - 1 month
Weight: 8 lbs, 6 ounces
Length: 21”
Likes: You love to be swaddled! We bought so many different “swaddle sacks”
in an effort to make it easier on ourselves, but you are still too small to use
them. We can only swaddle you in this
one set of Carter’s blankets, though, so I had to order another set on Amazon to
have as a back up! Even though you want
to be swaddled all the time, you are a master at breaking out of the blanket as
soon as we wrap you up. I’ve tried
everything – double-wrapping you with a burp cloth pinning down your arms,
pulling the blanket so tight it resembles more of a straight jacket than a
baby-safe blanket – but you are just an escape artist. Those arms pop out and you let us know pretty
quickly that it’s time to rewrap you and start that sleep process all over
again! I like to think that it’s just a
sign that you’re going to be a pretty strong kid, though.
You also love white noise.
It took us a few nights to realize that it was making a difference, but
now we have an old iPhone set up with the sound of white noise and rain
falling. And you like it L-O-U-D. Being sleep deprived new parents, we of
course oblige, but your dad commented last night that sleeping with sound is
definitely a challenge for him. We’re
those people who always slept in absolute SILENCE! It’s okay though. You really seem to like it so it will stay!
Lying on dad’s chest is one of your new favorite things to
do. He sits in the big leather chair
with you swaddled up, face-down, while he plays video games or watches tv. I think you really like how warm he is
because you definitely don’t enjoy it as much with me. Not going to lie – your dad really likes that
time too. We know the window for cuddles
is probably pretty short so we enjoy them while we can.
Your pacifier is one of your (our) favorite things. For a week or two, you would only take a
Chicago Bears pacifier that was probably made in China and would make your
pediatrician scream because it isn’t orthodontist approved. We’ve since managed to migrate you over to a
more baby-safe Soothie. I’ve
contemplated every possible way I could keep that thing in your mouth. Short of duct taping it to you (which I don’t
think anyone would approve of), we spend a lot of time popping it back into
your mouth when you are half asleep and freak out when you realize it isn’t
there.
We’ve only gone on one walk so far, but I have high hopes you will enjoy them. You love car rides (I take you falling asleep as a sign of enjoyment, sorry), and I anticipate walks in the stroller will be pretty similar. Unfortunately, being born in mid-November means that there are only a few chances for warm enough weather to take you outside, even in our mild Tennessee winters.
Dislikes: Man, you
hate being naked. This poses quite a
problem when you think of the things that require a baby to shed some clothes
such as diaper changes and baths. You
are slowly accepting diaper changes as a fact of life (probably since we do it
about 12-14 times a day right now), but every once in a while, you will just
scream bloody murder throughout the whole process. If we add in a wardrobe change, especially
one that requires something to go over your head, the neighbors had better plug
their ears. Your lungs are definitely
healthy! Bath time is becoming less
traumatic as you are embracing how relaxing a bath can be. Getting OUT of the tub, however, is a whole
different story. You hate being naked
and you hate being cold. Those 30
seconds between getting out of the tub and drying off are extremely traumatic,
no matter how fast I get the towel around you.
Milestones: This whole first month has obviously been
completely new for all three of us, but we can tell how much you’ve grown since
bringing you home. You still give us the
occasional cross-eyed stare, but you’ve started focusing a lot more this
week. You recognize our voices and can
follow our faces when we get close to your face. You did roll over from your tummy to your
back a couple times when we had you on our bed, but I think the soft mattress
may have helped make that feat a little more attainable. Dad put you on the play mat yesterday and
said you reached out for some toys and seemed to enjoy staring at yourself in
the mirror.
You sleep pretty well.
I won’t go so far as to say you sleep a long time, but you do
sleep. Your dad and I take turns getting
up with you in the middle of the night so thankfully, we’re both only somewhat
sleep deprived as opposed to one of us completely exhausted. Also, you LOVE to be rocked/bobbed/bounced to
sleep so I’m anticipating my upper arms to look pretty good by springtime.
Firsts: You’ve started vocalizing a lot more. Rather than just the standard grunt or cry,
we’re getting happy baby sounds. You
also give us this crooked smile when you are falling asleep. I like to think it’s because you are truly
happy, but I know it’s probably just gas.
Your dad went out of town for three nights for work when you
were almost 3 weeks old. Those were some
tough three nights for both you and me.
I think we both realized how much we love and need Dad around to help!
Fun Fact: Oreo hasn’t eaten you yet! You have no idea how big a deal this is! In fact, we think the dog may actually kind
of like you or is at least intrigued or concerned by your presence. He gets up with us for every nighttime
feeding so the poor pup is pretty exhausted too. He loves to lick your ears, but you aren’t
very thrilled about his wet nose.
