Riley--1 Month

 

 

Wow!  As crazy-insane as this past month has been, I can't believe you're 1 month old, little man!  Even worse, I can't believe I go back to work in a month!  :(

 

Growth

• At your 1 month checkup, you weighed 9 lbs 13 ounces and were almost 21 inches long!  That means you've gained 2 pounds and 2 inches since you were born!  No wonder you're no longer in those little newborn outfits!
• Diapers--officially in Size 1--but quickly growing out of it by the end of your 1st month!
• Clothing--officially in either 0-3 month or 3 month--depends on the brand.
• You definitely hit the 6 week growth spurt and woke up more often and ate more.

 

Sleeping

• You are sleeping at least 4 hours on most nights.  We've had a few nights of 6 hours and we're trying to get more of them!  (How do we DO that???  If you could let us know, that'd be great--thanks!)
• Side note:  starting at week 7 I had a realization that big brother was already sleeping longer at night, so I looked at the info I wrote down for his first 2 months and realized he was eating 4.5-5 oz bottles at each feeding and had a formula bottle added already b/c I wasn't producing enough.  So...we began adding 2 formula bottles--1 during the day and 1 right before bedtime and VOILA!--you started sleeping 5, 6, and 7 hours!!!  Yeah for the mommy brain actually kicking in
• Naps during the day vary.  Sometimes you're awake a lot during the morning, and nap hard in the early afternoon, while other times you take great naps between every feeding--not just 15 minute ones in between fussy fits!
• I'm stressed about getting you on a routine since I go back to work right before your 2 month birthday.  We're trying to have the last feeding no later than 9:30pm.  At the 6 week mark, you had a habit of waking up around 2am and 5 am if we put you to bed by 9:30ish.  Once we started the formula bottle though, it was easier to work on the schedule since you were only waking up once in the middle of the night.  Then I could start your day officially around 6:30am and work on the schedule from there.  Didn't work every day, but most it did!

 

Eating

• You are eating every 3 hours during the day and you have been at 3.5 ounces each feeding since right after your 1 month birthday.  Around 6 weeks you took a few 4 ounce bottles.
• I am nursing you as the "top off" right before I go to bed, and during the middle of the night feedings.
• At the 5 week mark, we started giving you bottles only during the day.  It was much easier on me since we're always going/doing something and it was a good transition time in order to prepare you for daycare when I go back. 
• You've done great at both nursing and bottle feeding, and you LOVE to suck on the pacifier if you're awake and not eating! 

A Day in the Life of Riley

• You love the kisses/hugs from your brother--which is a good thing since he loves doing it!

• We started tummy time at about 3.5 weeks, but we didn't do it every day. Starting around 5 weeks, I tried remembering to do it daily. Sometimes you were okay with it for 2 minutes, other times 5-10 minutes. You've been good at working on your neck strength from day 1 though and have always had a "bobble head" when we burp you or hold you up!



• Starting around 4-5 weeks, you stopped pooping every day.  You would go 3 or 4 days without doing it, which definitely made me worry!  Adding the formula helped with this...but now we have stinkier diapers!
• You have started to make more cooing sounds when you're in a good mood and don't have the pacifier stuck in your mouth!  They are such sweet sounds!
• You smile a lot!  I love seeing them and sadly never have any camera around me when you're giving them!
• The baby bjorn is now our friend--especially during those witching hours after I pick Bennett up from daycare until about 8pm.  Thank goodness you like it!
• The week before you turned 2 months was a busy week.  We went to Cuero to visit Gram and Pops for a few days while daddy worked in San Antonio.  You did great and had a really good week too, which was good for both of us since it was our last week together.
• You started daycare on Friday, March 15th and had a great day!  It was a good day to start since it was spring break and there were fewer kids in the room.  Wonder what it will be like for you when the attention can't be all yours??? 
• I have a hard time letting you cry, so you're not good at self-soothing yet.  We're going to have to start the "Cry It Out" method soon--sorry little guy!

Smiley Riley!

Daycare with Miss Shawna--we love her!