zoeyjoyful: Reuben // One Month

My Darling Boy…

I can hardly believe that it’s been one month since that crazy day that was supposed to be my second-last day of work, and ended up being the day that I met you instead.

… Can hardly believe it because it has gone so incredibly fast, but also because i can hardly remember what my life was like without you in it. What a strange phenomenon.

one day old // one month old

You are such a good little baby. I think you must have your Papa’s phlegmatic temperament, you just cruise along with whatever’s happening. You love to explore your world with those beautiful big blue eyes, and you surprise everyone with how strong you are, lifting up your head to have an even bigger stickybeak!

When the midwives tell me to make sure that I place your head facing alternativing sides each time I place you down to nap, I laugh, because every time I pick you up from a nap your head is facing the opposite direction to where I put it anyway! You’re very clever.

I’m really enjoying getting to know you, and learning what you do an don’t like. For instance; you don’t like having your nappy changed. As soon as you are exposed, you start to scream and keep on going until everything is safely put away. This has turned out to be a good thing in a way, because we have learned to be very fast at getting your new nappy on, which gives us a much smaller chance of being… showered… by you. It still happens on occasion though.

You don’t like the hiccups, which is unfortunate because you get them whenever you need to burp, which is every time you feed of course. You do have very big hiccups through (just like your Mama), and I’m not at all surprised that they make you uncomfortable. Another thing you also do every time you feed is vomit. A lot. Sometimes I wonder how it is possible that you have any milk still left inside you!

Apparently, that is not a problem though, because you, young man, are growing like a weed. In addition to the 390g that you regained to get back up to your birth-weight, you have gained a seriously impressive 1.13kg in the last month. When I got you weighed on your 1 monthiversary, you had gained a whopping 440g in one week!! It appears that Mama has full cream milk!!

You do like your milk, and you are a fantastic little feeder. You also love your big sister, and your Papa. Your Papa is blessed to have been bestowed most of the smiles you have given so far in your little life, and Mayana has had quite a few too. She loves to help look after you, and you are very patient with her when sometimes I know she is being a little overbearing.

Another of your favourite things is bath-time. You don’t mind if it is in the bath or the shower, you just like to be in the water… and you definitely don’t like it when you have to get out!

Your sleeping is going pretty well. You’re a fairly routine baby, and generally like to feed every 3-4 hours, with a nap and a bit of playtime between each feed. At night, you have almost always woken up twice to feed. In the last week or so, you have started to stretch things out a little bit longer. You usually are in bed by 8pm, and wake for your first feed around 2am, which is a nice long stretch, and much appreciated – thank you! You settle well after your feed, and usually sleep again until somewhere between 5 and 6am. Of course, you do have a rough night every now and then, but we’ll forgive you that.

We have discovered and resigned ourselves to the fact that you like to sleep on your tummy. I resisted for a long while, but when it means the difference between a screaming unhappy baby and sleeping settled one… well there’s not really much choice! I have even tried flipping you over to your back once you are asleep, but you cannot be tricked. I don’t blame you buddy, Mama and Papa both like to sleep on their tummies too.

In the last few days you have started to interact with us and things a lot more. You love to look into our eyes, and if we’re lucky we’ll even get a smile! You have discovered the toys on your bouncer, and love to hit them. I even saw you smiling at your giraffe when you managed to get it swinging the other day.

You’re awake more through the days now, although you still have some nice long naps. We have no real routine through the day yet, we just follow your lead and feed you when you’re hungry, and put you to sleep when you start to show your tired signs. So far it seems to be working for us pretty well. You mostly have been having your day sleeps out in the lounge room in the pod, but lately I have been starting to put you in your bassinette in Mama and Papa’s room for at least one of them so that Mayana and I can have some noisy playtime together.

You still sleep in our room at night, but I am looking forward to when you can move across the hallway and in with your sister. I’m just waiting for your night time routine to become a little more settled. You are such a noisy sleeper that you keep Papa and I awake a lot with your grunting and groaning. So often we think you are awake and flick the dim lamp on to check on you and no, you’re sound asleep. Luckily Mayana is a much heavier sleeper than Papa or I, and I don’t think you’ll keep her awake.

I love you little Reuben, and I love having you in our family. I can’t wait to see what this next month brings!

Love Mama