Ethan's First Month

I can't believe that a whole month has already passed since our little guy entered this world!  It feels in partly like he's been a part of our family forever, but it also feels like he was just born yesterday!  Here are some fun facts about my little guy from the past month:

Weight-8.13 (up from 7.14 at birth), 25 percentile

Length-22.5 inches (up from 21 at birth), 75 percentile

Clothes-0-3 months, although they are too big around, they fit pretty well length wise

Diapers-newborn (He doesn't have much of a bottom and his legs are so skinny that size 1s just fall off of him!)

Eating-Every 2.5-3.5 hours.  Since I am nursing him we don't really know how much he is eating.  He usually eats for about 20-25 minutes at each feeding.  We are still giving him 2 ounces of formula at night to help him sleep better.  This gives Daddy a chance to be a part of feeding him!  He makes the funniest face when we are burping him!  When we lean him forward to burp, he wrinkles up his forehead and his eyes move all around like he's trying to check everything out!  Mommy and Daddy love seeing this face!

Sleep-Between 5-7 hours a night.  He started doing better once we had to give him formula to help his weight gain.  By one week old he was doing around 5 hours a night and some nights as much as 7 hours.  This is a huge relief for his extremely tired mommy and daddy!  Most nights I feed him around 10:00 and put him to bed around 10:30.  He will then wake around 3:30 or 4:00 for his middle of the night feeding.  After I feed him I put him right back in his cradle.  He will usually go right back to sleep, however, sometimes we have to get up a few times to put his paci back in his mouth!  He is still sleeping in our room in the cradle part of his pack-n-play, so this makes the middle of the night feedings much easier!

Other-Ethan is such an easy going baby!  He really doesn't cry much, unless he wants to be held or if he wants his paci.  He starts to get a little fussier in the evening, but he stops as soon as you pick him up.  It works out well because Adam wants to cuddle with him when he gets home at night!  This gives me a chance to get some work done around the house!  He is starting to stay awake longer in between feedings.  He has just found his tongue and he loves playing with it.  He is starting to like his bath time more.  The key is to keep the water running so he doesn't get cold.  He doesn't like to get out and he will cry until you get all of his clothes on him!  He is also doing better with his diaper changes, too.  He will actually lay there the entire time without crying.  He still doesn't mind if he has a dirty diaper, so we have to check him often to see if he needs to be changed (although you can hear and smell it when it's dirty!).  I introduced him to the Moby wrap a few weeks ago and he really likes it.  It gives me a chance to hold him without having to use my hands.  He's happy and content and I can work, so it's a win-win for both of us!  He loves being in his swing and will usually stare at the bears on the mobile.  He is also learning to track me.  Sometimes he will even move his head to follow my movement.  When he's awake and someone else is holding him, he will turn his head when he hears me talk.  It is so sweet!  Charlie still doesn't want much to do with his brother, but every once in awhile he will come up and sniff him.  He gets annoyed when he wants to go outside and I can't let him out because I'm feeding Ethan!  He has really enjoyed all of the company that we've had over the past month (he thinks they are there to see him)!  Mommy and Daddy are adjusting really well to all of the changes!  We are really enjoying experiencing parenthood together.  I think we are finally getting into a routine and figuring out our new roles as parents!

Here are some of my favorite pictures of my sweet one month old baby!