Stop!

In the naaaame of love...

Overly Ambitious

Our lovely meal delivery train has, sadly, come to an end, leaving us to wonder how we will eat real food going forward.

So I managed to have enough time to make a little quiche today, using my go-to recipe. I had enough time while the baby napped to use BOTH HANDS! to chop and assemble and get it in the oven.

Getting it out of the oven, however, was asking a little much.

Outtakes

Some of the shots from the one-month photo shoot that did not make the final cut...

off I goooo!

spitsies

this was boring in so many different ways

Dr. Evil

the farting pirate

does this blanket make my ears look big?

hey YOU

flopsy

DONE.

One Month

Hey Mr. Man--

You are one month old! You're still so teeny tiny but also so big--you are growing and changing right in front of our eyes. We know we are very lucky because, overall, you are a very happy baby. If you fuss, we can almost always figure out what is wrong and fix it. So far, we haven't had any of that no-reason crying (knock on wood). Sometimes you are a little fussy in the evenings, but I think it's because of growth spurts and you usually just want to eat more. Even if we think there is no possible way you are still hungry.







You are a good eater. About 92% of the time, you take your lunch with a dog hair in it. Sorry about that--but you take it like a champ and having doggies around will make you healthier in the long run. Right now you are eating about every 3 hours at night, which is manageable. It's about the same during the day, but sometimes more or less often. At the beginning, we had to wake you to eat when it was time, but now that we know you're gaining weight appropriately, you just eat on demand. You've had a couple of bottles just to get used to the concept, but you have trouble regulating the flow and are still learning about that.





You also sleep pretty well (especially when being held). You had some nighttime gassiness at the beginning, along with not wanting to be laid down in the bassinet, but that seems to be better now. The pediatrician suggested putting a rolled-up towel under the mattress so you could sleep on an incline, and to warm up the bassinet with a heating pad before putting you down. Both of these seem to work well, except that you gradually slide down the incline and end up with your feet against the bottom of the bassinet. On good nights, you wake up and eat and go back to sleep really quickly at the 1am and 4am buffet times. Other times, you take longer to go back to sleep and we have to rock or walk for a while--but there's still little to no crying. However, you are a very noisy sleeper: grunts, grizzles, coos, partial laughter, and even a horse whinny or two. Generally I am glad for this because it reassures me you're still breathing without me having to stick my finger under your nose every 5 minutes. You're usually up for good at about 7am, and have a super happy wakeful time after that. We'll play on the play mat and you will chill in your Snugabunny swing while I make myself some breakfast and maybe get some laundry going.

Likes:

• motion--the car or stroller
• playmats. Of course the one that is ugly as sin is your favorite, but I guess babies really do like that high-contrast stuff
• in a stunning reversal: diaper changes

• bathtime
• snuggling
• looking at faces
• the Newborn Napper on the Pack n Play (aka How I Can Shower and Pee)
• the Moby wrap

Dislikes:

• stoplights
• sitting in poop (can't say that I blame you)
• being put in the carseat--part of this is that we're still not really fluent with it...twisty straps and stubborn buckles and your flailing limbs do not an easy situation make--but you're good once it starts moving
• not being fed QUICKLY ENOUGH DAMMIT LADY

Milestones:

All the firsts listed in the previous weekly posts (which is a first everything...because you just got born). 

• focusing your eyes and focusing on faces
• you lift your head very well, but we still do tummy time either on someone's chest or on the play mat
• the very beginning of social smiles and I even heard an accidental laugh one time (in your sleep)

Stats:

Unsure about precise weight, as you don't go back to the pediatrician until 2 months. I got on the scale with and without you yesterday, and there was a 10-lb difference. Without clothes and blankets and diapers, I'd guess you're well into the 9-lb range. 

Size 1 diapers

You have outgrown the newborn clothes and gowns (for reference, they lasted about 2-3 weeks). This made me irrationally sad. I had to make a "too-small" bin and am already putting things away to store. You're now in 0-3 month clothing, but this is still jammies almost all the time. Between spit up and diaper changes, it isn't quite worth it to put on cute outfits or real clothes. Easy and comfy is the name of the game.

Nicknames: Monster, Monster Man, CW

It's A Mystery

What color is little man's hair?

We shall have to wait and see.

Play Date

When I was pregnant, I met pretty regularly with a group of girls who were all due at the same time (like, within days of each other). We'd grab coffee and chat, or email back and forth. I didn't know a couple of them before, but we met through mutual friends and there's nothing like the wild and bizarre (and scary and exciting) experience of pregnancy to spark an insta-bond. Now all the babies are here--hooray!--and we wanted to get them all together.

I'm still not totally believing that I have "play dates" on the calendar...not sure whose life this is. Plus, the babies are barely aware that they exist, so insinuating that they are aware of each other or playing is downright comical. I prefer to think of it less as a play date and more as a fart party. Baby farts, that is. If we're being honest, it's totally for the moms, but there's so much value and comfort in talking to someone who's doing the exact same thing. All moms of all ages have been helpful in their own way, but memories of each phase fade quickly and having this group of ladies who are all acutely experiencing the same in-the-trenches moments, emotions, and challenges has been really fun so far. And it helps mitigate the social isolation that comes with having a tiny baby and the restrictions that come along with trying to keep said baby alive. Our birth experiences were different, and our babies are different, but trying to do this alone seems totally crazy. And is probably a great recipe for postpartum depression. I figure there's no sense in trying to reinvent the wheel, so we all pool our (admittedly limited but rapidly advancing) knowledge. It's also nice to be in a setting where it's socially acceptable to talk just about the baby, because I know in my normal brain that that isn't what everyone else wants to talk about all the time, but I seem to have temporarily forgotten exactly what regular people talk about.

At the first fart party, we all chatted happily while the babies slept the entire time (some play date, right?). They started to stir simultaneously, prompting everyone to load up and head home for dinner. But we wanted to get some pictures for posterity first. Somebody suggested trying to get regular group pics as they grow, which would be fun. We just figured this one will be pretty good material for the high school graduation slide show. We can't guarantee that they'll all be best friends, but they'll grow up knowing each other for sure.

I don't know if this is funny to normal people, but we were amused seeing so many goofy newborns lined up. It's like your very own "caption this" contest.

Oliver kept trying to eat Helen's arm. She was stunned and immobilized by this. 

Snug

As a bug in a Moby wrap