Eland at One Month

First off, I can't believe Eland is one month old. My goodness time flies! He is just the sweetest little kiddo. While chaotic, life is better with Eland here! And the chaos won't last forever, although I'm sure it will reappear many times in the future.

Eland at 1 month, looking suspicious..

For the first two weeks or so Eland slept almost all the time, with one or two 2-hour stretches of wakefulness each day. I was shocked at how much he slept, but certainly did not complain. He is now up to three periods of wakefulness, and sometimes these periods last three hours or so. Although when they start at 8pm I wish they were shorter. And I used to be able to depend on Eland sleeping during Auggie's 12:45-3:30pm naptime, but now he seems to prefer to be awake then. Uggh!

Eland is a fantastic nurser and has had a great latch since day 2. It didn't take him long at all! He only nurses on one breast at a time, which took some getting used to, especially since Auggie always nursed on both sides, but I'm used to it now. He seems to be steady at eating every 2 to 3 hours, although with his first sleeping stint of the night he tends to go for 3 to 4.5 hours–last night being the 4.5. The caveat is that the first hour or two of this stretch is usually spent awake, so it's not like I'm able to sleep that whole time. Ah well.. Last night I had my first stretch of nearly 3 hours of continuous sleep. It felt pretty good! Eland was doing a 1-hour wake period in the middle of the night from 3am to 4am, which shifted to 4am - 5am, and is now him waking between 5am - 6am and staying awake. I wish he'd go back to bed, but I remember Auggie doing the same thing and simply getting up with him and getting some work done in the early morning. Since I'm not working now, I stay in bed, but perhaps I should get up and empty the dishwasher or something.. Hmm... Probably not.

Eland really enjoys baths, because it is hot in August in Albuquerque and the water must feel oh-so-nice. Eland also loves to be held, and now tracks things (particularly faces) with his eyes and head. The little guy has already had some playtime on his activity mat, and while I can't be sure, it certainly seems like he's trying to bat at the hanging toys.

Dislikes: Eland despises, despises, despises wet diapers. Like the plague! Even if he tinkles just a sprinkle, if he's awake and his diaper is wet, screaming ensues. He must be changed. This is likely due to the fact that his little hiney is fairly red and sore due to his sensitive newborn skin. I suspect that pee/poop on his butt stings. :( ... He's also been fairly fussy but seems to be slowly working out of that. Within the past two weeks it seemed like if he was awake he was likely crying. However, he's had lots of calm and awake instances lately so I suspect that he's getting used to digestion, gas, or whatever it was that was bothering him.

Btw, he's nearly outgrown 0-3 month clothes! What?! Our pediatrician doesn't do a 1-month visit, so I have no idea what he weighs, but I'm thinking that I may have to dig out our bathroom scale to get an estimate.

Auggie wanted in on the 1-month pictures: Auggie at 22.5 months, Eland at 1 month

There were marked differences between my feelings regarding my first pregnancy and my second, and there are now marked differences between having a newborn the first time around vs. the second. The most noticeable difference is that I am not nearly as stressed out. Being a first-time parent was stressful. During those first few months I wondered if I would ever feel normal again. I also had the weight of going back to work full-time when Auggie was 6 weeks old. Everything was chaotic, and I meticulously counted every waking at night, hoping, praying, and begging for Auggie to sleep just a little bit longer. This time I am not nearly as stressed out. Sure, having a toddler and a newborn at the same time makes this a whole new ballgame, but I'm rolling with the punches.

I don't wonder if Eland will ever sleep longer at night, because I know he will eventually. I didn't worry about whether or not Eland was breathing every second of the first night in the hospital or at home, because I knew he would be. (That was a huge worry for me with Auggie, for whatever reason.) I don't worry about ever feeling normal again, because besides the sleep-deprived blurriness, I already do feel normal. I have only cried twice, once due to lack of sleep, and I can't remember what the other time was for.. Well, probably for lack of sleep, too. And for whatever reason my body has shed its weight much faster the second time around than the first–which is a complete shock as I expected the opposite. Sure, I definitely have a good chunk of belly fat left, but I am shocked as I thought the rest of the fat would stick around for much longer than it did. ... All that that to say, it's nice to have some parenting experience, and this is significantly less stressful than the first time.

A quick note: Eland's birth story is half written. I hope to finish it soon, but it is so hard to find the time to do anything when you have a toddler and a new born..

Btw no. 2, how did I survive Auggie's newborn period without an iPhone?! I live on my iPhone now! Thanks to Emily P.'s suggestion, I track all of Eland's nursings, diaper changes, and baths on the Total Baby app. I LOVE it! And I can obsessively check email, Facebook, and blogs in the middle of the night while nursing. It sure makes that time a little bit more interesting.

Oh, and we still have no idea what color Eland's eyes are going to be. Some days they look blue, some brown. Any guesses?