Samuel: 1 month

"The days are long but the years are short."  Someone told me this when James was a newborn, and I wanted to smack them - another "enjoy every moment because it flies by!" piece of advice was NOT what this new (weary, worn thin) mama needed at that time.  But I can appreciate it now... I think because having my first newborn was absolutely the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, but this second time I know what to expect and what I'm doing (at least a little - ha!) so even the hard moments are much more enjoyable.  And the days around here lately have been very long... But gosh, has it really already been a month since this little man joined our family?!?






Samuel has certainly woken up from the womb!  It took him almost four weeks, but he finally started to act more like how I think a newborn does - a lot more fussy and times of crying inconsolably for no reason.  Some medical folks call it "the period of purple crying," which peaks at 6 weeks and is developmental somehow.  On the worst days, I just remind myself it's only for a season.  Generally, Samuel is actually pretty happy, he has just started to have a day here and there where he just cries all day.





He's in size one disposable diapers, and just today we are trying out our cloth diapers on him.  So far, no leaks!  I'll be glad to get back into our routine (and to stop buying disposables).  He's in 0-3 month clothes, though sometimes I still try to squeeze him into a cute newborn outfit because I didn't get much time to use all of those cute clothes!  But they definitely are too small now.  Sam is starting to nurse at more regular intervals (about every 3 hours), though a lot of evenings he still wants to nurse constantly for a few hours.  Breast feeding is still going great, with Samuel weighing in at 10lbs 15oz for his 4 week check up (85th percentile).  I'm so grateful and praise the Lord that he is doing so well (and that my milk supply seems to be keeping up).



Samuel has slept 6 hours overnight (once) and we've had several nights of one four or five hour stretch.  For this, I'm grateful - largely because his daytime sleep has significantly lessened due to the increased fussiness.  It's been a lot harder to get him to sleep in between feedings, and I have found myself spending most of James' nap time trying to get Samuel to sleep.  We're using the swing during daytime naps right now when we're at home, and he still falls asleep rather easily in his carseat or while I'm wearing him in a wrap while we're out.  At night, he is swaddled and in the bassinet next to our bed.  Usually he wakes up to nurse and falls right back asleep overnight, but last night he really had trouble getting back to sleep.  I had to bounce him on my big yoga ball for quite a while and finally laid him down asleep (rather than awake and let him fall asleep - which he was able to do easily the first four weeks).  So, tonight he will be moving to the nursery, though still in the bassinet.  Depending on how the night goes, I'll sleep in there with him, but either way Stuart will be able to get some rest before going to work in case Samuel has another noisy night.



Samuel had his first visit from Nana and Pop last week, and we spent the week going on fun outings to story time at the library, a day at the park, and a trip to Stay & Play Snack Cafe (a play place with an espresso bar in the back for parents - my favorite kid outing)!





Our baby loves tummy time, snuggling and bouncing.  Samuel is the sweetest little guy... now we're just waiting for him to smile for us :)