Dean {1 Month}

Dear Dean -- it's hard to believe that a whole month has already come and gone, but as the saying goes, time flies when you're having fun...or in our case, time flies when you're caring for both a newborn and toddler around the clock.

Although our first month together didn't start off exactly how I had hoped it would, I have finally come to terms with what exactly happened and really am just so glad that you are here and healthy -- despite the fact that those first few days were filled with just as much fear as they were joy.

Several people have asked me if life with two kids is harder than I thought it would be, and thankfully it's not.  If anything, it's actually easier.  While part of that has to do with the fact that I planned for the worst {just in case!}, most of it has to do with the fact that you are such an easy baby.

The best way to describe you right now is go-with-the-flow, and that trait alone has made the transition from one kid to two so much easier than I imagined.  As long as you are fed, you are perfectly content to just sleep wherever -- even if it's at an insanely loud indoor playground.

So far, the hardest part of my new normal is the fact that I'm up with you all night and then have to get up with your brother in the morning, but as a seasoned mom, I know that the sleepless nights are just a stage and will be over before I know it {fingers crossed!}.

I'll be the first to admit that the newborn stage isn't my very favorite, but because you are such a sweet baby, I really am enjoying it and trying to soak it up as much as I can because I know it will go fast.  It's only been a month, but we already love you so much and are so glad that you are ours.

Love, Mommy

{1 MONTH STATS}

Measurements:  11 pounds

Sizes:

• Clothes: 0-3 months {"newborn" up until 3.5 weeks}
• Diapers: size 1 {"newborn" up until 3.5 weeks}

Eating:  You aren't on any type of schedule yet, but during the day, I wake you every 3 hours to nurse, and at night, you wake me up every 3-4 hours.  The timing varies day-to-day, but your feedings are usually around 1 am, 4 am, 7 am, 10 am, 1 pm, 4 pm, 7 pm, and 10 pm.  We do our best to give you one bottle a day, but that's a lot easier said than done since caring for both a newborn AND toddler does leave a lot of time to both feed AND pump.  Thankfully I'm not too worried about it though.  Because the NICU wanted us to give you a bottle after every feeding while in the hospital, you have always taken one like a champ, and as soon as we started giving you full feedings in a bottle, you were already taking 5 ounces.  No small bottles for you!

Sleeping:  You sleep a lot these days and are only up for about 30 minutes or so after you eat.  During the day, you sleep everywhere -- in your co-sleeper, your swing, your bouncer, occasionally on one of us, but mostly in your car seat while on the go.  At night, you sleep in the co-sleeper in our room.  Each time that you wake, it takes about an hour to change your diaper, feed you, burp you, and then keep you up long enough to where you won't spit up.  You usually go right back down after that, but recently, you've struggled a little bit with falling back asleep.  That being said though, you're also currently fighting a cold, so I'll cut you a little bit of slack.  It helps that you're pretty cute, too.

Likes:

• Sleeping!!!
• Eating -- whether it be nursing or taking a bottle
• Looking around and staring at things -- especially our ceiling fans and your musical stuffed giraffe
• Sucking on your pacifier

 Dislikes:

• Having your diaper changed when all you want to do is eat
• Doing your neck stretches for your torticollus 
• Having your head turned to the opposite direction than you prefer to hold it while sleeping