We survived the 1st month with Caleb! I think that we not only survived but we thrived. We are thankful that we have so many friends who brought us meals and were willing to help out because without them we probably wouldn't have thrived.
Caleb has been a blessing and a joy to have around this last month and I honestly can't remember life without him. I'll try to sum up some of the highlights and what he's been up to these days.
Eating: First of all I'm very thankful that Caleb is a great nurser and has been from day 1. After about a week or two he got himself onto a 3 hour eating schedule. A few times he's needed to eat more frequently than that but for the most part he eats every 3 hours throughout the day. At night he has been getting up twice in between 9pm and 7am so he'll go a little longer than 3 hours once a night. However, last night he only woke up once between 9pm and 6am. I don't know if this is a new habit he's starting but I'll take it.
Sleeping: Caleb is doing well at night and usually goes right to sleep after he eats. During the day he takes pretty long naps (~2 hours) in between several feedings. Ideally I would like him to have playtime and then naptime in between each time he eats but it doesn't always work out that way. He is a much better daytime sleeper than Grace was at this stage so I do love that.
Awake Time: When Caleb is not sleeping he loves to be held. I get tons of cuddle time with him and I love it. I think I'm trying to soak it all up because I don't know if I'll have a newborn again. So, I don't want this time where he needs to be held to go by too fast. We also put him in the bouncy seat or swing a lot when he is awake. And he seems to be ok with tummy time. Now I just have to remember to do it more than once every few days:( The evenings are his fussy time and I've noticed it getting a little worse over the last couple of days. According to some books I've read that is normal right now and will escalate for a couple of weeks before the fussiness starts to die again.
Outings: We've been out several times with Caleb this month. I've even taken both kids out several times. We have been able to go for walks, run some errands, and visit friends. As a family of 4 we've gone to church, out to eat, on picnics, and gone shopping. I feel like I'm more active now than when I was pregnant with Caleb.
Milestones: Not a ton of milestones happen in the first month but Caleb has given me a couple of smiles that last couple of days. I can't always get him to do it but he has looked me straight in the eye and smiled. These are not gas smiles!
