Happy One Month Birthday Alex!

Henry feeding the baby for the first time
Sleeping in his "I Love Mommy" shirt
Wide Awake!

So serious....
So tired....

Today is Alex's one month birthday! How the time has flown. I still can't believe I am a Mommy, let alone have a one month old son!!! We are all still doing well. We are a little sleep deprived, but in the scheme of things Alex is not as bad a sleeper as some stories of babies I have heard, so I am counting my lucky stars on that one. He wakes up (on average) about twice a night now. He usually goes one four hour stretch and then one two or three hour stretch. I can also tell that he has grown alot in the past two weeks since our first pediatrician appointment. Henry and I did a self measurement the other day and we measured Alex at about 22 inches and at the high 8/low 9 lb range in weight.

He moves his little arms and legs now almost constantly. I try not to laugh, but you can tell he doesn't have much coordination over his arms and he bops himself in the head at least three or four times a day. He has started making more noises now (as Henry says, he is adding to his vocabulary)...and has recently started responding when Henry and/or I make the noises to him. I even swear he smiled at me the other day, but my parents think it is just gas..... He seems to make eye contact (or at least look in our general direction) when one of us is talking and has begun to be interested in some toys such as rattles, mobiles, etc....His favorite "toy" is his swing and I am hoping that never breaks as sometimes it is the only thing that will calm him down.

I do have to say the hardest thing for me is his fussing. He will fuss and fuss and I don't know why....we try almost everything...diaper changes, nursing, bouncing, gas drops...it is like a crap shot to figure out what exactly he wants and by the time we figure it out, he has either completely exhausted himself from the screaming and has fallen asleep or we don't know what we did to get him to settle down.

Nursing is going well for the most part. Pretty much all I feel I do is nurse him. He eats about every three hours from start to start and boy do those two plus hours go quickly between feedings. He still won't latch without the nipple shields, but at this point as long as he is nursing well, gaining weight and seems happy, then I am not going to force the issue too much of trying to wean him. The important thing to me is that he is getting my milk and seems to be doing well, both of which are happening. We also finally introduced the bottle to him at about 4 weeks. So I feel much better about going out and about as I can just pump and take a bottle with me wherever I go.

My recovery has been surprisingly quick and uncomplicated. I really hurt for about two weeks, and now my incision is just very sensitive (doesn't really hurt). I am completely off the pain medication and am getting around well. I have been driving all over the place..and enjoying every minute of it...and trying to get out of the house as much as possible. It has been hard as the weather up here is still on the chilly side and when it is warmer temperature wise, it is raining. I am so excited for the day when I can take Alex to Longwood Gardens and just walk around outside with him.

Henry actually left Best Buy when Alex was about two weeks old and has been home with me since. That has been great as having two pairs of hands to help with the baby. It is also great because he has been able to spend some great time with Alex bonding with him. Once he goes back to work and/or we have another child, we probably won't ever have this opportunity again. He has been interviewing for multiple positions and we are expecting to hear back from his first choice in jobs this coming Monday. Please keep your fingers crossed for us as we would love to start building a more permanent life up here. Plus, I want to get all my furniture out of storage and set up my place and buy a house.

All in all, life is good. I am already dreading going back to work. However, I can't decide if I could ever be a full time stay at home mom (I think I would go crazy) or if I can stand to work full time knowing Alex is in daycare. I guess time will tell....