1 month old!

As Ethan turns one month old today, I realize how much my life has changed in the last month.  I take a diaper bag everywhere I go now, and could spend hours just staring at a sleeping baby.  We love most of the changes Ethan has brought to our life (don't love the massive amount of diapers we change!).  We are so happy to have such a big healthy boy!

At one month old here is some important Ethan information!

Weight:  He was 11 lbs 9.4 ounces last Tuesday, He 12 lbs 6 oz at the dr today (8/30).  That is the 97th percentile, haha! 

Length:  He was 22 inches at birth, 21 inches at his first dr appt, and 22 1/4 inches at his one month appt (that is the 72nd percentile).

Head:  His head circumference was 38 cm at his first appt and 39.5 cm at today's appt (75th percentile).

Clothes:  He is in 0-3 month clothes, same as when he was born.  He never got to wear newborn clothes.  He has grown out of the 0-3 month Gerber onesies as they run small.  I will probably start trying some of the 3-6 month clothes soon since he is so long.  He is wearing size 1 diapers (1-2 since we are currently using the CostCo diapers), but I will probably move him up to size 2 Pampers once we finish the costco diapers.

Sleep:  When we first brought him home, day sleeping was great, night sleeping was not so great.  Eventually he started sleeping 5-6 hours at night.  Then we moved him to his cradle and he went back to not sleeping great at night (waking up a lot and taking forever to go back to sleep).  I then decided to start swaddling him again (I stopped because I thought he hated it).  Turns out I think he was just too hot before, as it has made a huge difference, last night he slept 7 hours before waking up to eat!  Now his daytime sleeping isn't so great, but oh well.  He will take some shorts naps throughout the day and will fall asleep anytime we put him in his carseat to go somewhere!

What we do every day: Since I am still home, he wakes up whenever he wants.  He is such a loud sleeper, so he tends to wake me up with his squawks before he is actually awake.  I try to eat breakfast during this time.  Then I go in and get him and he nurses.  We try to take a walk in the morning (which he loves) and go at least one other place during the day (usually Babies R Us of course!).  Jed gets home mid afternoon and gets to spend some time with him.  He usually takes a long nap in the evenings, Jed gives him a 4 oz bottle before he goes to bed, then Ethan sleeps some more, then I nurse him and put him to bed around 9 or so.  Lately he has been going to sleep great in the evenings!  You love to hang out in your rock 'n play during the day and tolerate tummy time for awhile.  You are starting to love looking at lights!  You also love hanging out in the front pack but will only go to sleep there if you are incredibly tired (like right at this moment). 

Eating:  You eat like a champ, which is probably why you are gaining so much weight.  During the day you nurse about every 2 hours and you usually wake up around 2:30-3:30 am to nurse in the middle of the night.  We nurse on demand during the day, so if you are napping, you go longer between eating sessions.  I have no idea how much you eat on a daily basis. You do great at burping after you eat and so far we have had very little spit up (hopefully that doesn't change!)

Looks:  You still have your blue eyes and your blonde hair.  Your hair is starting to grow but you still don't have much.  You have a ton of baby acne and your right eye always has crusties.

Milestones:  You are getting so good at tracking objects.  You love watching mom when someone else is holding you and you love staring at lights.  You tolerate the toys I give you and you are a pretty good book reader.  Your smiles are great.  I still don't think we have had actual reaction to something smiles, but we love watching you smile.  We also love hearing all the sounds you make.  We laugh at your sounds a lot of times!

Firsts:  Everything you did this month was a first since you were just born!  You got to meet family for the first time, you went to Kansas City for the first time last night, you had your first walk in the stroller with and without the car seat, you had your first trip to a restaurant, you watched your first Chiefs game (you were enthralled by all the lights coming from the huge screen!), and you had your first bath (in the baby tub of course). 

What we are looking forward to:  Your first trip to Western KS this upcoming weekend to have you baptized in the same church and by the same minister that baptized your Grandpa Bruce, married your Grandpa and Granny, and baptized your mom!  Ethan and I will stay in Western KS for the week following the baptism, so we are looking forward to showing you off!

What we are dreading:  Mom going back to work Sept 26 :(

Enjoy the pictures from the last few days.

 Sporting his new hat

 Ethan's first trip out of Topeka

Don't mind the fact that he is crying, isn't his outfit adorable!

Go Chiefs!

Adorable outfit, once again don't mind the crying, haha

Look at that neck strength

1 month photo shoot

Then I decided I should make a sign

Hanging out in the front pack!

Enjoy the video of Ethan waking up - we love watching him - feel free to skip the video unless you are family or are an "aunt", then you have to watch it!