I can't believe that my precious baby girl is one month old today! It doesn't seem like she has been here that long already!
I thought I would try to give updates every month on what is going on in Audrey's world, and how she is growing and changing. I am planning to take monthly pictures as well with a stuffed animal my dad got for her-it's a Clifford the Big Red Dog and right now it's about her size!
It has been a big adjustment to go from being pregnant to having Audrey here to love on! I am still working on getting her birth story ready to share here, so for now I will just say that our birth and hospital experience was really wonderful. We had great care and we love our doctor, so everything went great with the delivery and stay afterwards. We came home 2 days after Audrey's birth, with lots of help here at home from my family. It's really a blessing to have your loved ones' support during all of this!
Landon got 2 weeks off from work and my mom stayed with us through the first week, then it was just Landon and me his 2nd week at home. My mom came back for one more week after Landon went back to work, and now that we're one month into parenting, I still feel like I can hardly get anything done, haha! The house stays semi-picked up but I have yet to cook a meal for us myself since Audrey has been here. Landon has been amazing and really helps me keep things cleaned up, and has done some cooking for us, plus gone to the store several times too. I know I'll get used to doing things on a different schedule, but for now it's sometimes just a happy kind of chaos. :)
Audrey had her newborn checkup this month. She was 6 lbs. 9 oz. at birth and was 6, 5 when we left the hospital. At her appointment a week later she was up to 6, 10. I'm sure she is over 7 lbs. by now, but not sure how much. Everything else looked great, her pediatrician said. She is still in newborn sized diapers and clothes; the only newborn things that don't fit her is socks! The teeny ones are way too small for her big feet-I wanted her to get her Daddy's long feet and toes and she did! :)
Audrey has also had a few outings-only 1 that I've taken her all by myself though, and because of 2 diaper blow-outs I was late meeting Landon! I was able to laugh at the situation though, and I know it will not be the last time something like that happens! I just have to allow more time for things from now on. We took Audrey to church for the first time, though she stayed with Mommy and Daddy in our class-I'm not ready for the nursery just yet! We have gone to a few public places so far, and in a few days we will take her to her Marmee and Papa's (my parents) house for the first time.
Audrey loves her baths and getting her hair washed. She's ok for a minute or two straight out of the bath, but then she gets upset being undressed, no matter how quickly I try to get her clothes back on. She is usually pretty good about letting me change her clothes though-she is so cute looking around and waving her little arms while I'm getting her ready! She still keeps her teeny hands clenched into fists most of the time, but I do leave mitts on her almost always because she does scratch herself a lot if I don't, and her nails are SO long! I've already cut them 3 times this month and even when they are shorter she still makes marks on her face.
Her fine little newborn hair has started falling out on top of her head these last few days. She had quite a bit at birth, but now has a few bald spots plus a bit of cradle cap. I keep a little pink bow in her hair most of the time. It's just so cute! Still lots of hair in back and staying there for now! Audrey has VERY dry skin-something she got from me-and it was very peely (like after a sunburn) for the first 2 weeks. The third week it was looking much better but still had dry patches and now it's almost completely that really soft baby skin.
Audrey has discovered the mobile in her pack 'n play! (We use it as her bassinet) She likes to look at it spin around and also likes to watch when we hold up one of her rattles and shake and move it. She usually moves her head to watch but sometimes will follow with just her eyes. It's so cute to watch!
Oh, her eyes! They looked blue/grey to me at birth, but have already started changing. You can't really tell yet what their final color is going to be, but they are definitely two-toned. Landon and I both have hazel eyes; his are blue-green and mine are brown-green. We think hers look more blue-green right now.
I'm still waiting for those first real smiles where she knows what she's doing. She does smile a lot-at things off in the distance, haha. And after she has eaten (I am breastfeeding and she's doing great with it) and kinda falling asleep on my arm, she smiles SO big that it fills up her entire tiny face-and she even got my dimples! It's so precious and I can't wait to see one that's for me!
Audrey is sleeping pretty well for us. During the day she will have a few times after eating that she is awake for 1-2 hours. She usually goes anywhere from 2-4 hours between feedings and at night she goes about 5 hours on average between feedings. The last two nights she has gone about 7 hours after her last night feeding (about 10:30-11:00) but I'm not expecting that to be the norm just yet! It has been nice to catch up on sleep a little bit this week though!
She is still doing all those little newborn baby things that are so cute-hiccuping a lot, making lots of little noises when she is falling asleep/waking up/eating, squeaking a lot. She's still doing the sweet little newborn cry, and it still makes me cry with her sometimes when she's really sad! She still gets startled pretty easily and flails her teeny arms and legs.
I am really trying to soak up everything about her each day, and enjoy every little stage and development about my sweet baby. This first month has already gone by quickly and I don't want to miss anything! I love being Audrey's mommy and I'm so thankful for being able to stay home with her all the time. God is good and we are definitely blessed!!
