Saturday, February 27, 2010

Alexandra is 1 month old!

Ok, so I'm really late in posting this-I posted it on Flickr on her actual 1 month birthday, but I've been remiss in posting things here, so I'm going to get back on track. I plan on posting her 2 month old photo and letter in a few days and then we'll be on track!


Dear Alexandra-
You are one month old today, January 20th, 2010.
I can't believe that you are so old already! You have changed so much in your first month!

At your two week Dr appt, you had already gained one pound over your birth weight. When you were born, you weighed 7 lbs, 2 oz, then you went down to 6 lbs, 7 oz, 4 days after you were born. By January 6th, you were 8 lbs, 2 oz! The Dr said you were doing great and that your weight gain must be some kind of record! You need to gain 1 oz each day, but you gained 2 oz! You can't imagine how excited we were that you were doing so well! You are already outgrowing a lot of your newborn clothes and you are starting to fill out. You have the cutest chubby cheeks and you are starting to get little chubby thighs!

Since you were born, you have become a great eater. You love breastfeeding and you want to eat all the time! I love feeding you-its our special time together. Breastfeeding seems to calm any woe-you can be screaming, but the moment I put you on the breast, everything is solved! I think you would stay there all day long if you could! You are also very cuddly! You love being held and cuddled! I'm so glad that you are snuggly and cuddly, and I look forward to lots of cuddles and kisses and hugs as you grow up!

You are very sweet natured and calm, and you only cry when you want something, (usually to be fed and then you make sure that your needs are known!) You have the most beautiful smile! You don't smile socially yet, but you do smile often-sometimes it's just a little glimpse of a smile and sometimes it's a huge grin. I swear I heard you laugh the other day as well, but I'm not sure! I like to think you did! Your face just lights up with you smile and I can only imagine how cute it is when you laugh!

You are very strong and like to pick your head up and look around when I put you on my chest to burp you-you do it all the time and you love to look around! It's so cute how you cross your arms in front of you and push your head up to look around, or at me (especially when we make eye contact-you have the MOST BEAUTIFUL deep blue eyes!) You also have strong legs and push up on them any chance you get when I am burping you.

We have started playing together every day. I lean back and put my knees up and you sit on my tummy and lean back on my legs. You like looking around when we do this too and we have fun playing "Paddy Cake" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" together!

Today you discovered the pacifier! Daddy and I took you out to lunch and then did some errands. You cried while I ran into Target, but by the time I came back, you were quiet and happy because Daddy gave you your pacifier! I had tried to give it to you before, you you never seemed to want it! You only seem to want to take it now if you are hungry, and it seems to satisfy you for a half hour or so before you decide you want the real thing!

Sleeping has been a challenge. You are a good sleeper during the day, sleeping for 3 hour stretches, but you seem to have a harder time at night. You just don't like being left alone in your bassinet all alone on your back! I think it's mainly because I'm holding you most of the day, while at night, I put you down in your bassinet. You don't like being there and sleep for an hour or an hour and a half before you wake up crying again. We've discovered that you tend to wake up when you become unswaddled and your startle reflex wakes you up! We've now found some better swaddles (Kiddopatomos and the Miracles Blanket) as well as your swing, bouncer, and Sleep Sheep that plays white noise have been helpful in getting you to sleep longer at night. They seem to help you feel more secure and safe and help you to not wake up as easily, so we've had some better nights with you sleeping 3 hour stretches at a time! You aren't consistent yet, but we're getting better! Even if you were up all night long, though, I wouldn't mind, because you are so sweet!

We also just received the Moby Wrap today, which I hope will allow you to sleep on me while I wear you so I can have a little bit more freedom and not spend all my time in our bedroom! I think you'll like being warn, especially so close to me!

My sweet girl, both your Daddy and I are completely and utterly in love with you! Your Daddy, especially, tells you all the time, whenever he holds you, how much he loves you and how beautiful you are! It's clear that he's head over heels for you and I love to watch him with you!

Being your Mommy is the most amazing experience I've ever had-It's about a million times better than I ever imagined.

I love you to the moon and back!
Love,
Mommy


2 comments:

  1. They seem to help you feel more secure and safe and help you to not wake up as easily, so we've had some better nights with you sleeping 3 hour stretches at a time

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great post, Hope! I love your idea of writing a letter to Alexandra!

    We love "Itsy Bitsy Spider" around here, too! And I completely agree about the breastfeeding. It's a wonderful time to share with baby!

    ReplyDelete