we've had lots of changes over the past month....husband had to fly back to New York for work after 3 weeks of paternity leave with me and the little man, and the first week he was gone....woah, it has been a doozy.
lincoln and i have had lots of help from family, but nothing can really prepare you for those long, sleepless nights, especially when you're up and doing them by yourself. i knew it would be tough, but i don't think anybody really knows how tough it is until they're in the thick of it.
little man turned 1 month old on august 31st and i can't believe how fast the time has flown by! he is the best baby (i know all parents say that about their kids), but really truly, he's a pretty good baby. he definitely has his fussy period, which usually starts around 7 or 8 in the evening (earlier if we've had a busy day with lots of outings) but other than that time period, when he's super tired and fighting sleep, he doesn't fuss at all. he'll let me know when he's hungry or needs a diaper change, but overall he's a happy boy!
and boy does this little guy like to eat. he gets after it that's for sure, and as a result he is growing like a weed! In one month he gained 2.7 lbs and grew 1.5 inches! since he was such a little dude to start out, i couldn't be happier!
probably the most trying part of being a first time mama to little man is that this little guy just wants to be held. i'm happy to oblige him, 99% of the time, but it definitely makes things like showering, going to the bathroom or just getting basic household chores done a bit difficult. it also has been hard at night, when this mama needs to sleep and little man only wants to sleep on me. we're working on it though, and while the past 4 or 5 nights have been a little harder due to lack of sleep, little man is slowly but surely learning to sleep in a little rocker i have next to my bed as opposed to on my chest.
so far our days look a little like this:
sometime between 8 and 9 am, little man and i start our day, depending on what time he wakes up to eat. he gets fed, we change his diaper (which he absolutely HATES!) and mama makes her way to the kitchen for some much needed coffee. because he's a little bit more awake these days, we play for about 30-45 minutes (usually tummy time or on his play mat) and then as he falls asleep i put him in the mama roo (lifesaver!) and try and get a super speedy fast shower in. he only lasts in the mama roo for about 30 minutes, so when i say fast, i mean fast! (did i mention this little guy likes to be held ;0))
after i'm showered, and he starts to make it known that he wants to be held, i strap on the K'tan (which falls asleep in) and wear him while i get some stuff around the house done. this usually entails, spot cleaning, cleaning bottles, and preparing bottles for the day. (little man was fed a combination of breast milk i was able to pump plus formula until he was 10 days old, then i wasn't able to produce any more and he's exclusively formula fed now).
by 11 am or 12 pm, lincoln usually wakes up and wants to eat again, we feed him, change his diaper, and depending on the day, go out to run some errands, give lincoln a bath or my mom comes by to play with the little guy while i get more house stuff done or if lincoln wasn't having the mama roo that morning, my mom lets me shower, or i try and make some lunch.
around 2 or 3, the little guy wakes up again, and we feed and diaper him, and then go out for our afternoon walk! this is probably my favorite part of the day. it gets us out of the house and into the fresh air, and for the limited time little man's awake, he loves looking at the trees and clouds. he's a nature guy at heart, i can tell :). after our walk we head back to the house where lincoln finishes his nap.
our evenings have been a little sporadic depending on this mama's plans, but depending on the day, little man will wake up between 5 and 6 to eat, and at this point he's usually too tired to play so heads back to sleep again (we're working on keeping him up a bit later - my goal is to have his "bedtime" be around 9ish, but now we're just taking things day by day). sometimes in the evenings we have friends over, or we'll head over to nana and pop pop's house for dinner and some family time, or we'll just hang out here. we usually face time with husband between 7 and 7:30 and then start to wind down for the day.
when he wakes up again to eat between 9 and 10, we do our bedtime "routine." which includes story time and then while he eats we listen to some lullabies and get ready for bed. by this point i try and lay down too, because i know we have a long night ahead of us ;0).
throughout the evening, lincoln usually wakes up once or twice to eat and then goes back to bed. when he was getting to sleep on me, he would only wake up once around 1-2 am and then again at around 5 or 6 am to eat and get a diaper change and then go back to sleep. now that we're working on sleeping in the bassinet he wakes up a little more often...usually around 1 am, and then again around 3 and once more at 6 am before we start our day between 8 and 9 am. the little dude just likes it way more sleeping on mama then in a bed, but we'll get it worked out sooner or later!
so there it is....a day in the life of lincoln. i know our days will change drastically as this little guy continues to grow and gets more awake and we learn to sleep better, but for now, we're soaking up every minute of it. i can't believe it's been a month already!
some quick stats:
height: 20 in
weight: 8.8 lbs
hates: diaper changes and being naked in general
loves: sleeping on mama, bath time, tummy time and lullabies
head: holds it up briefly (yay for tummy time!)
eats: like a champ!
sleeps: we're working on sleeping in a bassinet next to mama's bed as opposed to on mama
OH and LOVE the Morgan and Meghan next generation picture more than anything.
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