Townes // One Month

Taking yet more inspiration from Kelsey over at Snappy Casual, I'm trying my hand at this sort of monthly update. I like that there's a template so I don't forget to record certain things. And I like that it will be consistent. So Type A, that's me! 

So here we go! 

T O W N E S // 1 Month

GROWTH

• Weighs 10 lbs 4 oz (up nearly 2 pounds since birth)
• Is 22" long
• His eyes are dark brown and his eyelashes are coming in!
• His skin has been peeling since birth + he has a touch of baby acne. 
• His right eye has been a little gunky in the last few days. 
• Still in newborn clothing, but can fit into some 0-3 month pieces!

LOVES

• Well, not much in the first month. He's definitely more cuddly than Theron and prefers to be held.
• He hasn't loved being put in his mamaroo, he's not a fan of the carseat but will mostly tolerate it, and the same goes for pacifiers. He's definitely not addicted to the paci but he will take it, which is more than Theron ever did! You kinda have to force it in his mouth and he will suck for awhile. He only tolerates the MAM brand. 
• He does like to look up at the tapestry on the wall in his nursery while getting his diaper changed. 

FIRSTS

• Smile...maybe?? It's hard to tell if he's smiling or just relieving some gas! But if we have caught some it's been in the last two weeks. 

EATING

• He eats every 2-3 hours and sometimes [lots of times!] more. The difference this time around is that he is not nearly as big a comfort sucker that Theron was. If he doesn't want to nurse, you can't really force him. It's a good and bad thing because I was so used to that always calming Theron. I struggled for nearly 6 weeks with nursing Theron before it felt "normal" and right off the bat Townes and I have had a great nursing relationship. Some nights he gets frustrated if the flow isn't as fast as he would prefer but overall it's been awesome!

SLEEP

• He sleeps a lot right now. He usually falls asleep nursing and I let him sleep on me. He will nap for about 1-3 hours at at time. We've moved him to the rock n' play after nursing & occasionally he has napped there. David has got him to fall asleep in the Bjorn bouncer and he will usually fall asleep during a car ride. 
• At night...we have a different story. On night one we tried to put him in his crib, like we did successfully with Theron, and NO DICE. He HATED it. We tried the rock n' play  [that our neighbors graciously landed us after a walk one night] that I swore I wouldn't use, and it was a no go on that as well. So, I have resorted to holding him and he slept. Ugh...not what we wanted. I broke down and bought a cosleeper off Amazon and had my fingers crossed he would sleep there. I've had VERY minimal success with him sleeping there. We still swaddle him and put him in his crib first every night. Some nights he'll sleep almost three hours in there and some nights we're lucky to get 20 minutes. After his first wake up it's pretty much guaranteed that he won't go back in there. I try, but he only lasts tops--20 minutes. So, I bring him to bed with me and he sleeps on and off while nursing on and off. Amazingly, I'm not as exhausted as I was with Theron but I SO wish he would sleep in his crib more. BUT, I'm trying not to stress about it and figure it out as we go. It's blatantly obvious to me that no two kids are alike. We are continuing to try the crib twice every night and I hope that maybe once he starts giving me longer stretches [if he does--here's hoping!!] he will last longer the first stretch in the crib. I'm concerned for this setup when I go back to work, but it is what it is. Ahhhh, babies and sleep! Such a conundrum.

HEALTH

• He's been pretty healthy this first month besides a little congestion, sneezing, and the occasional cough. None of it seemed to bother him and I think it's all pretty normal for a newborn's little system. 
• He's not the easiest baby in the world, but he hasn't been the screamer that Theron was either. He fusses a lot and the last two days of week 4 were tough on me. David went back to work and being home with an unhappy baby is NO JOKE. I did buy some Gerber Soothe Colic drops and took Townes to a chiropractor on the second to last day of his 4th week. Maybe they helped-maybe they didn't-but I'm not opposed to trying things to make our situation calmer! 

SOCIAL/PLAYING

• Being so little, he hasn't really played with anything, but I'll be happy when he starts to!

PARENTING

• As you all know, I had a REALLY REALLY tough time with Theron as an infant. I was terrified that Townes would be the same. And like I said earlier, he's no Theron but he's not a walk in the park either. I have had some anxiety about having another baby and have cried my fair share of tears. But overall, everyone says I'm doing better this time around. I get frustrated with myself, right or wrong, when I get overwhelmed because I'm normally not one to stress too much in my day to day life. I compare myself way too much to other moms everywhere and need to work on stopping that. I know my anxiety will ease up as Townes sleeps better and gets to sitting up, smiling, cooing etc. I will probably return to work earlier than I had originally planned because the stay-at-home mom life is not for me. Kudos to all of you stay at home parents! You have THE hardest job in the world and never get a break. 
• I'm proud of myself and David [I could write an entire blog about how wonderful he is to me and our sons!] because we got out so much in this first month. Having a longer paternity leave was SO BENEFICIAL to my emotional well-being and I am eternally grateful he made a priority to secure that time. We went to Target, made runs to get take out, took Theron to school everyday, visited the newly opened IKEA and the mall, I got a fresh hair color/cut + eyelash extensions, took part in our normal Saturday routine of the choo-choo store and Steak n' Shake for Theron, visited 2 fall pumpkin festivals, and we even went to the Young House Love book signing! 
• With Theron I didn't get out until he was over 2 months old and that was SO BAD for my psyche. I know that keeping a baby healthy is priority, obviously we didn't want people touching and breathing all over Townes, but maintaining your identity and sanity is VITAL. I just can't stress that enough. 

We're looking forward to our little guy growing and are navigating our way through the world of two kiddos!

xo