One Month Old!

One Week

Two Weeks

Three Weeks

Four Weeks

Weight: 10 lbs. 14 oz. (72nd percentile)

Height: 22" (77th percentile) (weight & height done on June 9th at one month well-baby)

Nicknames: Billy (because he sounds like a Billy Goat often), Hungry Hippo, Love Bug, Honey Bunny (do you see a pattern), Gnarly, Peanut... we are nickname folk. 

Diapers: We started out using only disposables  (size 1 - which were a little big), but slowly started using newborn cloth diapers after the meconium passed. We continued using more cloth, until now we use cloth diapers all day and a disposable at night time. He has grown so fast that he is already in size 2 disposables, although they are still a little big. 

Eating: This category could have a whole book written about it. During the first week of nursing this mama messed up. We weren't latching properly and we are still paying for it 5 weeks later (yes this post is a little late). For the first two weeks of Charlie's life we fought a lot. I didn't know what I was doing (and was misdirected by youtube - darn youtube). Charlie would push away and cry and root up in the air. I would cry from frustration and pain (to be honest it was more like wailing). Our poor neighbors could probably hear me sobbing through the walls. There were so many times that I was certain that my baby was going to go hungry in the middle of the night. Let's just say the first two weeks were absolutely TERRIBLE. We went to see a lactation consultant when Charlie was 2 weeks old. That was great and helped our latch. Breastfeeding now did not involve the tears, nor the same level of frustration and pain, however my poor sucked off nipples would not heal. Therefore, they told me that my wounds were probably too deep to heal and that I would have to pump in order for them to heal. Well the day before I was going to start pumping (which I really didn't want to do because we still weren't that great at nursing and I was concerned about nipple confusion) it was brought up by a friend that he may have a posterior tongue tie. Therefore, I did not pump and was directed to a lactation specialists. However, before I had a chance to talk to her Charlie had his one month appointment. His pediatrician reassured me that she did not think he had a posterior tongue tie and that she thought I had a yeast infection (note the word "thought." I have some of the symptoms, but not all and Charlie has no symptoms). And that is where we are now - both getting treated for a yeast infection that we may or may not have. We did end up talking to the lactation specialist over the phone. She told us to continue treatment and if things don't get better we are to contact her again. Hopefully things get better by his two month update :) 

This kiddo also enjoys changing how long he eats for. He was nursing for about 45 minutes in the beginning. That changed to an hour. This mama said, "no way am I nursing for an hour," so I cut him to 30 minutes. Then he dropped to 20 minutes. Then to 15, and currently he is nursing for 7 or 8 minutes - about 4 minutes a side. The short nursing worries me, but he is happy, content, and still peeing and pooping regularly. Feedings are every three hours since one week old.

To sum up this category - breastfeeding is the hardest thing I have ever done. Not only was it killer painful in the beginning (I told myself that I would rather birth more babies than have to go through breastfeeding pain), but it consistently makes me question my ability as a mother. "What if I can't feed him?" "What if this fighting scares him?" "What if we really don't have an yeast infection and I am just giving my baby a ton of medicine and chemicals he doesn't really need?" and the questions continue. 

Sleeping: Charlie has been a pretty good nighttime sleeper. His first night he slept nearly all night long. His second night, I swear he didn't sleep at all. From then until 1 week he would wake up every 2 hours. From 1-4 weeks he would go about three hours at night, with some longer stretches as he got older.  

Daytime sleeping is a bit different. For the first week he was a sleepy newborn, but that didn't last long. He is great at napping if he is napping with someone :) If he is sleeping on or with someone none of the below is true. In fact, he can be hard to wake up. Other than that, he is hard to put to sleep, and harder to keep asleep. No, sounds don't bother him at all. I swear its his sleep cycle. He falls into his deep sleep and sleeps great, but when he starts coming out of that deep sleep is when he wakes up. Nearly every single time. I have discovered that if I can catch him before he is really awake he is much easier to put back to sleep. Every nap is different sometimes he sleeps nearly the whole three hours, other times he skips a nap altogether. I have been napping great :)

Right now we are trying to find a balance between getting a cranky baby to sleep and not letting him get spoiled by always being held for naps. I'm not worried about spoiling him yet, but can see it being a problem down the road. And at that note, I can hear my babe waking out of his deep sleep...

Exciting Things We Did: Other than being born :) ... 

We met cousin Anja for the first time

We had our first sleep over with Aunt June and cousin Anja when Charlie was two weeks old and Anja was just 5 days old! The boys in our families had a camp out at our family quarry. 

We celebrated Daddy's birthday!

We went to our first wedding.

We also went on our first day trip for Charlie's one month birthday! We hiked around Mauch Chunk Lake park in Jim Thorpe, PA. Charlie did awesome and this mama got a good workout in!

And just because we need more baby toes in our life...

How cute are his!?!?