1 Month Old: Life with Landon

In order to best record Landon's milestone events of each month, I put together a pretty vague list of things I want to remember about his first year or so. I will copy and paste the list on the 13th of each month (or near then!) and fill the information in accordingly. 

Average Day:  
Landon usually gets up in the morning sometime between 3:30-5 and eats.  Then I reswaddle him and he goes back to sleep until around 8-9.  This is nice because it usually allows me to get a shower, wake up William, dress/feed/entertain William, and then have just a split second to spare before I have to feed Landon again.  After Landon eats around 9, he usually sleeps off and on and then eats again around 11.  After this, I make lunch for myself and William and Landon has to find something to entertain himself with.  Typically that's the swing, but I am trying to incorporate more of the play mat.  After I get William down for a nap (around 1) I feed Landon again and then he will often take a good afternoon nap for about 2-3 hours.  When the stars align and both boys are sleeping... it's my utopian time.  :)  So far, I have been able to have this quiet time almost every day.  I want to knock on wood just saying that.  Will and Landon both get up around 3 and then I feed Landon again.  This usually starts his more alert period and therefore the tougher time of the day.  I try to get Will a snack and then I have to start on dinner.  Honest to God, as soon as I get dinner ready and William and I have sat down to eat (around 5:30-6) Landon starts screaming his head off and it's time to feed him again.  I shovel the food into my face and try to get William to sit on his bottom or knees while he eats.  (He has been into standing on his chair facing the kitchen).  Dom sometimes comes home right at the height of the noise.  I can't imagine how that makes him feel... anyway, he will often pick Landon up and sush him so I can finish eating.  Then I feed Landon and Will and Dom go out somewhere as soon as Dom is done shoveling the food into his face and picking up the dishes.  Now it's about 7 pm.  I try to join the boys in whatever their evening pursuits are, but Landon is often still kind of fussy at this time.  At around 8, Dom gives William a bath and I feed Landon again.  Then I join the boys for the nightly books (most nights, unless Landon is on a marathon feast, and then Will comes down and gives me a hug and kiss while I am feeding).  From this time until the last feeding after 11 I usually try to keep Landon quiet, since he is fussier in the evening, and he will doze off and on and possibly get a bath.  Then I feed him one last time, swaddle him up in a blanket underneath an Adan + Anais blanket, put his hat on him, kiss both of his cheeks, and place him in his bassinet.

Ahhhhhhh... the end of the day.  It always feels so good to lie down. :)

Signature "Thinker" Pose

Swaddled & Ready for Bedtime!

Favorites: 
Well it's hard to know what babies think of as their FAVORITE, since they know so little about options but besides eating there are a few things I can identify.  When Landon is fussy he likes a strong, solid, rhythmic pat on the butt.  Not fast though, just a solid steady beat.  He also likes getting swaddled, but we force that on our kids.  William seems to think he likes music when he's in his swing, but I am not so sure.  However, in extreme moments of fussiness (which luckily don't happen often) I use white noises that I downloaded on iTunes for $4.99.

First Trip to the Park

Food/Diet/Eating Habits:
In the spirit of the Olympics, if there was a gold medal for nursing, Landon would win! Not only does he eat a lot, he also lowered his time per session by an hour a day!  He usually eats a good amount in the morning and evening, but naps longer in the afternoon.

Growth:

• Birth - 8 lbs, 5 oz and 21 inches.
• 2 Days - 7 lbs, 12 oz (discharge weight from the hospital)
• 1 Week - 8 lbs, 3oz
• 2 Weeks - 9 lbs even and still around 21 inches.  * We moved him up from newborn to size 1 diapers at this time. 
• 3 Weeks - 9 lbs, 7 oz and 21 1/2 inches
• 1 Month - 10 lbs, 6 oz and 22 inches

Milestones:
Well a newborn probably has more milestones in the first month than in any other month, but they aren't as easily identified because they are mostly internal. I'm sure Landon is learning about everything in this world at a remarkable pace, but since I'm unable to provide evidence I'll just say trust me.  Wouldn't it be cool though if we could be inside a baby's head?  My Grandma Ayres always says something like, "Don't you wonder what they are thinking up there in their little heads?"  Yes, Grandma, I definitely do!

So what other milestones do 1 month olds reach? Here are a few that come to mind:

• Birth (obviously!) - Friday, July 13th 2012
• Met Both Sets of Grandparents and Had First Bath - Friday, July 13th
• Came Home! - Sunday, July 15th
• First Bath at Home
• 1st Peds Appointment at Maumee Peds - Wednesday, July 18th
• Only experience in the Mapleway house (very emotional one as well) - Wednesday, July 18th
• Cord Fell Off - Friday, July 20th 2012 (it still had a tiny bit left which came off in another week)
• Moved from Newborn to Size 1 Diapers 
• Had his "newborn" photoshoot a little late... but better late than never! - Wed. Aug. 8th
  

Leaving the Hospital!

What He's Talking About
Since he's a newborn, Landon's conversations are limited to a sound that is basically, "Eh, ew, eh, eh ew, eh!"  We have long talks like this.  It's kinda barbaric, but I love it!

Play:
Well there isn't much play going on with a 1 month old, and I have not been too good about giving him Tummy Time because it seems like this big eater's tummy is always so full it's about to explode, but he has had a little bit of fun on the "Under the Sea" playmat.  He also likes to go on walks, even though he does not like to get into his car seat at first.  I think this also goes back to his tummy being full. 

Playing "Under the Sea"

Not TOO thrilled to be swinging, but it does pass the time!

Sleep Patterns:
I addressed this in detail during the "Average Day" section, but he gets up in the middle of the night once to eat, goes back to bed, sleeps until morning, is up for a while, sleeps a good amount in the early afternoon, and then is in and out of sleep until after dinner.  Then after dinner he will usually cat nap and then be ready for his bedtime by 10pm after his "night cap".

Afternoon Nap

Sleeping on my chest.

Who He Met in the Hospital:
7-13 Landon first met Daddy and me (of course) and then Grandma and Grandpa Ayres followed by Grandma and Grandpa Krupp.  That was on his birthday.  Since he was born after 9 pm, by the time Dom's parents left it was after 11 and we were exhausted.  

7-14 My sister (Aunt Amber) stopped by to visit and meet Landon after 3 am when she got off of work that night/early morning.  Then William got to meet his baby brother after he got up.  That was such an awesome thing to witness. He was adorable with Landon on day 1. Later that morning Amber came back for a more "formal" visit with Jeremy.

7-15 Danielle, her mom, and her kids came by first thing after church.  Then when we left the hospital that day our parents, Chad, Kasey, Tim, Mandy, and Simone all got to meet Landon.

Techie Tuesday - Taking Screen Shots and Featured App: Baby ESP

Well, I feel kind of silly admitting this but I had no idea how to take a screen shot (a picture of whatever is on your screen) prior to creating this post. I knew it was possible because I have seen so many screen shots of text message conversations on the iPhone posted online. I knew I wanted to post a couple of screen shots of this app I will be talking about, so I simply Googled "How to Take a Screen Shot on the iPhone 4" and got this wonderful and simple video.  And I can just tell you right here, if you don't want to watch the video, that all you have to do is hold down the power key and hit the home button twice in a row.  So simple!  Now I just wish I knew how to enlarge them so they don't look like junk.  I have realized that you can barely make out the images on this blog.  Anyway, I am sure most of you already knew how to take screen shots, but I figured I would include it just in case someone didn't!

My newest app obsession is for Mommies (and Daddies) who are interested in tracking their newborn's daily habits is called BABY ESP. My friend, Holly, recommended it to me. She originally used it on her Droid, which wouldn't help either of us anymore bc we both switched to the iPhone. Fortunately, the week before Landon was born BABY ESP debuted their app for the iPhone! Perfect timing!

So, what is so great about the app? Well, there is a place to track virtually everything you might want to track (pee/poop diapers, sleep times and lengths, nursing/bottle times, journal entries, medicine, growth in height/weight/head circumference, etc.) and then the option to create any other category you may want to track. So far I have created an immunization tracker for both boys and a potty training tracker for Will.

One Week of Statistics for Landon - Covers the first full week we were at home.

Now some of you might be thinking that this is a bit obsessive, and perhaps you are right, but I did the same thing with William.... Only I hand wrote it all out. He had a few issues after birth so the Peds would constantly question the number of feelings and wet and poopy diapers he had, which there was NO WAY I could remember on my own, so instead I wrote it all down. Now I'm in the habit of doing so, so it's really no big deal and I don't have to worry about how long it has been since Landon ate, slept, peed or pooped. Plus this allows me to see patterns over time, which is something my hand-written book did NOT do for me!

William's Growth Chart over 2.5 Years... He is SO TALL!  He has always been above the 95th percentile!

This app has a fee. I believe I paid 5 bucks for it, which I feel was very well worth it. However, the day after I downloaded it I got an email about another FREE app from Similac which does the same thing PLUS some (yes you can choose the color of poop on an image of a diaper... I just HAD to share this with our Ped. He thought it was awesomely hilarious!) So perhaps you would want to download that few one before purchasing BABY ESP, but that's up to all of you new mommies!

Let me know what you think if you use any of this!

The Similac Poop Selector - I LOVE this! LOL

Mama Monday #1 - "Mommy? Can I talk to you a minute?"

My heart hurts for William. He was just at the top of the stairs calling down to me, "Mommy?  Can I talk to you a minute?"  This is how it all started last night.  How it ENDED was a couple of hours later after William had walked down to the living room, pulled out a few books and read them to himself, then had a few more books read to him back in his room, and then set up a campsite to sleep on (which was on the floor RIGHT next to his twin mattress.)

I'm baffled by what is causing this.  William has always been GREAT at going to bed (since we sleep-trained him at a year old.) I mentioned in an earlier post that he follows a specific routine before bed.  After I kiss him good night, he is almost always out like a light.  If he's not out, he has always been good at entertaining himself for a short bit in his bed (he never got up) and then falling asleep shortly thereafter.

However, this routine is changing as of ... this weekend.  I am not sure if this change in sleep pattern is because he isn't adjusting well to his new bed or something else.  It could be many other things since the sun is up so late, the weather is warm, he hasn't had an EXACT schedule in the mornings since it's summer (even though he's still getting up relatively early), he may not need as much sleep as he did a couple of months ago, he knows things are going to change for him soon... who knows.  Kids are hard to figure out because they simply can't tell us.

I'm trying to snuff out this staying-up-late thing so as not to start a bad habit, but then there is the ever-present Mom guilt that kicks in when your child is pleading with you.  I mean, seriously, how cute is it that he is saying, "Mommy? Can I talk to you a minute?"  My heart is melting.

OK, he just walked down the stairs and said, "I want to hang out with you.  Can we read a book?"  Then he walked across the room to the bookshelf and grabbed his Thomas book (of course the one that makes the most noise) He said, "Can I read this book?  This Thomas book?"

I guess this is my cue to go now. Wish me luck.