Baby Z, one month old

Baby Z is now one month old! And getting more handsome every day.  He has such beautiful features.  I love his silky, olive colored skin and his wise, gray-blue eyes.  He has long awake periods where he calmly looks around with huge eyes, taking it all in.  He’s got a little bit of cradle cap but only lasted a few days (yay for aquaphor!) His long legs and arms are starting to fill out some and I’m still amazed at his huge wingspan when he stretches!  I love how tummy gets so round when he’s full and can’t get enough of his baby cuddles.  He loves to be snuggled into a ball and rarely stretches out his full length.  One of my very favorite things about a new baby is the “tree frog”, when he snuggles into my shoulder or chest and tucks his feet up under himself. 

Poor little guy has a rash—I thought it was heat rash but doc assured me it’s typical newborn skin and will fade soon on its own.  That was a relief to hear too because he loves being warm and in fact, will only sleep deeply when he’s double swaddled.  During the first week, he refused to sleep in his cradle.  He would wake up and cry as soon as I tried to put him down.  He wanted to sleep on me all the time but I really don’t want to get in the habit of so-sleeping.  We started double swaddling him and he has done much better.  Just in the past two days, he has slept four hours and then gone right back to sleep for two or three hour stretches.  During the day he is really hard to predict so we don’t have a great routine yet.  Mornings tend to be a little easier and evenings tend to be most fussy.  Sometimes he can be soothed with a binky, but he still can’t hold it himself.

We’ve also realized he’s slightly tongue tied.  Doc said his tongue mobility is still good so he’s hesitant to cauterize the membrane, unsure that it will do any good.  Instead he’s referring us to a lactation consultant since nursing is still very uncomfortable for me.  Baby has a very shallow latch especially when he’s tired or upset.  He’s gaining weight just fine though and is up to 11.5 (?) pounds—79 percentile.

He gets a bottle of expressed milk about every other day and does great with a bottle.  Sisters love feeding him and argue about whose turn it is to feed him.  We try to make sure they each get to hold him, at least for a few minutes, everyday and I love that they adore him so much. I have to watch them carefully though as they still don’t fully understand that he can’t support his own head yet.  A especially is really helpful at holding him or helping him with the binky when I need another set of hands. 

I love his tiny feet.  They’re so little and fragile.  His littlest toe curls under his foot and E has name it his “blueberry”.  And his hands are long and so strong!  He has a tight grip for someone so tiny.

He is “King of the Clean Canvas”.  He hates to have a wet diaper and will fuss until I change him.  And then immediately, he explodes—especially when nursing.  So every diaper change has become a two diaper change.

He likes to lounge in the tub.  He doesn’t like the washing part but he loves to lay there and let the warm water run over him.  He fusses less when dad bathes him and sisters are always eager to help.

I couldn’t remember for the girls so wanted to be sure to write it down—the cord stump started to detach at one week but took almost a full week before it came off completely.  Then the belly button took another week and a half to completely heal.  And now it’s pretty dang cute.

The question we’ve been asked a lot—yes, he’s peed on me.  He peed on daddy first but on me more frequently.  Silly boy.