We Have a One Month Old!

I tell ya -- the last month of pregnancy lasts about a million years, while the first month of life flies by in a flash.  Isaac is already a month old, and -- in my eyes, at least -- is no longer looking like a newborn.  The 1 month mark must be magical, because he seems so much bigger all of a sudden!  I took him in last week for his check up, and as the stats below show, he's a fine baby boy.  :)  He's up to 9 lbs 5 oz {his starting weight was 8 lbs 1 oz} and 22 1/2" long {up from 20"}.  After having to go back for a couple more weeks' worth of blood work, we were happy to discover at his checkup that his TSH and free T4 levels are FINALLY in the normal range -- so, yay for no congenital hypothyroidism!

{A rare moment of Alex actually wanting to hold the baby.  :)  }

As I said, the past month has gone by in a {partially sleep-deprived} blur, but there are still lots of moments and memories to record.  First and foremost, I have had such terrific helpers in the form of Ethan and Grace -- I love that they're old enough to actually hold the baby and take care of such tasks as diapering and rocking, to free my hands when I need to get other stuff done.  You know, like dinner and dishes and dealing with the other kids.  Hahaha.  :)

 

{As Grace says, there's nothing cuter than a baby in a white onesie.  :)  }

Other anecdotes of the first month include:

• Isaac sleeps with his stuffed lion watching over him in his crib.  One of the kids must have put it in there, but it's just so cute I didn't want to take it out.  {And yes, I know -- babies aren't supposed to have anything in the crib with them.  But the lion is nowhere near touching him, and he's not mobile yet -- so it's not like he's going to roll over and land face first on the stuffed animal and stay there.  The lion will eventually be moved, rest assured.  ;) }

• I found this little onesie at the Gap outlets during the summer and you wouldn't believe how fun it was referring to him as "little brother" the entire first day he wore it.  Like seriously so entertaining for the whole family.  Hahaha.

{I found the little bear cub ears hat at the Gap outlet as well.}

• I spend A LOT of my day {and night} rocking him and/or holding/snuggling the little love bug to get him to sleep.  He went through a fussy phase for a couple of weeks where he was pretty mad from about 8-11 at night, but I think he's moved on from that.  He still fusses from time to time -- and is a bit high maintenance {he reminds me a LOT of Ethan as a baby ;) } -- but as long as he's being held {or swung in the swing} he's fine. 

Look at that precious little hand.  I glanced down to this sweet sight one day while I was rocking him in my room.  I couldn't resist taking a picture to preserve the memory forever.  :)

• Scott is a super champ and helps me by taking over baby duty almost every night after the other kids are in bed so that I can get a head start on sleep for myself.  It's usually a 9-12 shift, and then he brings him up to bed where he'll either make the transition to his crib and stay asleep for another hour or so, or he's awake and hungry and mad wants me to feed him.  {Isaac that is -- not Scott.  Hahahaha.}  And that's the drill.  On good nights, he'll sleep in 3 hour chunks.  On most nights, he's up every couple hours all night long.  I'm REALLY hoping that will start stretching out as he gets older and bigger.  A four hour stretch would practically feel like a full night's sleep at this point! 

Snuggled up with dad.

• His furrowed brow look is my favorite.  He can smile, but he doesn't like to overdo it, and most of the time he's a sober little guy.  Which is ironic since his name means laughter.  Hahaha.  But then again, he's also named after his Grandpa, who was by all accounts a very sober kid himself, so perhaps it's just in the genes.  ;)

 {Melt my heart much??} 

• The squeak has become a squawk!  Hahaha.  But that doesn't stop me from calling him my little Squeaker, still.  Nicknames are kind of what I do.  All of the kids have been called something other than their actual true name in their first few months (or years) of life.  I don't know why, but I have such a hard time calling a little baby by a big person name.  So, I would say that Isaac is FAR more often called by our pet terms of endearment than by his real name.  :)  Top contenders include "Squeaker" (as well as all kinds of variations -- Squeaky Squeaks, Squeaker McSqueakens, Squeaky McSqueakers, Squeaky Squawker, Squeaky Squawk, etc.); "Little Brother;" "Sugar Baby," "Cute little Lump of Sugar," "Schmoopy," "Schnookems;" and Sophie likes to call him "the Cute-sicle" -- you know like a popsicle, but cute.  :)

• And finally, his hair is starting to rub off in patches.  The hair that hasn't fallen out yet has a decidedly ginger cast to it.  :)  I will be interested to see if the hair that grows in is similarly colored... 

And that's all folks!  This post has taken me the better part of a week to FINALLY get up and running.  Hahaha.  I guess that's what happens when there is a newborn plus 5 other kids to take care of; Christmas to put on; and life to be lived.  Not to mention sleep to be caught up on.  :)  Stay tuned for some of that Christmas coverage to come your way!