1 Month Old

It's crazy to think that Grant is already one month old--especially considering it is just now reaching my due date in 2 days! It was a crazy month, and while it seems to have gone quickly, we have a hard time even remembering life without him. Last Friday, on his one month birthday, we took him to the doctor for his checkup. Luckily, he had gained six ounces in four days, and was up to 6 pounds, 10 ounces! This is still only in the 3rd percentile, but we have to remember that these percentiles are for typical full-term babies, and he lost a week of growth while at Children's for his surgery. However, his height was in the 25th percentile! I think that's pretty tall for being 5 weeks behind the norm. He was 20 1/2 inches tall. He also had to have his 2nd Hepatitis shot (the first one was given at the hospital when he was born), but this was nothing to him since he has built up quite a pain tolerance after all those needle pokes at the hospital! He is doing very well. He still spits up after some feedings, but nothing like what it was. We have come to terms with the fact that we will probably now just have a spitty baby with occasional reflux. We were spoiled those first few weeks thinking he wouldn't spit at all, but it's fine with us as long as he is healthy and gaining weight.

Grant is still having trouble knowing when it's time to sleep and when to be awake. It's hard to keep him awake during the day, but we are working at it by giving him tummy time and waking him up to eat. Hopefully he will start to give us longer times in between feedings at night little by little. But once again, we have to remind ourselves that technically he isn't even supposed to be here yet, so some things may take a little longer to develop. He is also doing a little better at breastfeeding now that he is getting older and stronger, and we hope we can soon make that his primary way to eat with only using a bottle occasionally.

We are having such a good time being parents. We had a busy weekend of errands and holiday parties, and even though it is more of a production to go anywhere now, we love how it feels to be a family out with everyone else. We are also finally feeling more organized and getting things done, but we've learned that it's okay to forget our to-do list at times and just sleep during the day while he is sleeping. Other things can just wait.

We are looking forward to an eventful June. We have my cousin's wedding this weekend, Grant's baptism and Father's Day on June 20, and Grant's first family vacation with the Gates side starting on June 26 at Folly Beach, SC. I am also going to be cleaning out my classroom during this last week of school and finally being completely done with the teaching chapter of my life. I am so happy to be able to stay home with Grant!