One Month

Happy 1 month b-day to our sweet little Charlie!! It's hard to believe that we have had him in our lives for a month already, but it also seems like a really long time ago that I was pregnant and that we were in the hospital. Charlie is the sweetest, most cuddly little man ever and all three of us love the new dynamic he has added to our family.

Some things we can document about him at a month old:
* He loves to be held, and his favorite position is laying on his belly on your chest. He would spend all day every day in this position if we let him.
*He also loves to stretch out with his head bent way backwards; we think he must have been in a similar position in my belly. Matt and I get a kick out of this b/c we remember his cousin Reid doing the same thing as a newborn.
*He loves to look at lights.
*He has just started smiling and although I wouldn't call it deliberate yet, he is almost there.
* He has also started cooing at us, particularly in the mornings after I feed him and change his diaper.
*He loves to be held and carried in the baby hawk and it always puts him right to sleep.
*He is a great and incredibly loud nurser! He gulps, swallows and snorts while he eats and generally makes a ton of noise.
*He loves to gaze up at our faces and spends a lot of time in our arms just staring wide-eyed up at us.
*He definitely has reflux and we can see and hear when his tummy is bothering him; he scrunches up his legs and kind of writhes all around. Luckily, it seems to get better and better as he grows, and while I hate to give it to him, his reflux meds make a huge difference.
*The only thing I would say that Charlie truly hates is sleeping on his back. He is totally miserable in that position. We think his reflux has a lot to do with it b/c he gulps, gasps, chokes, hiccups, and wheezes non-stop while on his back. He will be in a dead sleep and the minute we put him down on his back, or roll him over from his belly, he is awake within minutes. So, he has been sleeping in his car seat at night, kind of rolled on his side, and we have had a lot of luck with that. He generally sleeps through the night only waking up twice to eat. For as much as he loathes sleeping on his back, he LOVES sleeping on his belly, and takes advantage of all tummy time by promptly falling asleep. It kills me to not be able to let him sleep on his belly b/c he is so much happier and more comfortable in that position. We go to the doc at 6 weeks and I'm planning to ask him about sleep and sleep positions then, although I fear I already know what he will say. For now, we are content to use the car seat at night, which gives him a little more relief and I let him lay on his belly for naps if he is in the pack n play with me in the room.

Generally, Charlie is a super sweet, very easy going little guy! We love him to bits and can't wait to see how he will grow and change in the upcoming months. The pic below of him on his belly lifting up his head is a dead ringer for Alec at that age, I actually think I have a pic that is almost identical of Alec. I'll post both if I can find them.



It's hard having such a heavy head

My beautiful boys

Practicing his smiles



A mini Alec, with great head control and a super strong neck and back.

Although you can't tell, he enjoys the bath.



What a precious little baby