Caleb is One Month Old!

I can't believe it, but Caleb is already ONE MONTH OLD today! He is already changing so much. This month has been very exhausting (mainly for Mommy the milk machine!), but so worth it! Daddy says that taking care of baby has been easier than he thought...but taking care of Mommy has been much harder! (sorry Dad!) Our little man is actually a good baby, so I can't even imagine how exhausting a fussy baby must be. We are so blessed to have him as a part of our family! The first two weeks were definitely the hardest and then weeks 3 and 4 got a little easier...just a little! I hear that it gets easier with each passing week...fingers crossed that what I hear is true!

We met his pediatrician, Dr. Turner, when we took him to his 2-week appointment. We really, really liked her! I didn't do the whole interview thing beforehand to select a pediatrician...just went off a recommendation and it worked out great! At his appointment, he had gained back all of his weight lost in the hospital and weighed 7 lbs 12 oz. (he was 7-11 at birth and 7 lbs even when we left the hospital). Dr. Turner said that we could try to extend one of his night time feedings to 4 or 5 hours. We have been working on this little by little and he has made it 3.5 hours a few times and just last night, he made it the full 4 hours! (he normally eats every 3 hours from the start of one feeding to the start of the next). We are attempting to follow the "Babywise" method of "eat, wake, sleep" in hopes of establishing good sleep patterns/habits with him. I know every baby is different and we are being careful not to expect too much from him as far as "sleeping through the night" but are hopefull that we can get him to be a good sleeper. So far, he does pretty well. The hardest thing for me is feeding him for 45 minutes to an hour and then trying to get him to go to sleep. When he fights it, it is very frustrating b/c he is cutting into his Mommy's sleep time, LOL! (wait, that's not funny!) :o)

Also at his appointment, Dr. Turner discovered that Caleb was "tongue tied" and recommended a procedure to help correct this. Basically, the small piece of skin connecting the bottom of the tongue to the floor of the mouth (called the frenulum) was shorter than "normal" preventing him from extending his tongue very far. This can cause problems with latching on while breastfeeding (which I think it was to a certain extent) and also could cause speech problems later in life. She referred us to an ENT to have the frenulum snipped. We went later that week and had the procedure done. Caleb did very well and cried more when they applied the local anesthetic. Mommy left the room when they actually cut it, but Daddy said he just let out a little squeek and that was it. The skin is so thin and small that there was hardly any bleeding...maybe just for a minute or two. He can definitely extend his tongue further now. It did help a little with the feeding problems we were having (him clamping down on Mommy causing great pain!), but we are still having some issues so we are going to a lactation consultant tomorrow. Anyway...

This past week, he has become much more alert and is really pretty content during his wake times. He seems to like laying on his activity mat and looking at the flashing lights, and also looking at his crib mobile. We have most of the Fisher Price Rainforest collection and are pleased with it so far. We have put him in the swing a few times, but I think he will like that more in a few months. The bouncer has also come in handy. He really likes his Boppy Newborn Lounger...he could sleep in that thing for hours! I think he's really comfy in it b/c he just zonks out!

Anyway, here are some more pictures from Caleb's first month of life!


Trying out his swing under his brother's supervision:

Caleb and Mommy:

Staring at his mobile and listening to the music:

Going to his first doctor's appointment:

At the doctor's office with Daddy:

Granny and Grandpa Rogers came for a visit:

Mommy's sleeping cutie:

Daddy giving Caleb his first bottle:

Enjoying his activity mat:

Caleb with his Mimi and G-Dad Dotson:

With Daddy after his first real bath: