If you recall, I wrote monthly updates during Jude's first year and it's been such a joy looking back over those recently that I've decided to go ahead and write them again for Marigold. It's so easy to forget all these little things, which is just crazy because raising a baby is all-consuming, especially in this first year. Thankfully, writing it out helps me freeze time just the tiniest bit. So here I go again! Not sorry.
WEIGHT
Little
Miss is just over 10 pounds. For reference, she was 8 lb 2 oz at
birth, so almost 2 pounds gained in her first month. This gal likes her
milk. ;)
HEIGHT
No idea! She was 21 inches at birth and we'll measure again at her 2-month appointment. I'll report back.
^^ I'm HOW old?!?
SLEEP
Newborn sleep is seriously the best. Ok, so the broken sleep overnight is not the best for us adults, but the predictability of Marigold's sleep is pretty awesome. She likes to eat, sometimes stay awake for 20-30 minutes, and then nap. Repeat, repeat, repeat all day long. And if we can stay on top of this eat/play/nap rotation, she is just the happiest baby in the world. If we try to push her to stay awake more than about an hour, that's when she's a cranker-saurus. She does not like to be overtired, not one bit. Thankfully, we're pretty good at following the routine, so this past month has been really good for all of us. Most naps are in her bassinet, and a few in my Boba or Solly wrap, and now that she's a little older, we're trying out naps on her tummy (under close supervision, of course). We shall see if she keeps up the awesome napping!
Overnight, she's given us a few 5- and 6-hour stretches, and even one 7-hour stretch! We actually bought this crazy techy bassinet called the SNOO, and I do think the SNOO is the reason for the great overnight sleep. So I can't help but sing its praises! We bought it when it was on sale during Black Friday and boy am I glad we did because they've raised the price significantly since then. I mean, good sleep is worth the investment. But I'm glad our investment was a bit lower than what it would be if we were trying to purchase it now. I digress. Marigold is awesome and overall she sleeps great. :)
FIRSTS THIS MONTH
-A few social smiles. Just a few though.
-Lifting her head up when she's propped up on my shoulder.
-Making eye contact.
-Occasionally cooing.
NICKNAMES
We actually call her Margo more than we call her Marigold, which we had planned on when we picked her name. We love both equally though. :) She has also been called Margo Bear, Baby Girl, and Sissy a whole bunch too.
OTHER THINGS TO NOTE
-Just like with my boys, nursing was painful from the start with Margo. So we had her evaluated for lip/tongue/cheek ties at 6 days old and wouldn't you know, she had all of it! It took 2 months for us to fix John Paul's ties, a month to get to Jude's, but we wasted no time with Marigold. Our little lady had her ties lasered at just 6 days old and nursing has been wayyyyy better ever since! Praise God!
-This is more about me than Marigold, but I've had a crazy number of migraines since she was born. They're never that severe; usually just a wavy line in my vision for a little while and then a mild headache for several hours after. But gosh, I've never had this issue before, and wavy lines in my vision are hard to work around while caring for a newborn. I had 4 of these migraines in 3 days while she was just a week old. They've spaced out a bit now, but I'm still dealing with them here and there. Anyone else ever experience this?
-We had lifestyle newborn photos taken at our house by Kristy Vest Photography when Margo was just 11 days old. Check out some of our faves:
-Marigold
has probably gotten 3 baths since she was born. Lol. We're the laziest
when it comes to bathing children. Actually, to our credit, we wanted to
wait until her umbilical stump fell out to give her her first bath, which is
what you're supposed to do, I think. And that took about a week to
happen. Anywho, she did not love her first bath AT ALL, but since then
she's tolerated them quite nicely.
-Margo celebrated her first Easter the day she turned 4 weeks old! It was also her first Mass, which was a great way to jump right in. :) It was a beautiful day filled with lots of family, friends, and candy . . . Margo got her candy through me, of course. Oh, and it was her first time wearing a dress! I mostly just have her in zip-up sleepers all the time because they're sooo easy. But Easter Sunday is no day for a sleeper! Look how cute she was:
^^ Easter pic fail. Boys not cooperating (see John Paul hiding behind me?), forgot to take a photo until we got the the parish gym, Daddy clutching coffee, Marigold hiding in the wrap. It's a vvvv accurate depiction of real life right now though and I love it for that.
-John had a month of paternity leave and we loved having him home with us that whole time!! ALL THE HEART EYES! It has made this transition much easier than it would have been otherwise. :) What a huge blessing!
-Meal trains, you guys!! Oh emmm geeee, we have been so blessed with a very active meal train ever since Marigold arrived. We have not made dinner for the past month and we have friends and family signed up to make us meals over the next month as well. It's amazing and we are feeling so loved!! If you know a family with a new baby, or someone recovering from surgery, or going through a hard time, please consider blessing them with a meal train. My SIL set everything up through mealtrain.com (which is completely free) and it's all been easy peasy smooth sailing and delicious! SUCH a huge blessing for our family. And we've gotten to see so many friends and loved ones when they pop in to deliver food. It's wonderful!
-The boys are adjusting well to their little sister. Whenever she's awake, they just want to kiss and snuggle her times a million. They like to help out in little ways, like grabbing a tissue when she sneezes or supervising diaper changes, or holding her pacifier in if she's fussy. They also love laying on the floor with her and chatting with her in high-pitched voices (lol, they totally got that from me). But they've also struggled to adjust, as Miss Marigold's arrival has meant that mommy isn't around as much as they're used to. So there have been a lot of BIG FEELINGS coming out sideways for the past month: tantrums, limit pushing, whining, nap fighting . . . everything you'd expect from a 2-year-old and 3-year-old who don't know how to express their feelings otherwise. It's been tough, especially on John who has been on toddler duty for the past month, but thankfully it's gotten a lot better. And overall, they really do LOVE love love their little sis. It's going to be so fun watching them become the best of buds over the next year and beyond. As for what Margo thinks of them, I think she's just confused by all their commotion, but also secretly loves the attention. I love my three amigos! <3
