Our sweet Charlie Beth, I can't believe that you turned one month old on Friday, December 4th. I can say without a doubt that the past four weeks have been the fastest month of my life. It seems like just last week we were in the hospital awaiting your arrival and somehow you are already a full month old! You are the light of our lives and we are so blessed to be your parents. The past month with you has been the greatest month of our life, and there is no doubt that I was put on earth to be your mommy. I spend the most of the day staring into your beautiful eyes and thanking God for bringing you to us. Mommy and Daddy love you more than anything baby girl, and we are so happy that you are ours.
Month one highlights
After a short two night stay in the hospital we brought you home on Friday, November 6, 2015. You wore home the same dress that mommy wore home from the hospital 26 years ago! I was most excited to see how your puppy brother would react to seeing you. Cooper and Kane were a little unsure about you at first, but they have warmed up. They are now your little protectors and they both get very concerned when they hear you cry.
The day we brought you home from the hospital you met your Uncle Brady. He came home from school for the weekend to meet you. You had several other visitors who came to see you throughout your first month. Mommy and Daddy were once again reminded of just how blessed we are with the amount of friends and family who offered to bring us dinner during your first few weeks of life.
You have already been to the doctor a few times in your short one month of life. When you came home from the hospital you were slightly jaundice, so we had to bring you to the doctor a couple of times to monitor that. Thankfully the jaundice passed quickly and you didn't need any light therapy or other interventions. When we left the hospital you weighed 7lbs 4oz and by your two week checkup you were already up to 8lbs 2oz. At your one month check up we found out that you were already weighing 9lbs 13oz! You are such a good eater and growing so quickly! You were also diagnosed with acid reflux at your one month doctor appointment, so we are currently treating that with a small dose of medicine a couple of times a day. The medicine seems to be doing the trick and you seem much happier now that you are no longer hurting! Mommy is so happy about that because when you cry it just breaks my heart!
At a week and a half old you made your first trip to Nanna and Pawpaw's lake house. You've been to the lake house a few times this month in fact. You even spent your first Thanksgiving there! You must love the lake as much as we do because you sleep so well when we are there!
Speaking of sleep, the first couple of weeks of your life you refused to sleep anywhere but on mommy or daddy's chest. We have a beautiful bassinet set up for you in our room, but you have yet to sleep in there successfully (I think a lot of this has to do with your acid reflux. It hurts you to lay flat on your back). Mommy loves snuggling with you on my chest at night, but it makes me so nervous. After two weeks of struggling to sleep during the night, I finally went out and bought you a rock n play. That did the trick because you have been sleeping wonderfully in there ever since! You usually sleep in 2 to 3 hour stretches, but sometimes we get lucky and you give mommy a good 4 hours of sleep before waking up to eat.
Little lady, you love to eat, and mommy is elated that you have taken so well to breastfeeding! You latched perfectly from day one, and we have been going strong ever since. Your pediatrician is very impressed with how well you are eating and growing. You are still nursing on demand, but you usually like to eat every 2 to 3 hours (although some days you prefer to nurse every hour, more for comfort than anything else). It's my hope that our breastfeeding journey will continue for well over a year.
Due to how well you are eating and growing, you are quickly outgrowing all of your newborn clothes! Just last week we made the switch from newborn diapers to size one. You have also outgrown all of your newborn sleepers and pants, although you still fit into most of your newborn onesies. A lot of your three month clothes are still a little big on you, but at the rate you're growing I know they will fit in no time! I'm eternally grateful that you are healthy and growing, but it makes me a little sad to witness just how quickly you are growing and changing! Promise me you won't grow up too fast, ok?
One of your biggest accomplishments this month was rolling over. Yes, at three weeks old you were already rolling over from your belly to your back! I couldn't believe it!! The first time you did it I thought that it had to be a fluke. After all, you were way too little to be doing such a big girl thing like rolling over! Sure enough, you did it again the very next day. This makes tummy time nearly impossible because the minute I put you on your belly you flip over to your back. Your Nanna was able to capture you rolling over on video, and I'm so happy we have that memory on camera.
You are already mommy's little shopping partner, and you love being out and about with us! One of your very favorite things is riding in your car seat. You usually fall fast asleep just a few minutes into a car ride. Your Nanna and I introduced you to Target when you were a couple of weeks old, and you loved it as much as we do!
You celebrated you first holiday this month, Thanksgiving. Mommy and Daddy were extra thankful for you this year! You were surrounded by family for your first Thanksgiving and you were definitely the center of attention. We spent Thanksgiving morning and early afternoon with mommy's side of the family at the lake house. Your Nanna, Pawpaw, Uncle Brady, Memama, and Aunt Becky were all there to celebrate your first holiday with you. After lunch Mommy and Daddy packed up and we headed back home to celebrate the second half of the day with Daddy's side of the family. You spent the evening soaking in lots of snuggles with your Yaya, Grandpa, and Aunt Morgan.
In your first month of life we have discovered that you love riding in the car, snuggling on mommy and daddy's chest, swinging in your swing (you've recently started putting yourself to sleep in your swing), staring at lights and the television, and being out and about. We have also discovered a few things that you really dislike. One of your very least favorite things is bath time. You scream your head off during bath time, and it absolutely breaks mommy's heart to hear that poor cry! You also hate when I lotion you down before bed.
Mommy absolutely loves staring at your precious face all day long, dressing you up in the most adorable outfits, and taking far too many pictures of you. Here are just a few of many, many pictures that I've taken of you over the past month.
We are absolutely smitten with you sweet girl. You have made our family complete, and we are so thankful to have you here with us. Month one brought so many firsts (and so little sleep!) and fun memories, and I am so excited to see what month two will bring us. We love you, baby girl!
