One Month

While I failed miserably to do a "one month" post for Cale, I'm playing catch-up today and giving you a six week post :)  Can you just pretend it's one month?!

Cale has become our whole world---it really happened in an instant.  He has brought so much more joy and love into our home than we ever thought possible. Our family feels more complete having our 'human' son here with our 'furry' son!

Stats: We won't go back to the doctor until January 18th, two month check-up, so I don't know his current stats. I'm guessing he is now somewhere in the 8-pound range though. He changes before our eyes every day!  His petite little figure is starting to fill-out. Where he was once a little speck in his newborn bath tub, he now fills it up nicely.

Sizes:  We finally bumped Cale up to his 'newborn' size diapers (rather than preemie). He is wearing 'newborn' size clothes, most of his 0-3 month outfits are still too big.

Food:  Cale takes seven 90mL (slightly over 3-ounces) bottles in a 24-hour period.  Because of his premature status at birth, we've had to increase his feedings ever so slowly. His pediatrician wants him to be at a 4-ounce feeding by his two month check-up, so I think we're right on track!  He is such a good eater! While in the hospital we worked really hard with him to take his bottles in a timely fashion without falling asleep, drooling out the side of his mouth, spitting up excessively, etc...I think we came out successful! He loves eating time!

Routine: We have really been working on establishing a solid routine and sleep schedule. Cale had a few rough nights around Christmas time, but I think it was because we were constantly on the go for 4-5 straight days.  Cale wakes up each morning between 8:30-9:00am. This is usually his most alert time, and he'll stay awake and play for an entire three hours. It's probably my second favorite time of the day (second to bath time!).  He eats routinely every three hours throughout the day. He seems to be more of a cat-napper during the day, so he'll take naps in his swing and bouncy chair.  At 8:30pm we do bath time, followed by his bedtime bottle. He goes to bed right around 9pm, and we try to get him to 2am before he takes another feeding. He will usually wake up once during this time, but can be soothed with his pacifier until feeding time. He eats again at 6am, and again, goes back down to sleep in his crib. We swear by swaddling at night time---the tighter, the better! As soon as his little hands break-free, he wakes himself up.

Developmental Milestones:  We are starting to notice that Cale is using his neck muscles more and more. He does really well with his tummy time during his morning playtime, he is able to hold his own head up for a much more significant amount of time before it goes "floppy" again :) Also, he is focusing his gaze and tracking objects (fingers, toys) more frequently now. He loves to make noises! Although he is not smiling and cooing yet, he makes all sorts of silly grunting noises.

Loves: On top of eating and grunting, Cales LOVES his bathtime. He gets so relaxed in the tub at night, it's my favorite time to spend with him! He likes to have a warm washcloth draped over his torso while he hangs out in his newborn bather.  He also loves his playmat/gym. During the morning, he lays on it and stares at all the colorful toys hanging above him. He loves his family so much too--especially all the cuddle time everyone loves to give him! He is definitely a cuddler, which is why he responds so well to swaddling.

I have so much to update on this 'ol blog. We took our first zoo trip several days ago---yes, we had a mid-60's day at the end of December to enjoy the outdoors. My aunt and grandma got us a Tulsa Zoo Membership for Christmas, so we will definitely put it to good use! For pretty weather days it will be good walking exercise for this lil' momma, and it will let Cale soak up some warm sunshine too!

Bentley is adjusting well to the newest addition in our house. He was indeed jealous at first, mostly noticable because he was a little standoff-ish.  He is now the first one to Cale's side when he lets out those giant 'feed me' screams.

This is Bentley saying, "It's hard being a big brother!"