Stats:
Weight - He was 11 lb 14 oz at 2.5 weeks, a whole 3 ounces more than Evan at 1 month! He is growing quickly, getting longer and chubbier every day
Height - 21 inches at birth, but he's grown a lot since then
Head circumference - 14.5 inches at birth
We'll have the next set of measurements at 2 months. We moved him to 0-3 month clothes when he was a little less than 2 weeks old, and some of those are already starting to seem tighter.
Likes:
Noah is such a lovely baby and has plenty of likes. He loves being held, which makes me happy since I love to hold him. He's taken to all of the baby carriers we have, which has been very helpful when juggling two kids. We use the ring sling a lot, especially if I need to hold him around the house during dinner or when helping Evan with something. Carriers have also allowed us to do lots of hikes and walks. Noah seems to enjoy being outside and the few times he's been awake on hikes, he's seemed enamored with his surroundings.
He also loves his baths, which is just the cutest thing. He'll be fussy as we get him undressed, but as soon as I lower him into the water, he just calms down and relaxes. After being resistant the first week, Noah also has become a fan of the swing. The key has been to swaddle him before we lay him down. Like his brother, he also likes being on his changing pad upstairs.
There isn't too much that Noah really dislikes, thank goodness. He rarely cries, except when he is having his diaper changed/is getting dressed and when he's in the car (though this is starting to get better). While he does give us some good stretches of 3-4 hours of sleep at night, which is amazing, he sometimes has trouble settling back down to sleep after he eats. Thankfully, after plenty of practice with Evan, I'm much more comfortable with bedsharing and will sometimes pull Noah into bed with us if he refuses to settle. That will usually give us a good hour or two extra and helps us all get some extra rest.
Important Events:
Since this was his first month of life, everything was pretty important. Some big highlights, though, were definitely family visits.
My parents came the for his birth and the first week, Sabine (Ed's mom) came right after that, and Aunt Kortney visited in the hospital. But of course, one of the most important was when Evan met Noah. Evan gave Noah a very soft grey bunny, and Noah "gave" Evan a set of Duplo vehicles. Evan is so sweet with Noah and loves to help.
So far, it hasn't been nearly as challenging and I feared adjusting to life as a family of 4. Thanks to Evan, we're already used to not getting much sleeping, so we haven't been in such a daze, like we were the first time around. The worst was just recovering from surgery and being limited physically. I've been able to start doing some hikes/walks, and I've been feeling better every day, though.
Also, while Evan has been great, the novelty of being a big brother has worn off a little bit. When I'm holding or nursing Noah, Evan will of course also want cuddles and will get a little jealous. Still, all around, it hasn't been bad. I give so much thanks that with family visiting and Ed working a limited schedule, so I've almost always had an extra set of hands.
Overall, I've been feeling very successful *knock on wood*. I've been spending an increasing amount of time alone with both kids, and am starting to figure out how to juggle nap and bedtime. Of course, it's not too hard when Noah will let me just put him in the rock n play while I take care of Evan, without a peep. I've also started eating healthier again, now that I'm not so limited by pregnancy, and that's felt great too. I'm also thankful that I'm so much less anxious about everything the second time around. I'm much more trusting of Noah and don't need to check on him every two minutes to make sure he's breathing like I did with Evan. Everything feels a bit easier. Nursing is amazingly better than with Evan; after only a week it got to that easy place that it took over a year to get to with Evan.
Daddy Successes:
Ed has been much more confident this time around, and has been doing a great job taking care of Noah and even both kids sometimes. It feel like we're much better about sharing the parenting responsibilities. Ed has also been taking Evan on lots of adventures to give me more solo time with Noah, much to Evan's delight. The highlight so far has been running across the Golden Gate to Crissy Field and back.
Best Moments:
Is it corny to say everything? We have been loving life as a family of four. It's been especially wonderful when we've done the things I dreamt about while I was pregnant, like hiking together or going to Spring Lake. It's even better than I'd imagined. Besides that, though, just soaking in all the newborn loveliness has been so wonderful.
My favorite is just holding Noah while he sleeps on my chest.
