One Month!

Well I'm one week late on posting this, but at least I took the pictures on the his actual one month birthday!

This sweet buddy has stolen our hearts and made our lives so much sweeter. He has been the best eater and sleeper and is an overall content baby. We could not be more thankful!

From what I hear from Matt's parents, he was the same way- loved to eat, loved to sleep, loved to snuggle, and was overall a happy baby. So Ryan may look just like me (which is so fun by the way) but his temperament is just like his daddy's.

During this first month, we've tried our hardest just to enjoy him. We haven't forced any schedules and have tried not to stress about figuring out every sound or cry (so much easier said than done though!). The main thing I really wanted to stick to was the "eat, wake, sleep" routine and having him go at least two hours in between feedings. I didn't feel like either one of us was ready to follow anything more rigid than that, and I'm honestly thankful that I didn't try to force it.

Another thing I didn't really feel strongly about was holding off pacis and bottles. Even before Ryan was born, the whole idea of "nipple confusion" didn't really make sense to me. I guess I figured the longer we waited to introduce a paci or a bottle, the harder it would be for him to take one. Plus I knew Matt would love getting to feed him and didn't want him having to wait 6+ weeks before getting to do that for the first time. 

So Ryan took a paci day two in the hospital and still likes it every now and then for naps (usually the ones that fall between the 5-8pm hours), but thankfully he doesn't sleep with it at night as of now. And Matt gives him a bottle each night while I pump.

Speaking of sleeping, this little buddy loves to snuggle as he's falling asleep. While he was content to sleep anywhere during his first few weeks and would transition from wake time to sleep time happily on his own, he soon decided that being swaddled and sleeping on mom or dad's tummy during the day was a way better location. And we totally give in. Every time. Yes, we're probably creating bad habits, but we're sure loving the snuggle time and know that he'll only be this little for such a short time, so we're soaking it in while we can!

Nighttime sleeping is a totally different story though, which is why I'm not too concerned about his daytime sleeping preferences. Sweet buddy has been the BEST nighttime sleeper! For the most part, he's given 4-7 hour stretches each night. AMAZING!! I'm going to write more about this next week, but we (me especially) are so so thankful that he is sleeping so well at night!

Tally has been so sweet with him- quite the big brother, as we call him. ;) Most times he gets to Ryan before I do when he's crying. We definitely can't wait for the two of them to be buddies when Ryan's older.

One funny story I want to remember is from Ryan's one week Pediatrician appointment. I had written down to ask the doctor about his excessive sweating at night and mentioned that I didn't think babies typically sweat and wanted to make sure it was okay. He promptly said that it was probably pee, to which I confidently responded that his diapers were dry. His doctor then took off his diaper and taught me a very important lesson: always point south. The poor guy was peeing up his back for the previous three nights and mother of the year here was just changing his clothes, laying down a burp cloth over the "sweat" on his sheet and putting him back to bed. Needless to say, he got a really good bath that afternoon. ;) 

Last but not least, what would a monthly post be without a photo shoot?!

"Hey!" So advanced he is. ;)

And maybe even better than the good pictures- the outtakes: