Last Monday my baby boy turned one month old. How has it already been a whole month since I gave birth to my beautiful son? As you can imagine, these last few weeks have gone by it a bit of a blur, there have been days we have basked blissfully in our baby bubble and others where juggling two children has reduced me to tears. Life has been a bit chaotic since Alex arrived in October but I am absolutely loving being a Mummy to two lovely boys. It feels like a natural progression to write a monthly baby update on my blog after writing a bump update every four weeks during my pregnancy. So, here it is, Alex’s first ever baby update.
Alex is 1 month old.
What he looks like.
Size – Alex has changed so much since he was born, it is amazing how much he has grown in just over 5 weeks. He was never tiny – he weighed 8lb 6 at birth – but he feels heavy on my arm now and he is slowly starting to get those gorgeous baby chubby cheeks and legs. Now at 5 weeks old Alex weighs a whopping 10lb10! I am not surprised as he is a little guzzler and spends most of his day stuck to my boob. All his newborn baby grows are too small now, he grew out of most of them by the time he was 2 weeks old. Already I feel like he is growing too fast and that time needs to slow down a bit.
Hair colour – Leo is the spitting image of his dad, their gingery hair is almost exactly the same shade. When I found out I was pregnant again I was hoping to have a child who looked a bit more like me, a little brunette baby. At birth Alex definitely looked like he was sporting some gorgeous dark brown locks but as the weeks have gone on his hair has been getting lighter and I can see that the ginger gene hasn’t completely skipped this one. He still has really dark brown hair on the top but the sides and back and definitely starting to resemble the hair of his brother and Daddy. I love red hair but it would have been nice to not be totally outnumbered by a clan of red heads.
Eyes – I have got myself another blue eyed boy. Like most newborns, Alex had pretty much pitch black eyes when he was born. Over the past few weeks they have changed to a lovely shade of blue, I am sure they are only going to get brighter though and I seem to waste most of my days getting lost in those gorgeous eyes of his.
Personality
What he likes/doesn’t like – As the months go on I am sure this section will get a bit more exciting but at only a month old there is not really much Alex does and doesn’t like as his life just revolves around milk and sleep. He definitely enjoys feeding (despite our initial struggles) and he is obsessed with his dummy which was introduced a couple weeks ago. Alex is not a massive fan of being put down but he does enjoy a kick around on his changing mat and seems to really enjoy relaxing in the bath. The mosses basket is a bit hit and miss when it comes to sleeping, he definitely prefers mummy and daddy’s bed. We have been dabbling in babywearing and Alex absolutely loves snuggling up in my stretchy wrap, he goes to sleep in there almost immediately.
Character – Again it is hard to say what my boy is like when he is still so young and his personality is only just beginning to shine. It is clear already he is a very cuddly person and doesn’t like being alone (what baby does!) and he has a very angry cry he uses when he is hungry and I don’t get to him quick enough. I can’t wait to watch his personality grow and see what kind of little boy he is going to become.
The day to day
Feeding – Alex is breastfed and we have come a long way in just 5 weeks time. There were some latch issues we had to work through at the beginning but now feeds are pretty much pain free – yay! He has gone from feeding every 2 hours day and night to being able to do a four hour stretch without any milk at night. In the day he doesn’t usually like to go more than 2 hours and sometimes in the evenings it feels like he is permanently attached to me. Alex seems to just love the cuddles and closeness and I don’t mind that he wants feeding so much it is just hard when Leo wants me to play at the same time. My parents were here last week and they babysat one night so Oli and I could go out/ I had been pumping milk for a few days and was so relieved that Alex would take a bottle. I now know that if I want to go out without Alex I won’t need to worry about rushing back in time to feed him. I am documenting our feeding journey over in the breastfeeding diary section on the blog.
Sleeping – The first few days of his life Alex slept constantly, only waking to be fed and even then sometimes I had to wake him up. As the weeks have gone on he is slowly forming a more predictable pattern when it comes to sleep. He wakes around half 6 every morning and feeds then sleeps again until 8ish, feeds again then sleeps until about 11 – it is clear he is not really a morning person. He is awake then for lots of the afternoon, usually napping for a couple hours around 4 and then he drops off for his big 4 hour sleep around 9. We have gone from about 4 night feeds down to 2 most nights and although I am still tired I feel less like a zombie and am able to make it through the day..just! We have been co sleeping quite a bit as Alex often refuses to go back in his bed after his second night feed. I don’t mind this but I definitely sleep better when he’s in his basket, even though we are following all the guidelines for safe co sleeping. Without a doubt Alex’s favourite place to nap is in the baby wrap, he loves being snug and so close to me.
Who we have seen
Over the past 5 weeks we have had a fair few visitors come to meet our latest little bundle. With most friends and family living in Wales Alex is yet to meet everyone we would like him to but there will be lots of opportunity for these visits in the new year when we brave the long journey back to the homeland (!). So far Alex has met: both sets of grandparents, my sister and her two children, 2 of Oli’s brothers and his nieces, my Aunty Helen and Jim and my cousins Jes, Michelle and Molly – oh and of course lovely Gillian who was here looking after Leo when we brought Alex home from hospital. We have just had my parents come and stay for a week which was lovely and it gave them a chance to get to spend time with the boys as we won’t be seeing them again now until Christmas.
Where we have been
After having a very straight forward birth with Alex and having a 3 year old to entertain, it wasn’t long before I was up and about and Alex was being taken out on his first ever day trips. We spent an afternoon in Romsey when Alex was just 3 days old, we ventured to Winchester on day 6 to get him registered and took him on his first trip to the pub (just for lunch of course!). We have also been to our local National Trust property and at just 2 weeks old Alex went on his first ever trip to Zoo when we ventured off to London for the day. On November 5th we headed to a local country park to watch some fireworks and Alex slept the whole time in the sling, not even stirring at all the bangs. Chuck in a few shopping trips to Southampton, countless hours wasted in Costa and the weekly trips to our local baby groups it is safe to say Alex has had a really busy first month. It is so much different when you have your second baby, life just has to continue as normal so your toddler doesn’t climb the walls and go insane, staying home in my pjs for a month was never really going to be an option.
Brothers
What does Leo think? – After months of waiting Leo’s baby brother finally arrived and his reaction was adorable. We got home from hospital with Alex in the car seat and Leo immediately demanded a cuddle with his baby and showered his new little brother in kisses and cuddles. Things stayed like this for a few days but it wasn’t long before Leo got bored of the whole being a brother thing. He asks to kiss and talk to Alex a lot but rarely does he want to hold him. Yesterday Leo did have a bit of a melt down and said he wanted Alex to go away and to go back in my tummy. I think he has realised that Alex is a permanent fixture in the family now and that he will be having to share my attention with his brother forever. Despite declaring he doesn’t like Alex anymore, by yesterday evening he was asking for kisses again, I expect this is how things will be for a while now. It is a big change for Leo and we are trying our best to be patient with him and understanding while he adjusts to life as no longer an only child.
Sibling bonding – Oh wow, does Alex love Leo! He smiles at him all the time and his eyes follow Leo around the room while he is playing. I knew Alex would be a massive fan of Leo as whenever he used to sing to my bump Alex would start kicking like crazy. I really hope as the months go on and Alex gets a bit bigger that Leo will start to interact with him more and they play happily together.
The little things
There are so many things I don’t want to forget and time is going so quickly and Alex changes every day, I’m worried if I don’t write them down all the little things will be forgotten. So, here are some of them..
Alex first lifted his head at one day old, I actually still can’t believe this one but it’s true he is so strong.
When he is waking up from a sleep Alex makes this random trumpet noise, sounds a bit like an elephant, and he usually farts loads too!
Just like when he was in my womb, Alex suffers with really bad hiccups every single evening.
In the past week or so during feeds he has started making these really cute sighing noises while he is eating, it makes my heart melt.
The first proper smile he did was when he was about 3 and a half weeks old while Oli and I were bathing him, at 5 weeks he is now smiling more and more and making sweet little coo noises too.
He has the softest hair and the most velvety skin on his head, I spend way too much time kissing his little forehead.
He loves a cuddle, especially if he gets to have a go on his dummy at the same time too (he will scream the house down if he spits his dummy out though!). The baby wrap is his happy place but he loves to be in the arms of his family the most.
Then and now, Day 0 – Month 1
That is it for Alex’s one month baby update, it has in fact taken me over a week to write this so Alex is now closer to 6weeks than 4! Well I always knew blogging was going to be difficult, I can’t actually believe I thought I would be able to stick to my old blogging schedule! I am having way too much fun enjoying my two boys to worry too much about blogging at the minute anyway.
I will be back next month (ish!) with another update on how Alex is getting on, how is developing and updating you all on how life is going now we are a family of four.
Do you like to keep a record of how your baby’s development and progress? If you have recently had a baby too big congratulations! I hope you have found the early days ok and all is going well. I am so excited to watch my little man grow over the coming months and to see how Alex and Leo’s sibling bond begins to blossom.
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Ahhh what an adorable little bundle lovely! And he is clearly surrounded by so much love from these photos…my heart is all squishy! Thanks for linking up to #coolmumclub xx
Talya recently posted…The honest parent blog: Why I tell it how it is on the blog
Ohhh he is just adorable!! Time flies doesn’t it? But what a lucky boy having so many people who love him! #picknmix
five little doves recently posted…The Book of Everyone – Review & Giveaway!
What a gorgeous baby boy you have, so lovely to see him snuggled up like that. My daughter was born early Nov 2015, so this is taking me back to this time last year when she had just turned one-month old…uh-oh, starting to feel broody!! #picknmix
Awwww he’s just gorgeous, and those photos are adorable. It’s so sweet how close their bond is already. What an amazing first month xx
#coolmumclub
New Mummy Blog recently posted…A new topic for the blog and an apology
He is such a gorgeous baby. So many lovely photos and memories in a short month! #AnythingGoes
Oh my word. Alex is just adorable and you’ve made me very excited for our upcoming newborn snuggles. It must be difficult for Leo to get used to, but those photos of them together are just priceless! xx #maternitymondays
This is such a beautiful post filled with love. Your photos are gorgeous and it is so lovely to see the happiness that a baby brings to a family. Love the name too (shares my youngest a name)
An imperfect mum (Catie) recently posted…Tips for a stress free Christmas
What gorgeous photos. He’s certainly very loved! Thanks for joining us for #marvmondays x
Wow what a happy family you have, and such cute boys! Lovely update that I’m sure you’ll look back on and treasure #MaternityMondays
What a dear little boy he is. Well done on the pumping and bottle combo for an evening out. #MarvMondays
Fiona Cambouropoulos recently posted…Trash 2 Treasure December 2016
A lovely post, he is gorgeous. Congratulations and well done on getting out and about already x #mg
Aww what a lovely post. It’s so hard when you’ve got other children. No time to rest at all. I think Leo has done very well. I think siblings often feel the
Babies will come out ready to play. It got better here when they could play together but then the issue of toy sharing happened 😉 so really you can’t win. I love catching up with how it’s going x #MaternityMondays
Oh he is absolutely gorgeous, what beautiful photos, especially of the boys together 🙂
Thanks for linking up to #PicknMix
Stevie x
A Cornish Mum recently posted…A Christmas Competition with Lily Charmed Jewellery
Aww he’s gorgeous! The bond between your two boys is so cute and it will only get stronger as Alex gets older
Thanks for linking up to #AnythingGoes 🙂
Debbie
Random Musings recently posted…C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S: A Poem
Lovely photos! Little B was red when he was born and then went blonde – funny how they change #picknmix
Crummy Mummy recently posted…Christmas meltdowns only people with toddlers understand
oh he is so tiny and perfect and he makes me want another baby, well he would if only they slept through at one week lol. I know having a newborn is hard work, but gosh he is so adorable and I love seeing him with his big brother! Both my girls have red hair and hubby and I both have dark brown! My son got brown though. I always get told they look more like my hubby than me and I am the same I am like “where is my look in?” So happy for you guys, hope you get lots of sleep soon and enjoy your first Christmas with your new little miracle xx #mg
Mackenzie Glanville recently posted…learning how to fly
Gosh I don’t know how you managed to do all those updates during pregnancy – and now this mammoth update! Well done you!