Allison: One Month

One month. I think I'm going to spend the rest of my maternity leave building something that prevents me from blinking, because time is going TOO FAST. It's such a strange conundrum, wanting Allison to stay this little forever, knowing that we won't ever have a child this small again, and being so excited to see her personality develop, the relationships she will build with her siblings, and the person she is going to become. It's wild, and I know I'll have more thoughts on this as she gets bigger and we experience all of our last "firsts" with her, but for now, I'll just reflect on this last month with her.

Life's definitely been better with Allison in it. Our family was completed one month ago and we couldn't be happier.

Brayden, Ashley, and Katie absolutely love Allison. Brayden has asked the most to hold her, Ashley has loved giving her kisses, and Katie is always very concerned about all of Allie's things. She is the only one who actually calls her by her name, or her nickname at least, and will let me know that "Allie crying" or show me "Allie paci" when she finds it on the chair or the couch. Brayden and Ashley usually call Allison "the baby" or "the new baby", and when I tell them that they can call her by her name, they always respond "I knoooow mom", or something that effect, which makes me realize they will be teenagers with attitude before I know it ha!

Eric and I absolutely love Allison as well. The one thing we will both miss the most about this phase being over is the chest to chest sleep cuddles. It is a favorite of both of ours, and we are both soaking them in.

We all have great reasons to love Allison. She is such a great baby. She is sleeping really well, is hardly ever fussy (unless she has some trapped gas somewhere- then she can be really fussy), and is unphased by the endless kisses and attention she gets. 

She has met her great grandma Wolf, and has slept through a trip to the park and an evening fishing with the "big kids". 

Allison is wearing newborn clothes and diapers. She is weighing about 9 pounds and measuring about 21 and a half inches. I will update with official measurements after her doctor's appointment tomorrow.

She is eating 3 and a half ounces every 3-4 hours, getting about 21 ounces a day. She goes down for bed sometime between 9 and 10, and is waking up just once at night between 3:30-4:30. 

Allison still enjoys the double swaddle at night. She is starting to smile at you during her awake time. She likes chest to chest cuddles, and is lifting her head really well doing tummy time on your chest. She has been liking watching the mobile on her swing, and enjoys being cuddled.

Allison is not a huge fan of diaper changes, and really hates having trapped gas. I've been burping her three times during a feeding lately to try to help with that, but we still get delayed burps, some delayed spit-ups, and lots of toots. And you can tell the difference between a toot and a poop ha!

I'm so excited to keep watching her grow, but dang time can slow down!