Lainey Lou ~ Month 1

Goodness gracious, this past month has FLOWN by. I mean really, how has an entire month of being little miss's mommy already come to a close?! So. Dang. Fast.

Regardless of how, it happened and therefore it's time to tell ya all about it! You were born November 1, 2015 and then somehow you became a month old.  For fun, I read back through Bennett's 1 Month post and, per usual, it got me all hormonal and all that jazz. Why do they have to grow up so fast. Wahhhh.

But here you are my adorable sweet 1 month old baby girl (12.1.15):

 Baby bro photobombed our shoot :) but we didn't mind.

And there he is again, my adorable little blue eyed boy.

Now, onto other info and more scenes from the past month...

How Big Are You?

• At Birth
• 16 pounds 14.5 ounces
• 18 inches
• 2-3 Week Checkup
• 3 weeks + 1 Day (11/23)
• W: 7 pounds 12.5 ounces - 25%
• H: 21.5 inches - 75% (we realize this is A LOT of growth - doc said it could be a small discrepancy from the original measurement from the hospital)
• Head: 14.25 inches - 55%

What's Your Temperament?

• Since you were born a few weeks early, you were the sleepiest little nugget the first few weeks of your life. You literally slept through everything! You'd wake up to eat and then basically right back to sleep. So learning your personality was a bit tough at first. 
• However, this past week you've really started waking up and showing us what you're all about! 
• Bottom line: your temperament is great ... as long as you're being held ;) 
• More to come in this category as you develop. But you're super sweet and really easy going. As long as a paci + someones arms are in reach ... you're one happy gal. 
• This month we learned you don't really cry .... you SCREAM. Drama at such a young age. 
• You're a noisy baby when you're awake. You coo and kick and love to look at lights. And you're a noisy eater as well. 

What Are You Eating?

• To date you've been strictly breastfed with two bottles of formula. Therefore it's a little hard to put a quantity on how much you're eating. But, from what I can tell from when I'm pumping I'd say you're eating about 2.5 ounces and I can tell you it is every 2-3 hours.
• You do NOT miss a meal. She be little but mighty :) You'd eat every 1.5 hours if I'd let you, but for the most part you stretch your feedings to 2-2.5 hours during the daytime and about 3 hours at night. 
• We gave you formula a couple of nights around your midnight feeding in hopes you would sleep in longer stretches, but for the most part to no avail. 
  

What Are you Sporting?

• You are in newborn diapers, we're Pampers people and they seem to keep you extra happy. Plus I'm still a big fan of that blue line that let's us know if you're wet or not. However, our box of "N" just ran out and we have a box of "1" so we may just graduate you to 1's so we can keep them in stock for a while. 
• You're in mostly newborn attire. You're a tiny little peanut and honestly could have probably worn some preemie items the first week or two. But you've been rocking the same newborn for a good month. Hoping you hit a growth spurt so we can start trying on some of your cute 0-3 gifts we received! 
  

How Are You Sleeping?

• Sleeping has been much more of a struggle with you compared to your brother. Not that you don't sleep, but with your preferences compared to him. 
• You are not a fan of the velcro swaddle-me's that he so desperately loved, you much prefer a looser blanket because you'd like to have your arms up by your face. And you my peach are lucky because Aden + Anais sell bamboo swaddles this time around, so that's what you're wrapped in 80% of the time. So soft. 
• When it comes to night time sleeping you're a bit of a diva. For the first 3 weeks of your life you almost always slept on mama. And, girlfriend your mama is one of the biggest no sleeping with baby advocates out there. But, you literally wouldn't have it any other way. So, I figured out a way to feel as safe as possible while keeping you happy and we moved on. I think I've developed carpal tunnel and my shoulder muscles are always sore, but other than that we're doing just fine :)
• You sleep about 2-3 hour stretches and then need to be nursed and easily drift back off. 
• You have started to sleep better in short stretches in your bassinet however, and we are all singing your praises. And much happier too! Keep on progressing baby girl, we'll get there!

 Mommy sometimes needs a nap too!

 Make yourself comfortable lady :)

 I spy a paci stash :)

Lainey Likes + Dislikes:

• Dislikes:
• You hate having your diaper changed. I think it's more about the cold wipes but you are definitely not a fan. 
• You hate not being held. HATE it. If someone would hold you 100% of the time I don't think you'd ever be discontented. 
• Likes:
• You (I mean me) love your Kickee Pants onesies. 
• You like your Rock n' Play and prefer it over your other devices (swing, bouncy, etc)
• And you're pretty content in your Boppy lounger. 
• You like your Soothies pacifiers and you hate gumdrop pacifiers. 
• You like white noise (the same mountain river sound as your big brother).
• You like your Baby K'tan carrier. 

Fun Moments, Favorite Notes, Lainey Quirks + Milestones:

• You found out the real meaning of what it is to be a little sister :) 

•  You worked your way into our nightly bedtime routine. 

•  You got your first bath! 

•  You finally met all of your aunts and uncles!

•  You got to open all of your pretty pretty presents that Auntie MaKenzie put together for you! 

• You celebrated your first Holiday, Thanksgiving
  
• Your brother held you for the first time

And that's a pretty good little round up of your first month!  You're the greatest addition to our gang and we can't wait to see more of your personality shine through.

I love you monkey. (btw, somehow I started calling you my monkey ... your brother has oddly always been my pigeon :) and you've been deemed my monkey) I love my little zoo.

Decking the Halls

Decking the halls in a new home is always a fun and challenging task. At the old house, most everything had a spot and I mostly knew where everything would go. So, the worst part was simply getting the decorations out of storage + unpacked and then sweeping up the excess trimmings + glitter. This time around, I had to actually strategize to give everything a home. And a newborn that prefers to be held made that even more challenging!

But alas, the tree is up and the halls are "decked" and Christmas music is booming in our house. I love Christmas time. And with two littles and a little that actually "gets it" this year I am so excited!

First, we had to pull all of the bits and pieces out of storage. The worst part, am I right?

And this little nugget wanted to touch every single item we took out of the box, which also made it interesting.

And several of them broke because of that ... "Sowwy Mommy"

But playing with toys while daddy works is so much fun!

Tree trimmings are so pretty!

Once we completed the tree, we ran upstairs for bath time to take an early one before settling in for a fun holiday filled evening!

After bath time, we all put on our PJs and snuggled up to watch "An Elf Story" and get in the Christmas spirit. Daddy and Bennett were in charge of popping the popcorn. 

And they snuggled (per usual) while they waited for it to pop.

And then we talked about how excited we were to watch all about SANTA!

After watching our movie the doorbell rang and a fun box filled with a peculiar little elf was waiting on our doorstep :) More to come on our elf, his name + what he's been doing around our house. But we're officially Christmas ready ... Santa, please stop here!

Lainey Lovin + Cousin Snuggles

Lainey's had so many visitors since she surprised us with her early arrival. And this was one of our very favorite visits! Her first time meeting her Aunt Jessica + Uncle Ted, plus meeting her cousins Emmie + Brody!

And Sissy + Poppy made an appearance too!

That's a good lookin bunch!

Ipads are the best invention ever. And watching them with your cousins make them so much cooler.

It's always a fun time when they come to play, and big brother is over the moon about Brody and Emmie so it's really a great play date for everyone (parent's included).  Can't wait for more play dates come Christmas! 

And then there were two ...

This is a bit of a "latergram" post ... but I'm just now able to catch up with everything that's been happening around here! 

As we mentioned, little man was unfortunately battling a NASTY cold when we brought little sister home. So, the first couple of days we tried to keep them from sharing germs as much as possible. (I realize this is nearly inevitable, and it will happen NUMEROUS times in the years to come ... but with our newest still so little and unable to build up her own immune system quite yet - we aired on the side of caution). 

However, several days had finally passed and little man was feeling MUCH better ... plus he was being super sweet and asking about his new baby sister ... so we decided it was time to commemorate bringing home our newest little and let big brother hold Lainey for the first time. Que heart melting. 

As we explain to him the importance of the pillow, only touch her head and feet, no sticking your fingers in her ears or mouth, etc ... he rolls his eyes ... yeaaa yeaaa mom and dad. I've got this. 

And then he looks down and says, I love her so much! And I'm a puddle of goo on the floor.

This is AWESOME!

Seriously, AWESOME.

I'm a big brother!

And I LOVE it!

You're pretty cool baby sis.

We get to keep her?!?!

Yayyyyy!!!!

Yeeeee!!!!

I'll help you with your paci!

And that right there, is all my happiness. All of it.