1 month

It's so hard to believe that a whole month has already past since Holden's birth day!  It seems like just yesterday he was born but it also feels like he's always been with us.

Sleep
Holden was really pretty good to me his first month in this area with nighttime sleeping.  He would wake up every 2 1/2 to 3 hours to eat and fall back asleep pretty much as soon as he was finished eating, sometimes he'd be asleep before he was finished as he would drink the last of his bottle with eyes closed.  During the end of week 1 and into week 2 we were back in bed about 20 minutes after we got up.  I realized that he was refluxing after some bottles though so I started sitting up with him a half hour after he was finished to keep him in an upright position.  Even with that time factored in, the longest we're out of bed is an hour.

Daytime naps have ranged to little cat naps to five hours.  I wish he could pull off one of those five hour naps at night but so far we haven't been that lucky.

Eating
Well, this has been a frustrating area for me.  We went from trying to exclusively breastfeed to exclusively formula feeding in the span of Holden's first month.  As I learned, I just wasn't making enough milk to keep Holden full during his first week.  I tried to pump, and even with my best pumping sessions, I was only able to give Holden 1 one and a half ounce bottle per day.  As the days went on, I was only able to pump drops out during each session, so I gave up pumping altogether during week 4.  This is definitely not what I had planned/hoped for but I'm trying to see the positives (like not having to drag around a breast pump all the time) and am so thankful that there is an alternative like formula to keep him fed.

Trying to figure out formula has also been a little tricky.  He had been drinking Similac liquid supplement but his pediatrician told us to go ahead and pick a powder formula for him to start on.  He told us not to worry about mixing the old with the new as he was too little to have developed a taste preference.  Well, once we started on the new formula, things took a little turn.  He didn't tolerate the new formula very well.  He would scream after he ate and he went from not spitting up at all to huge spit ups every time he was burped.  The morning of day 2 of this, I called the doctor and we decided to mix the new formula with the old until his little tummy could handle the new stuff.  This made a huge difference and we're still doing this into month two.

During month one, Holden went from drinking one ounce at a feeding to three and a half ounces.

Clothes
As mentioned in his four week post, Holden moved into 0-3 month clothing at the end of his first month.  A lot of things are still a little baggy or too long, but he does have a few outfits that fit just right.

Crying
This has been the hardest part of his first month.  Somewhere in the end of week 2, Holden started bouts of crying that we can't figure out a reason for.  I realize that babies just cry for no reason sometimes, but when it's lasting into hour 2...3...4...it just breaks my heart to listen to him scream and not be able to help him.  This always results in tears on my part too and feeling like I'm a crappy mom and have no idea what I'm doing.

Health
At Holden's first doctor appointment, he was almost back up to his birth weight and got a good report from the doctor.  I would really like to know what his weight is at now but unfortunately we don't go back to see the doctor until month 2.  He has had a bit of a stuffy nose that I've been keeping an eye on but luckily it hasn't seemed to developed into a cold.

Likes
Holden really likes to lie on the ottoman or couch and stretch out, look around, and bicycle his legs (by himself, he's not a fan of me trying to help him).  He can spend about a half hour doing this until he's had enough.  He also likes to go for car rides with dad to calm down, going for walks (so thankful for a nice October!), and having his bottom patted while going to sleep.

Dislikes
So far, he's not really a big fan of the swing.  There's been a couple times where he's stayed in it longer than 10 minutes but otherwise he pretty much just yells at us when we put him in there.