Sunday, September 12, 2010

Life With Nia: One Month Old


So I decided to do monthly updates on Nia; it seems like this will be most manageable for me as I move onto transitioning out of the baby-centric posts. I have so many other topics I'd like to write about, but that doesn't mean these monthly Nia updates will be the only snapshot of her I provide. I'll play it by ear!

Anyway, here is update #1:

  • Baby's Weight: Her next well-baby appointment isn't until September 29, but I'd estimate she's almost 9 pounds; I can tell she's quite hefty by the back pain I'm starting to have from carrying her!
  • Baby's Height: Nia's height was 21" at birth (I had mistakenly been told it was 19" but found it in writing in her hospital documents); I'll know for sure in a few weeks where she's at 
  • What size of clothing does baby wear? Newborn sizes are getting tight especially sleeper foot length and sleeve length; We have SO much newborn stuff and I'm kinda bummed we didn't get more 6 month+ /warmer items as it's starting to get chilly here; I guess that means baby's first shopping trip is in order ;-)
  • Any milestones baby reached during the month:  
      • Nia is smiling and no, it's not just gas! It started in the past 4 days. My parents visited from Ohio this weekend and she smiled very clearly at me and my dad and she's making more playful, single syllable sounds in general. 
      • Also, her umbilical cord fell off on August 23. I thought it was a bit premature and it bled a bit and she was fussy for a few days after, but I'm still vigilant about it. 
      • We've given her the first bath too a couple days ago and she enjoyed it much more than a sponge bath - no tears!
 
      • She found her fingers around week 2 and sucks her thumb occasionally (she hates the binky!); she has swatted at the hanging toys of her jungle gym too so it looks like hand-eye coordination is coming along nicely
      • We introduced the bottle yesterday and she took too it very well! At first she was a bit fussy but she likes it and drinks very quickly. She had 2 oz the first day and 3oz today.
  • Special outings baby had during the month: Nia's been out and about all over Manhattan! I take her out in her Moby wrap about 1-2x/week. Today we went to church for the first time and when my best friend visited we went to Governor's Island. I had thought I'd keep her indoors for the first 3 months (as my mom's mentioned before), but from what I've researched there's really no reason to keep a newborn inside. I wear her close to me to prevent people poking at her. 
  • What are your thoughts about the past month? I think Nia is a sweet baby. It's not too hard to figure out what she needs and she's not overly fussy. I'm so incredibly exhausted at any given moment and getting out of the apartment is such a chore especially because of the on-demand feeding regimen. I do get frightened sometimes thinking about what if she gets sick and I can't figure out what's wrong or what happens if I fall or trip on the subway stairs or uneven sidewalks while carrying her. I tend to walk very slowly with her when I'm out and about! Overall, I feel so blessed to have a healthy, beautiful baby.
  • What was baby's routine? Right now she's playing more than she was before. She's napping more too - about two, three-hour naps/day and four hours overnight. Not quite the 16-18 hrs the books say newborns sleep. We give her daily time on her playmat and she loves it!
  • Reflect about the highlights of the month: Seeing Nia react to Uka is so adorable. When he walks in the room she cranes her neck to track his voice. She really loves her father! Her middle name, Adanna, means "father's daughter" so it's very appropriate.
 
  • Did any big changes occur, such as baby started daycare, stopped nursing, slept through the night, etc... No major changes yet
  • What are baby's favorites - toy, food, person, etc... Her favorite toy now is the jungle gym playmat, especially the hanging elephant rattle; we realized we don't have a stand-alone rattle for her so we may get one to help her sensory development (we won't give it to her, but we'll use it for eye movement and sound); her favorite person is her dad!

1 comment:

  1. Aww, so glad to see that everything is coming along so well! Nia is beautiful!

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