Steven's First Year - One Month

I can't believe my little bitty baby is one month old! He's still a pretty little baby, but definitely bigger than when we brought him home from the hospital. Its bittersweet watching him growing up already. But we have had so much fun this month.

Baby Steven aced his 1 month doctor's appointment. He is now 22 7/8 inches long (why don't they just say 23 inches?) which is the 90 - 95 percentile for his age. So, he is a very long baby. We are so not surprised considering how tall his momma and daddy are. He is now 10lbs 2 oz, which means he's gained almost 3 lbs since leaving the hospital! He is at about the 70th percentile for weight but the doctor said that is totally fine. Good job buddy! Doesn't he look super long in these pictures!?!

This first month baby Steven has been up to all kinds of things. He has been sleeping a lot, as newborns do. In his sleep he sometimes sucks in his lower lip which is so cute. He also likes to randomly stick his arms in the air in his sleep. (Steve refers to this as his zombie pose.)

He hates to be swaddled and much prefers to have his arms free when he sleeps. And for the most part, he like to sleep with his arms up above his head.

When baby Steven is awake, he has been learning a lot about the world around him. He is very alert during the day and wide-eyed, looking like he is taking it all in. He likes to look around. He has been discovering his body by moving around his arms, legs and hands pretty much constantly. It's so funny to see him just laying there kicking and moving his arms around like crazy. It almost looks like he is really trying to get somewhere but just doesn't know how yet.

Another part of his body, he has been exploring is his tongue, which he plays with and smacks on his lips pretty often. It's super cute. He will also occasionally stick it out for us, which is so hilarious. If we are lucky, we can also catch him smiling. He started doing it a few weeks ago it has really picked up lately. He will smile most days and multiple times a day. Sometimes he will smile in response to you talking to him or tickling him, whereas in the beginning it just seemed to be totally random. Seeing him smile has got to be one of the best things ever! So amazing!

Baby Steven will be content for a little while in his swing or bouncy seat, but he definitely prefers to be held. When he's totally done with his swing he will usually get a very mean looking scowl on his face...its pretty hilarious.

He likes to be in the room with everyone and doesn't like to be left alone for too long. We usually don't mind to oblige him and hold him all the time. He's so adorable, who can resist. He does seem to have a knack for fussing right around the time when everyone is sitting down to eat however...

Speaking of eating, Baby Boy is breastfeeding like a champ! He is doing so well. He's a natural, which has been so great for Mommy, who was really stressed out about getting breastfeeding started. Steven will eat every 2 to 3 hours during the day but can go 4 to 5 hours at night sometimes. He's such a good baby for letting mommy sleep! He does this super adorable thing we like to call "milk face" where he gets this glazed over face after a feeding. He usually makes this high pitched squeaky sound, puckers his lips together and makes his milk face. It's really so adorable.

So overall its been a really fun and eventful month for us! Baby Steven is growing right on track, eating well and just enjoying himself everyday. Steve and I are really looking forward to the months to come where he will start to be more interactive and be able to focus and recognize us better. At the same time, of course we don't want our little baby to grow up! We have both been adjusting to parenting this month and it seems to be going really well so far. We really hope that everything continues to go smoothly in the months to come!