One Month

Baby Kate turned one month old yesterday! I can hardly believe it's already been a month since the epic birth saga...that I finally finished writing oh wait, yesterday. Whoops. If you missed it and you wanna catch up, part 1 and part dos. I'm going to try and do one of these posts every month on her monthday (new term) - although that already sounds like a big commitment so we'll see how long I make it.

Motherhood is amazing and awe-inspiring already. It seems like the time has just flown by with Kate with us and the memory of our lives without her are already fading. She's already just ingrained into our daily routine and schedules. Obviously that doesn't mean it's all hunky-dory 24/7, but it's just nice to know that the transition has felt really natural. Living your vocation can do that.

Of course the mountains of laundry every darn day (how does such a little person poop and spit up so much? and on all the right targets, day after day?) aren't the most fun, and my goal of actually using our grill hasn't been met yet because cooking is like the last thing on my mind, but it's still awesome.

Seeing her grow has been crazy. Suddenly I'll look at her and say to myself, I'm pretty sure her feet grew an inch overnight, or her head seems way bigger today than it did yesterday! Obviously it's not that gradual but it's amazing to watch so closely. I've been around newborns and babies before, but I've never had the chance to observe one so closely, so hands-on. The miracle of life, y'all.

she chose this sleeping post naturally - and yes, she was deeply asleep.

Now onto some (somewhat reliable) stats.

Weight: at birth, Kate was 9 lbs 1 oz. (giiiiiant baby.) When we were dismissed from the hospital, she was 8 lbs 8 oz. At the doctor's 3 days later, she was 8 lbs 11 oz. We haven't had her 4 week appointment yet (whoopsies) but according to the very scientifically accurate method of weigh-yourself-and-then-weigh-yourself-holding-baby, she's over 10 lbs as of this morning. I'll make sure to have her appointment on time next time.

Height: at birth, she was 21". Supposedly 3 days later at the doctor's she was 22"...somewhat unbelievable, so we've been saying she was actually just 21.5" long at birth. I can't find my measuring tape but I swear she's longer already, especially in the torso...taking after her mama. She's at least already too long for the newborn outfits, which wasn't the case before, so my guess is 23-24". Irresponsible parenting that I don't know it exactly, isn't it? :)

Firsts this month: eye contact with mom and dad, smiling, cooing, holding her head up steady for 20+ seconds in a row

Nicknames:
Kate
Kat
Kitty (Miss Kitty)
Squishy Face (when burping)
Tweety Bird
Squeaker

Other things to note: 
-Her belly is pretty huge (see above photo), so much so that I think that's another reason she outgrew newborn clothing.
-She loves hearing the sound of her own voice and spends most of her awake time cooing and grunt/screaming just so she can hear it again.
-She has started turning the second half of every meal into a wrestling match with mom, where she really is still hungry but wants to kick against my arms as much as possible too. Eventually she'll calm down but it's not so fun at 4 in the morning.
-She gets into sleepy periods where she really wants to be awake, but just can't do it - so her eyes roll back into her head about 10 times before she finally succumbs to sleep.
-She sleeps pretty well - on the best days I feed her right before we go to bed around 10:30 p.m., she sleeps til 4 or 4:30 and eats, then sleeps again til 8:30 or 9:00. Those days are the best days! On the worst days which are few and far between at this point, she eats 3 times between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.
-Just recently she's started fussing when she wants me - as if she can finally tell the difference between her dad or someone else holding her and me. It's a little self-centered but I like knowing that sometimes she just wants me over anyone else. (Sorry David.)

her favorite sleeping position

squishy lips

I can't wait to see how much she's changed by month 2. We love you so much, sweet girl!

HG