Drake - 1 Month

Here we go again with the monthly updates! I'm determined to keep up with these because I always enjoy looking back on Carters. These pictures are a little wonky because 1) iPhone. 2) I'm a terrible photographer and 3) I only had a certain window of time before Carter found us and wanted to join in on the fun ;) Be on the lookout for a monthly iPhone photo dump to document some of my favorites.

-As of today, Drake weighs 11 pounds 5 ounces and is 22 1/2 inches long. At his two week appointment he measured 20 1/2 inches though so either this kid is the hulk or there was an error in his numbers previously. Either way, I make enormous babies and at this rate, Drake is going to be even bigger than Carter! 

-Was in newborn diapers for about 3 weeks and stopped fitting into newborn clothes around 2.5 weeks. Now, I'll put him in mostly his 3 month clothes because a lot of Carter's old 0-3 month clothes shrank over time! Honestly this guy is in footie sleepers 80% of the time because 1) it's cold and 2) because taking off a onesie, pants and socks gets really old whenever I need to change his diaper (which is like every hour!)

-Has the most illusive hair color. Light brown/Red/Blonde? No one seems to have a definitive answer. When I was in labor and pushing, the doctor said he could see his hair and I asked if it was brown, and he said "red!" I think he meant it as a joke, but...I think his hair could actually be red? It honestly wouldn't be the most random thing in the world since my sister has red hair and my family gene pool is all over the place. Case & point:

(My dad and brother have dark hair, promise I'm not adopted) For now, I'm going to call him strawberry blonde, with blue eyes.

-He also has such awesome hair, period. It's like two inches long and has a hairline that naturally forms a mohawk.

-Also has a pretty significant birthmark on his forearm! It's definitely there to stay so he can forget about robbing any banks in his future because it's a pretty identifying mark! Or I guess he could just wear long sleeves.... Anyways...

-Hates his car seat and screams bloody murder for the first 5-10 minutes that he's in it. After that, he'll usually give up and fall asleep though. He seems to do better when it's light outside and he's not covered though. 

-He will tolerate sitting in his swing if he's happy or asleep, but it doesn't do much to calm him down if he's upset.

-Has started to smile a bit!! He dishes them out for Richard when he makes big cheesy faces accompanied with "gooo" sounds. He will also smile at art on the walls or the star mobile above his changing table.

-Busts out of his swaddle no matter how tight I make it. I always find him with his arms raised over his head. So cute.

-Can lift his head up off of our chests for about a minute at a time to look around. If he's mad, he especially likes to lift his head up and scream right in our faces ;)

-Is not nearly as good about taking a bottle as his brother was. We really need to work on this though since I'm scheduled to go back to work in less than two weeks. Yikes! 

-Cries pretty consistently from 9pm-11:30pm each night until he falls asleep. He passes gas literally all day (such a guy) and poops at least 12 times a day so I think he's just uncomfortable. I posted about this on Facebook and got some really good suggestions. I bought Gripe Water and it seemed to work a bit, but I think it's still too soon to tell. Getting perspective is always good though. I know that by 3 months, most babies get over the colicky stage and if I just need to nurse him nonstop for 3 hours a night, there are definitely worse things I could be doing :)

-That being said, he is a much better sleeper than Carter was. It took Carter 6 weeks to give me a 4 hour stretch of sleep and Drake has been doing 3-4 hour stretches since we brought him home from the hospital. The longest stretch so far has been 4.5 hours but he never wakes up more than every 2 hours. About half the time Carter and Drake will nap at the same time and about 1/4 of the time I will nap with them. I've learned that I value quiet alone time (or checking things off the to-do list) more than sleep. I usually regret doing this around 11:30pm each night haha but it's always short lived. Once I go back to work I will probably nap more (if they still nap at the same time, that is!)

-Is not a fan of the binky but I am not giving up this time! I was opposed to them before I had kids but now I have seen the light and want my babies to take them dang it!

-Loves his baby carrier which is such a relief for me. I already gotten many "wow you have your hands full!" comments when I go out with Carter in the shopping cart with Drake in the carrier but I've seen much, much worse so it's no big thing. The other day I saw a Mom with two kids in baby carriers (one on her back one in the front) and two kids in the shopping cart...at a grocery store...on a weekend! And none of them were crying! Looking back, I should have said something, she is a warrior woman.

-Loves his baths. He gets super alert and starts splashing around with his legs. So cute.

-Makes the cutest little crabby grunts all day long especially when he's stretching and/or hungry.

-Is very patient with the overwhelming amount of affection that Carter gives him. He gets kissed on ALL DAY long by big brother which I actually appreciate because naturally I'm not able to hold him as much as I'd like to since I have to tend to Carter's needs as well.

-Besides his little freak out sessions at night, he really has such a sweet, pleasant temperament. I can't wait to learn more about our new little boy :)