One Month

I started this post a few days ago because I knew it would take that long to complete it. Alex will be one month old on the 4th!! I can't believe it's been 4 weeks already. In some ways it feels like he just got here and in other ways it seems like he's always been a part of our family. The last month has been an eventful one for us. We did take a couple of weeks to "nest" and get used to being a family of 5, but that seems so long ago!

After Alex was born, Joel was able to be home with us for almost 2 full weeks. That was such a big help and it was so nice to be home together for so long. He did a wonderful job taking care of all of us. I feel sure that I was more high maintenance during those two weeks than anyone else in the household, but he never complained and he always went above and beyond to make sure I was feeling well and I was comfortable and I had everything I needed. The big kids spent a lot of time with the grandparents during those first two weeks so Joel and I had a lot of time to spend with Alex. Joel went back to work a couple of weeks ago and I've been figuring out how to manage 3 kids by myself!! It hasn't been too much of a challenge. Alex is a very happy baby. He hardly ever cries except when he wants to eat or if he's tired. Our main challenge has been the lack of sleep. Unfortunately, Alex isn't a great sleeper. At first he was giving me 2-3 hour stretches during the night, and I was expecting that it would only improve as he got older. Sadly it is getting worse as he gets older. He now wakes up about every 60-90 minutes. I spend 30 minutes putting him back to sleep and then he's up again before I've gotten a full hour of sleep. He's also a very restless sleeper and we are sometimes kept awake by all his grunting and moving. Let's hope this is just a phase!

A common sleeping position.

Smiling in his sleep.

Alex has had many visitors during his first month of life. My Grandma and Aunt Susie planned a trip to visit us during the first part of July and since Alex was so late, they arrived the day after he was born! We got to spend a whole week with them! We also had several wonderful and gracious friends who volunteered to cook meals for us. We ate very well for the first couple of weeks!!! That was such a blessing! Alex has also been visited by a few of my old high school friends. It's been fun seeing all these friends and family members that we don't get to see very often. I'm sorry to say that in the chaos that has been our life this last month, I don't have any pictures of any of our visitors with Alex. :(

Despite our extreme lack of sleep, we are really enjoying having Alex as part of our family. He is a very sweet baby. He smiles a lot and hardly ever cries. He loves his swing which is a life saver for me! It's thanks to that swing that I get anything done around here!! He also loves bathtime and is starting to really enjoy his playmat. He is getting pretty chubby lately. We saw Merrie today and Alex weighs 10 lbs 2 oz and has grown an inch and a half since birth!! He has my round cheeks and is starting to get rolls on his thighs and arms. We are also suspecting that he is going to have blue eyes!! The other two kids were born with dark eyes that stayed dark. Alex's eyes are a blue gray color and they seem to be getting bluer in color as the weeks pass. So strange considering Joel has brown eyes and I have hazel eyes. It also looks like Alex's skin is darker than the other two kids. My Mexican genes may have finally dominated!!

3 days old and already a fan of the swing!

First car ride.

First smiles.

Enjoying his playmat.

NOT enjoying tummy time.

He really LOVES bathtime!!

Gabe and Isabel have adjusted very well to having a baby in the house. They are over the moon for their little brother!! When he was first born they couldn't get enough of him. They were always there to "help" with EVERYTHING! They were so "helpful" that it started becoming detrimental to my productivity. :) I kept reminding myself that they were doing it out of the goodness of their hearts and they just loved him so much that they wanted to help him with everything. I figured it would wear off after a few days and they'd get sick of him and move on. Well, I'm still waiting for them to get sick of him, but I'm so thankful for their unconditional love for him! It's so sweet to hear them talk to him and to get up in the morning and have them waiting so impatiently to give him a good morning kiss. They want to hold him all the time and they want to kiss him all the time and they just giggle and light up when he looks at them or smiles at them or when I let them hold him. I'm proud of them and their patience with me as I fumble my way through this new life and their unbounding love and acceptance for this new little brother that has so suddenly taken over so much of our time. A mother couldn't ask for two more precious kiddos!!