What I Want to Remember (0 to 1 Month)

I cannot believe that Tristan is one month old today! He is 1/12th of a year old! When I think of it that way, it makes me sad. I just know his first year is going to fly by. And, as a means to savor every moment with this little man, I plan on beginning a monthly blog series called "What I Want to Remember" where I will document the little things that I would otherwise forget.

What I want to remember about Tristan:

• His grunts. When he wakes up, it takes him a very long time to work up to a cry. He just grunts...and grunts...and grunts.

• His raptor noises. Do you remember the raptors from Jurassic Park? If so, picture that noise coming from a newborn baby boy. It is so funny! Aaron and I said, "He's raptoring it up." He mainly makes this noise when he's stretching.

• If he could be held 24/7, that would eliminate so much fussing and crying. He loves to be held. And, it doesn't matter who holds him, so if he's in the right mood, Ella can hold him while she watches a show and he would be totally content.

• The power of the boob. If he's fussy and clearly tired, nursing him puts him to sleep right away. And I mean, within seconds!

• I have to pump at night and then feed him pumped milk because he just falls asleep while nursing. It's an absolute pain, but this way, I know how much he's eating and he doesn't fall asleep while drinking from a bottle.

• His nighttime routine varies, but he typically goes to bed between 9:00 and 10:00, then wakes up between 12:00 and 1:00, stays up for an hour, then wakes up again between 4:00 and 5:00. This second feeding is the hardest because he is very awake and getting him back to sleep is near impossible. He's ready to start the day, but this mama is not! Actually, getting him back to sleep is not hard, it's laying him in his bassinet that is hard. The mili-second he feels his weight shifting to be placed in the bassinet, he starts grunting. Since this changing/feeding/rocking session is done around the time Aaron would usually be getting up for work (right now he's on Christmas break - he's a teacher), I just bring Tristan back into bed with me. He sleeps perfectly fine in my arms or right next to me. I just need that extra hour of sleep before Ella wakes up. And, then Ella climbs into bed with me when she wakes up, and although groggy, sleep-deprived and somewhat grumpy (I'm not a morning person until I get some coffee in me), these two blessings fill my heart with so much joy.

• He loves baths. He goes into them crying and comes out of them crying (if we don't get the towel around him fast enough), but while in the tub, he is perfectly content. I lay the warm washcloth on his tummy, and he's simply in Heaven.

• He has such a strong grip, and his arms are as big as his legs. I have a feeling he's going to have the athletic build that Daddy has.

• He's not a fan of the car seat, but loves car rides.

• I'm still not producing enough milk, so he's having to drink formula about 50% of the time. I either feed him or pump every 2-1/2 hours during the day, and then every time he wakes me up at night, but I still cannot make enough. This wasn't an issue with Ella, so I'm pretty bummed. Thankfully, Tristan can latch onto me and drink from a bottle without any nipple confusion.

• The most he's eaten during one sitting is 5 oz.

• Tristan does not like to be changed (clothes or diaper), but when he's not being changed, he loves his changing table. (Go figure!). In fact, one time, he fell asleep while waiting for me to change his diaper.

• And, last but not least, Tristan is binky handicapped. Ella was power sucking on her binky straight out of the womb. I have pictures of her at the hospital, perfectly content with that oversized binky in her mouth. Tristan, on the other hand, can't seem to suck it right. It goes in and then nearly all the way out, and then he quickly sucks it back in. It's actually really funny to watch. If we hold it in his mouth, the sucking soothes him and it helps him fall asleep, but if we don't hold him, it torpedoes out of his mouth. No joke! :)