Yesterday Jude was officially one month old. Even though the time has gone fast, it also feels like we have been parents forever. We both long for a full night's sleep, but realize that it may be a while before we achieve that. Jude is already going through so many changes - we can tell he is more mature than he was just a week ago. He has more awareness of his limbs and is starting to reach for things now, he is much more alert - he can follow you with his eyes.
In the last month I have learned a great deal about babies - things I never knew before. So today's post is going to be recalling some of the things I have learned since he was born:
1. Change a diaper - yes I had managed to live over 40 years and never change one. While I am no expert yet (and we have some pee soaked clothing to prove it), I am getting the hang of it.
2. Pooping - I had no ideas that babies, even newborns can strain so much when they poop. I thought because they are on a liquid diet and the poop is really runny it would come out easily. Not so. Many times Jude goes red in the face and grunts and groans while he is pooping.
3. Feeding - takes much longer than I expected. We are breast feeding and supplementing with formula, and this whole process can easily take an hour. Add in changing a diaper and burping him this time can easily stretch to an hour and a half.
4. Baby dreams - as I am sitting here watching Jude sleep next to me, it is curious to see the different facial expressions. He even sometimes cries out in his dreams. He is having vivid dreams similar to the we do as adults.
5. Teamwork - I don't know how single parents do it because it feels like having a new baby is a huge amount of work for two people. This evening is a perfect example. Marcy made this delicious prime rib dinner. But when it came time to eat we had a screaming baby on our hands. So we each took time to soothe him while the other person ate. This happens a lot - it is a real team effort .
6. Time - sometimes on weekends I wonder where the day goes. Before we were parents we were able to plan our day and pretty much do what we wanted. When you are dealing with a fussy baby, or even just a baby who is awake, and suddenly three hours have gone past. Of course, our own leisure time has been reduced drastically, we are happy if we can get one leisure activity in each day.
7. Joy - when he is awake and staring into your eyes there is tremendous joy for me. He is just a lot of fun to hang out with even at such a young age.
8. The Focus on Mom's - it is interesting to me how almost all of the parenting magazines and web site are focused on women. They don't even try and pretend that men read these magazines. I am very interested in parenting, but to my knowledge there is not one parenting magazine targeted at men. Looks like a huge opportunity for an enterprising publisher.
9. Sleep - learning ways to get your baby to sleep is crucial both for the baby and the parents. There are plenty of theories here, but we believe in doing what our baby considers most comfortable. During the day Jude likes to sleep in the car seat. We have a cozy sheepskin liner because it is winter and he seems to find it very comfortable. At night, he sleeps with us in bed. We have tried putting him in his bassinet next to the bed, but he doesn't last half an hour before starting to cry. When he is in bed with us most nights he sleeps soundly for hours at a time. We have a king size bed so there is plenty of room.
10. Colic - in my previous post I talked about colic. It is bane of many parents' existence, because a colicky baby is a very unhappy baby. We are continually trying to find ways to soothe Jude, he have a few that I mentioned below, but this will be something we will continue to focus on.
It is late on Christmas Eve, and Marcy has already gone to bed. Jude is asleep so I have some time for myself. This is a special Christmas for me. My first as a dad, and my first in Denver with Marcy. We have always traveled to Sydney or Des Moines for Christmas. And with the huge snowstorm this past week, it will most definitely be a white Christmas.
Here is a video we shot of Jude yesterday - it was his one month birthday. Enjoy.
