Caleb at 1 Month

1 month old

Mike asked me if I was really going to keep up monthly updates on both kids. The answer is yes. Not that I expect that most of you are interested in every little observation and development of my kiddos, but because (believe it or not) I keep up better on our blog than I do on any sort of baby book or journal. So expect to see these monthly posts pop up just about monthly. Read them all if you like, or just skip ahead to the pictures!

It's hard to believe that just a month ago (well 5 weeks now) this little guy was inside me! It feels like he's been with us forever, but at the same time is feels like he was just born yesterday. He has changed so much in just a month. He is awake more (even sometimes without crying) and is starting to really stretch out.

As far as sleep goes, we aren't too bad off, usually. I remember the sleep situation being worse with Eliza, at least. Caleb usually sleeps pretty well during the first part of the night, but has a hard time settling back down after eating. We have learned to burp him well before putting him down, but there always seem to be those elusive burps that will wake him up after ten or fifteen minutes. We have found that he definitely sleeps better when he's swaddled well.

Though he seems to sleep better than Eliza did, he seems to cry a lot more (and more intensely). He escalates very quickly and gets red/purple faced after just seconds. It doesn't really get me worked up or bothered when we're at home, but it can be a little stressful in public, mostly because it makes other people uncomfortable. At first I think it bothered Eliza, but she is used to it now. She still announces "babies crying" every time and still tries to soothe him, but it doesn't make her come unglued.

Although Eliza still gets very jealous when it comes time to nurse Caleb, she shows lots of love the rest of the time. She gives long, slobbery kisses anywhere she pleases. She likes to grab (yank) his hands and kiss them. When he's crying she tries to but a pacifier in his mouth (though it usually doesn't work because she holds onto the wrong end). Eliza asks to hold Caleb quite often. Sometimes he'll stop crying when she's "holding" him and just stare at her. Caleb is a tough little guy to handle the rough love of big sister Eliza so well.

At his one-month check-up, he weighed 10 lbs 9 oz. That's only a little over a pound more than he weighed at birth, which didn't seem like much to me, but it is right on track with Eliza's growth. They both lost around a pound after birth and weren't quite back to their birth weight by two weeks. He was 22 1/8 inches long.

Three weeks after his cord stump fell off, we noticed that Caleb's belly button still wasn't healing. There was a round, red/pink, wet-looking protrusion in the middle of his belly button that would ooze yellow goop onto all of his onesies. After some online research, I identified it as an umbilical granuloma. The doctor agreed and treated it with some silver nitrate, which will hopefully dry the rest of it out and make for a cute looking little navel. We also told the doctor that Caleb almost always has a hard, bloated-looking abdomen, but he didn't seem too worried about it since he is eating fine and gaining weight. I can't help but think that it is related to his fussiness, though.

Now what you've all been waiting for... pictures of the handsome little guy!

2 days old


5 days old

5 days old


1 week old


2 weeks old


2 weeks old


2 weeks old


3 weeks old


3 weeks old


3 weeks old


4 weeks old


4 weeks old


1 month old
Check out that crazy hair!