I love that we got to do this with Norah, and am so excited to do it again with Emma. So here goes, here's Emma's first year as we go along-- month by month!
Weight: 10 lbs, 15 oz! (Sadly, the reason we know that is because she experienced the first bout of sharing with her big sister-- a nasty cold! I took her to the doctor's last week. They were happy to say gaining weight is not her problem. Congestion, however, is.)
Sleep: I am going to try not to jinx it... but the first month has been surprisingly not warping-- either that, or since this is our second round with this, the newborn thing isn't as scary. (We are getting pretty good at operating at 3-6 hours of sleep... the times I can really tell is when someone asks me to do math or remember something... ha!) As soon as she came home from the hospital, she slept through the night for five hours. I was currently getting 5-6 hours of sleep with my work schedule... so this was normal. Plus I got extra sleep after she ate/was changed. To the point tat after these few days, I had to set an alarm every three hours to wake up and pump, just so my milk supply would stay up. This settled in after about a week, when she started waking up every two to three hours; that's kind of where we're at these days. Go to bed around 12-1, then up at 3-4, then up when the troops wake up around 7:30. It could certainly be worse! (Also, it should be noted-- sickness makes this all more crazy. These past few days has been dotted with Norah waking up five times a night with horrible coughing fits, and needing cuddles... and Emma having such bad congestion she wakes up choking and we have to lay upright on the couch all night... aaaah, memories!)
Social: It's pretty half and half, between being solidly asleep, and gazing right in to your eyes with her big, beautiful stare. She's very laid back at this point, and is pretty cool interacting (and getting massively snuggled by) sister, as well as most things. She hardly cries (unless she's in her car seat), and doesn't mind being held-- as long as you're good at 'baby juggling' (what? up on the shoulder? No? On your side? No? Bouncing? No? Swing? Okay, looks like the swing works.)
Diet: Breastmilk! Never had to use a shield, and so far she hasn't had any thrush or complications-- so she's been nursing (and putting on weight) like a champ. Feeling very lucky it's been going so well from the start. (That's not to say that breastfeeding doesn't have a learning curve... even if you've done it before. I spent the first few days with bloody nips, well, because she's never done it before!)
Clothes: Just grew out of her pair of newborn clothes, and is now happily fitting in three month clothes. Cloth diaper bum does add a bit of bulk, but even in disposables there's no denying she's no longer a squishy newborn (which makes me sadder than I'd like to admit... we are slowly moving away from having newborns! Sigh...)
Likes: Eating, her sister, high pitched noises you make with blowing air our of your lips, snuggles, and looking in to your eyes.
Dislikes: Being in her Solly Wrap when she's awake, and sitting in her car seat. Either of these things at the moment will make our 'hardly cries' newborn shriek like we're pulling her toes out. Poor gal... transportation isn't her game.
Milestones: Smiles! They had been happening purposefully and adorably pretty early on (not just gas it appeared), but now we're able to coax them out of her. Norah has taken this as a personal challenge. I'm so loving see their relationship grow... it's pretty heart warming. Soon the laughs will come, and I think Norah will really understand her job with living with a newborn!
