This past week our Olivia turned one month old!
I won’t take her to the doctor for her one-month check-up until next week, so I won’t have an updated weight and length until the next update. She was 6 pounds 11 ounces and 20.25 inches long when she was born. Her weight had dropped to about six pounds even at her one-week check-up. I’m confident she’s gained it back now and am curious to see updated numbers with percentiles.
Olivia is the biggest snuggler. There is no limit to how much time this girl wants to be held. Any time you pick her up to burp her after a feeding or go to change her diaper, she settles right in on your arm or shoulder to snuggle. We try to make as much time as can each day for her to sit with me or Jake and snuggle or lay on one of us uninterrupted. I had a lot of lead time to schedule blog posts and work ahead on a few other projects prior to traveling for her adoption. While there are still things to get done around the house, I’m not doing much work for the next couple of months and am enjoying all of the snuggles while she still wants to be this snuggly.
Olivia has the sweetest, serious personality. She’s been pretty clear about what she wants and how she asks for it right from day one. As long as her needs are met, she tends to be pretty relaxed. The first couple of weeks, diaper and clothing changes were rough, as she just didn’t want to be handled at all. I didn’t even like changing her diaper when she was up to feed during the night because it was so upsetting for her. All of that has gotten much better the past couple of weeks. She wasn’t a big fan of her first couple of baths either but has done much better with the most recent two baths.
Olivia is ready to do all the things herself, including holding her bottle and holding her pacifier. She can hold the bottle for a few seconds at a time and can hold the pacifier for even longer, sometimes up to a minute or two. She lifts her head up when she’s on her tummy regularly and is already rocking from side to side. When she’s next to someone on a bed or sofa, she’ll inch her way right over the person if you don’t place her touching someone. I honestly have no idea how she’s able to do that at this age. I don’t imagine she’ll be rolling fully for a few more months, but she wants to so much already.
Olivia tends to be more active in the morning and then sleepier in the afternoon, although it varies depending on what we’re doing any given day. She’s awake for good in the morning around 7:30 or 8:30. She hasn’t settled into a regular nap schedule yet. Sometimes I put her down for an hour or so (more if she’ll do it) in her bassinet, mostly so she can sleep uninterrupted for a longer stretch without Tommy running, jumping, roaring, etc. nearby. It also gives me more focused 1:1 time with Tommy while it’s just the two of us. Tommy still takes a nap for a couple of hours in the late afternoon. I almost always put Olivia down in the bassinet or give her a longer nap stretch elsewhere (i.e., in a bouncy seat) for at least an hour during his nap. These days, I mostly use that time to catch up on dishes, laundry, or picking up the house. Eventually, as I transition back to working on the blog more actively, I’d like to use it for those tasks as well.
Currently, Olivia is wearing almost all newborn clothes with a few 0-3 and 3 month pieces in the mix. She’s a scratcher, so I had to buy a handful of newborn onesies and pajamas with the hand coverings. It’s winter, so I always have her in a onesie and pants or a long-sleeved dress and tights. In true new girl mom form, I’m putting her in as many large bows as she’ll tolerate. Newborn diapers seemed huge at first and are fitting comfortably now. I imagine we’ll be transitioning to size 1 diapers over the next month.
Olivia is a champion eater, regularly eating four ounces every two to three hours. Most of the time I’m able to stretch it to three hours at night. I’m pretty sure Tommy never ate four ounces at a time until he was two months old, so this completely blows my mind. She was almost two inches longer than him when she was born, which we think has contributed somewhat. Olivia is definitely eating more but also just has a completely different eating style. Tommy was much more of a grazer. Olivia is a super messy eater, soaking a bib and a burp cloth with most feedings. She also has epic diapers to match the amount she’s eating. I was prepared for more laundry and regular blowouts, but not at this level ha.
Hands down, the most challenging aspect of this first month has been that Olivia doesn’t like to be put down in her bassinet during the night. I can put her down when she first goes to sleep around 10 p.m., and she does pretty well for the first couple of hours. But once I feed her around 1 or 2 a.m., it’s very rare she’ll let put her back down in the bassinet until 7 or 8 a.m. I also feed her around 4 or 5 a.m. It’s not uncommon that I don’t get much sleep between the two nighttime feedings. I just hope as she’s able to stretch out her feedings, she’ll go longer with that first stretch in the bassinet.
I wrote a new baby FAQ when Tommy was about two months old. I’m planning to write a similar post in the coming weeks, covering things like how Tommy is doing, how the cats are doing, and what has surprised me the most this time around. You can read about my newborn favorites with Tommy. I’m thinking about writing an updated post, talking about which items we’re still loving this time around with Olivia and some new items I love. So stay tuned for those posts this coming month.
As I did with Tommy, I’m planning to write monthly updates for Olivia until she’s two years old. You can find all of her updates as well as my Tommy baby/toddler updates, general family updates, and other family-related posts in the family section of the blog.
