Carter: One Month Old

Carter is one month old! Actually, he was yesterday, but he has not yet allowed me to write a blog about it. Hopefully I will also get a picture in the next day or so, so check back for that!

Up until today, Carter has mostly slept through his days. He's been pretty easy to handle on my own while Brian is at work, because he eats, and sleeps. Occasionally he'd stay awake for a 1/2 hour or so after eating, but then promptly fall asleep again. Today, however, he's on a sleep strike. Unfortunately, he's also proven to be very cranky today. Nothing I do, and I've tried several things, seems to make him happy for more than 30 seconds. Needless to say, it's been a very trying day. Again, thank God for Brian. I don't have any specific stats to tell you at this point, but here are a few "facts" about Carter.

• He mostly sleeps all day, but hates bedtime. This kid is super hard to get down to sleep. At 10 or 11pm, he wakes up. I'm talking WIDE AWAKE and doesn't settle down again until midnight or later. He alternates between miserable and perfectly happy during this time. I think it's his "witching hour."
• Luckily, once he's down, he's good. Last night he slept for nearly 6 hours. Usually I wake him up after 4 or 4 1/2 hours to eat, but I forgot to set my timer last night. No complaints here!
• I swear this boy smiles already. I know that it's probably just gas, but there are a number of things he seems to respond to with a smile. They're mostly physical (cheek tickling, for example), so I'm sure it's a reflex. But who cares, it's so freakin' cute.
• He also HATES having his diaper changed. Of the 8-10 we probably change during the day, I'd say maybe twice does he not cry the entire time. I'm over that particular cry at this point, but it makes it pretty difficult.
• Carter was born with a full head of hair, and so far, he's lost none of it. I'm told he still may, but so far he's holding on tight to it.
• He's a very gassy boy! Unlike his daddy though, Carter doesn't find this funny at all. In fact, he finds it downright miserable. We've started giving him Mylicon drops after his last two feedings at night. There is a lot of debate as to whether or not Mylicon does anything, and Brian and I are not fans of medicating our child at all... but at this point it's worth a shot. Nothing is more heart-wrenching than watching his little face scrunch up in pain and listening to him scream when I'm helpless to do anything. It seems to be worse at night, too, when we're both tired and ready for bed. It's rough.
• His neck is super strong. I can't even burp him in the "Sitting up" posture, he just yanks his head away and sits up by himself. I'm currently watching him lay on brian's leg on his belly for some tummy time, and his little head is almost vertical, just looking around.