1 Month Old Already!!?!?

I can't believe Eli has been in our family for a month now! Where did January go? Every one always tells me to enjoy my time with Eli now because it flies by... that seems like a huge understatement now! Cody and I are enjoying every minute (well almost every minute... those middle of the night feedings aren't extremely enjoyable:) we have with Eli.

I've been following a great blog called Chronicles of a Babywise Mom and she has a format to summarize each week of infancy. So I'm going to steal the format for my blog:) I'm not so optimistic as to think that I will be able to blog each week, but my hope is to do it at least once a month. So here we go!

EATING

Eli is a great little eater! In the beginning it took an hour to feed him. Praise the Lord that we have it down to about 30-40 minutes now including burping:) Hooray! I'm in awe of mothers who can use nursing covers. I'm still trying to master this technique and not expose myself to others:)

GAS

Since Eli was born he's had some gas issues. For the first couple of weeks we didn't do anything other than to pump/bicyle his legs to help him get the gas out. However he was also spitting up ALOT. So much that I was wondering if he was ever getting anything in his tiny little belly because it all seemed to come back up. Thankfully, he is gaining weight and soiling plenty of diapers so we know he's OK, but we still called our family doctor to see if there is anything else we could do. Our doctor suggested Mylecon drops, but after seeing no improvement, he prescribed Zantac for Eli. So now Eli gets 1 ml of Zantac before his morning and evening feeding. He's still spitting up, but the quantity of what he spits up is significantly less! We also have his crib mattress inclined a little bit so he's not flat on his back after he eats.

BURPING

This was a struggle for us for the first 4 weeks. I was extremely frustrated during the late night feedings because I couldn't get him to burp. This would result in an excessive amount of spit up and an upset little baby! However, Cody and I discovered that if we put Eli up on our shoulder in the middle of his feedings, and don't pat his back, his burps come up on their own! That has really sped up our feeding time!

NAPS

We've really been working on/praying for Eli's daily naps. There would be days where he would cry for almost an hour fighting sleep, but now he only cries for about 5-10 minutes before he's out. He's also now sleeping pretty soundly between feedings. He used to wake up several times within his 1 1/2 hour naps.

WAKETIME

Eli has waketime down to a science! He's a pro! He usually eats for about 30-40 minutes and then stays awake for at least 45 minutes after he's done. He is so alert during this time. He is getting better and better at tracking with his eyes, and we're waiting any day now for a smile. I think I got one out of him today, but I'm still not sure if it was gas:)

NIGHTTIME

Eli isn't sleeping through the night yet, but only wakes for 2 feedings throughout the night so I can't complain:)

MILESTONES
So much has happened in this first month! Eli has had his first bath, first trip to the grocery store, first time out of the state (we visited Seth, Becky, and Hannah in Michigan), first everything really:)

Currently Eli ejoys baths and car rides!

Eli also got his first pictures taken last week when he was 1 month old. We went to Sears and our photographer, Monica, did an amazing job. We spent about 1 1/2 - 2 hours in the studio and Eli only melted down once when she was trying to get a shot of him on his belly. Here's a link to Eli's pictures. For those of you without facebook, here's a link to Eli's journey into this world:)

OUR SCHEDULE

8:00am - eat

9:15am - nap

11:00am - eat

12:15pm - nap

2:00pm - eat

3:15pm - nap

5:00pm -eat

6:15pm - nap

7:30pm - eat
8:45pm -nap

10:00pm -eat

2:00am - eat

5:00 am- eat

Last belly picture

Eli's ready to go home...

Eli's first bath

My favorite pic from Eli's 1 mo. pics