Life is Wonderful: Josie is 1 Month Old

Since February only has 28 days, we have to count today as Josie's 1 month birthday (at least that is what the app on my phone is counting as her 1 month birthday). It is hard to believe that Josie has been with us for a month. It honestly seems as if I was just at the hospital having her. She has weaved her way into our family so seamlessly that it is as if no time has passed at all.

It is crazy to me how much Josie has changed in a month's time. She has gone from sleeping most of the day to having some lengthy awake periods. I love seeing her with her eyes open (even though sometimes I am so tired that I wish they would close so we both could sleep). She is controlling her head so much more. I can still remember her in the hospital trying to hold her head up, lasting only for a second before it would drop back down. Now she can control it for about 5-8 seconds, moving it side to side. That movement is still jerky at times (she's knocked into my face so many times when she is on my shoulder looking around), but it is getting better. Her looks have seemed to change, too. I think she looks a lot different than she did when she was in the hospital. Josie is still in newborn sized clothes and diapers, but not for long. She is growing like a weed! We weighed Josie the other day on our scale. It said that she was 8 pounds already! I'm not sure how accurate the scale is, so I can't wait until her well check later on this week. I am just so proud of how well she has been eating and growing! (If you've ever had a child with a growth/eating problem then you know what a huge deal this is.)

Josie still gets up every 2 1/2-3 hours to eat. There are some nights where she might sleep for 4 hours, but nothing beyond that. Josie sleeps all over the place except for her crib. She just doesn't like it in the crib yet. She sleeps in her swing, on her Boppy lounger (which has a big warning on the tag that says it is not for sleep), in her Rock 'n Play sleeper, in our arms, but not in an actual bed. I am actually okay with this though because I want her sleeping elevated a little while she sleeps. Since she spits up so much, I am nervous that she will do it while sleeping. I know I could prop her crib mattress up, but I doubt that would make her like the crib any more.

One of the only times she slept in her pack n play was when we let her sleep on her stomach. I was constantly going over to check to make sure she was breathing.

I was able to see Josie smile while awake about a week ago. I was holding her and talking to her when she broke out into the sweetest little smile. It melted my heart right away! She kept it up for about 10 seconds, too, which made my day. I can't wait until she smiles all of the time!

I took my first car ride with both Sophie and Josie. I had some errands that I needed to run, so Sophie was off to her baby sitter's house to play with all of her friends and Josie was coming along with me. It took us an hour and a half to get ready and out of the house! Who knew that feeding (bottles) both girls, getting them dressed (and then changing Josie's clothes due to spit up), getting me dressed, packing diaper bags and loading us all into the car would take so long. Josie did great in the car and at each place we had to go to. (When we went to my doctor's office to pick up paper work we ran into the nurse who did all of my NSTs. It was nice being able to show off the sweet little baby who always was on her best behavior during my NSTs.) When we went to pick up Sophie, Josie was able to meet Janice for the first time. She snuggled right into her arms and slept peacefully. I am so glad that she likes her future baby sitter!

This past month has been so wonderful. Exhausting, but wonderful. Josie is such a little blessing. I already can't imagine my life without her. She has brought such joy to our family. I can't wait to see what next month has in store for my sweet little girl.