Gracia's One Month Old

Vashti-Gracia is one month old today. Say it isn't so! How can this be?!? Why is time flying so fast when she is out the womb and it seemed like it was crawling when she was in the womb. It is amazing how much she has grown in just a few days. 

Happy One Month Baby Girl!

How Big Am I?

Weight/Height/Head: 

When Vashti-Gracia was born, she weighed 6 lbs. 11oz. She was 19 inches long and her head circumference was 13 inches. 

At her last Doctor's appointment two weeks ago, she was 6 lbs. 10 oz., 20 1/2 inches long and a 14 inch circumference around her head.

At One Month and 4 days old, she is 7lbs 8oz., 21 inches and 14 1/2 inch circumference around her head.  She is presently in the 4th percentile for her weight, 50th percentile for height and 70th percentile for her head circumference. Although the percentile for her weight is low, her doctor is not worried just yet because she is still gaining. We will know at her 2 month visit if we will need to adjust her feedings.

Clothes: 

So interestingly enough, Gracia can only fit in Carter's brand Newborn sized clothing. I tried to put my baby in Target brand and other brand Newborn sized clothes and she could not fit them. They were humongous on her. I love putting her in little sleeper onesies while we are in the house. She has a pretty good stash for now. I have to stop myself now from buying anymore newborn sized clothes because she will not be in the much longer. Hate to admit it but packing away her newborn sizes are going to make me cry.

2 days old

6 days old

What's My Routine?

Routine: 

We usually split duties depending on "exhaustion" level. Amos does a lot of the middle of the night diaper changes and most explosion diapers since they typically cause me to want to throw up. There's not much of a routine established yet since I am still on maternity leave but we will have to figure out one soon since I have to go back to work in two weeks.

Eating: 

Gracia eats 2oz of Similac Advanced per feed or will breast feed for at least an hour. She gets about 4-6 bottles a day plus two breastfeeding sessions. One as soon as she wakes up in the morning (at a reasonable hour) and one in the middle of the day.

2 days old

Sleeping: 

3 days old

Gracia is still at the stage where she eats then sleeps immediately. She wakes up for the day around 6:45am and will eat then go back to sleep until around 9 - 10am. She's eat again and then usually will stay up until around 12-1pm where she will nap until about 3-4pm. She will awake again, ready to eat and then she will usually stay awake until about 6pm. She will take a few cat naps but then usually goes to sleep from 8pm-11pm where she will get her last bottle of the day and sleep until 2:45am or may sleep as late as 4am. She typically sleeps in a Boppy Lounger but because she is growing in length the days of her fitting in the Boppy Lounger are numbered. She takes a few naps in her swing as well but she has to be completely exhausted to want to sleep in her swing.  

5 days old

1 week old

What Milestones Have I Hit?

At her last appointment, the doctor was concerned that her right hip was a little loose and cautioned us that it could lead to it being easily displaced later on if we didn't fix it at this age. She said she would wait until her appointment today to decide whether or not she wants to send us to get a sonogram on her hip.  Updated: At her one month wellness check, her hip still had a click and so her doctor decided it was best to send her for an ultrasound on her hips at Children's hospital. So we are praying that it is not anything major.   We thank God for the things that she does not have- she is alert, she is growing and she has no heart murmurs. And we praise God in advance that this isn't anything major that will hinder her in the future. After all, I also had braces on my legs for correction as a baby. 

Milestones:

We have always heard since Gracia was born that she was strong. She was born with a strong grip and being able to lift her head.  She can recognize reflection in a mirror and her eyes can follow my finger. 

We introduced Tummy Time rather early and although she hasn't gotten the concept that its for her to use her arms to lift her upper body and her head, she uses her legs to literally propel her forward to where she wants to go. She literally crawls without using her arms and can also turn herself over if she is determined enough to.

Words: 

Well clearly she has not developed actual language just yet, but I promise in the best cooing voice she swears she can say things to us. If we ask her questions, she responds with sounds. We never planned to use "baby talk" like 'goo goo' 'gaa gaa' in order to encourage language early. We of course say things in a pleasant exciting way if we are talking to her. Also we speak two languages in our home in order to have her learn Creole and English simultaneously. So when speaking to her we have introduced both languages in trying to get her to sleep or take her binky when crying or when changing her diaper utilizing basic words and phrases. 

Events: 

Gracie's First Doctor's Appointment

1 week old

Gracia's First Christmas

15 days old

Gracia's First Outing - Evangel Staff Christmas Party

1 week old

1 week old

Gracie watches First Football Game with Daddy

Gracie's First Trip to the Mall - Christmas Eve Shopping

2 weeks old

Gracie's First Photo Shoot - Newborn/Family Photoshoot

13 days old

Gracie's First New Years Eve - Watch Night Service at Evangel Cathedral

3 weeks old

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things!

Baby Gear/ Toys: 

The Boppy Lounger - she has one for upstairs and one for downstairs

Britax B-Safe Carseat with a J.J. Cole BundleMe - 

One thing to note is that its not safe to have a winter coat on a newborn (not to mention, they don't even make winter coats that small) in the carseat because it doesn't allow for the carseat to be buckled  completely, so the BundleMe has been the best thing and it was really easy to add to her carseat to keep her warm.

From Birth, Gracie has loved the Avent Brand Soothie. She was a Thumb Sucker at birth and we decided that we would rather want to have a ceremony to get rid of the soothie than to have to fight that struggle of getting her to not suck her thumb like both of her aunts struggle with. Neither Amos nor I were thumb suckers. She now guards her Soothies with her life! She has literally held the thing in place since birth.

The 4Moms Mamaroo - 

I read several reviews about how this particular swing either your child loves it or hates it. I waited to make this purchase because of the cost and fear that she would not love it, but thankfully we had great gifts for her Baby Shower and Christmas that it was no cost to us. Once I put it together (which getting that seat zipped on literally was a struggle and a half because the instructions were so basic) I introduced it to her a few minutes at a time, each time she is in it, she stays in a little longer and if its close to her nap time she will have no issue with laying in it to be rocked to sleep. It frees my hands and since she is strapped in, I don't have to stay so close for fear of rolling off like I do when she is in her Boppy. 

Paparazzi Got Me!

My Favorite Pics from this Month:

We got a 3D sonogram around 24 weeks - a present for my Birthday. It was amazing being able to see her while she was in the womb, but it was even more amazing to see how much she really did look like her 3D picture.

Once the swelling went down the next day, we started guessing who she was starting to look like - clearly she loves her hands in her face.

Oo-oop my Future Soror :)

We have to protect the baby's hearing because being in a home where there is a studio and a professional musician, not to mention we both go to Mega churches with super loud sound systems AND we go to concerts often when my husband is either hosting or performing, we had to make sure that we are not going to have her go deaf at an early age.

What a month it has been Baby Girl, I can not wait to see how much you learn and grow. 

1 Month Old - taken Jan. 10, 2014