1 Month

I can’t believe it has already been a month since Ellison Gray was born. Time goes fast and I know it will go faster from now on. Anyway, an overview:

Big Moments

-Rolling over from tummy to back
-Holding his head up
-Recognizing Mommy and Daddy
-Supporting his weight on his legs
-Figuring out how to get attention by screaming. He’s way too good at that.
-Learning a few phrases and what they mean. Example: When I am feeding him sometimes he goes to sleep but now when I say “Wake up” he knows it means to open his eyes and continue nursing. It took very little time for him to learn that.
-Has picked up his pacifier with his mouth when it fell out and landed next to his head. Has also pushed it back into his mouth with his hand and wrist when it fell out.
-Can escape any swaddle in record time. Also knows how to take off his hat and socks.

Likes

-Eating!
-Being held
-Music, especially Louis Armstrong (I have to get a video of this.)
-Looking at stuff
-Baths
-Bouncing
-Kicking

Dislikes

-Being chilly
-Being put down
-Sleeping, he fights sleep a lot now
-Wearing clothes or having his diaper changed, though he tolerates it better these days

Misc

-When he was born he would turn bright red and his lower lip would tremble when he cried. It was the cutest thing ever. He sometimes still turns red or purple, but his lip doesn’t really tremble any more.
-We went for his 1 month check-up yesterday and he weighed in at 8 lbs and 3 oz. He was 21 inches long.
-We’ve taken him on a couple car trips to Crossville to see my family. He’s great at traveling. He falls asleep as long as the car is moving at a steady pace. Start and stop traffic bothers him.
-He’s super close to smiling and giggling on purpose. He’s also very close to rolling over from back to front.
-He can easily sleep through loud noises. The fire alarm was being tested for an hour and a half this morning and he didn’t pay any attention to it. He also sleeps through dogs barking near him. But he’s always been a sound sleeper, even in utero. He’d sleep through the technicians pounding on my belly to get him to move positions.
-He loves his hands and always has.
-He’s learning to use his voice. He likes to make different sounds now instead of just chirping.
-He is having a growth spurt and wants to eat all the time. We mostly breastfeed, but also supplement with formula. Breastfeeding is unpleasant, to say the least.
-Changing diapers isn’t that bad, especially if you’ve worked with animals as much as I have. I get tired of being thrown up on, though. And he’s only managed to pee on my hand, so I feel like I’m doing good in that arena.
-When I don’t pull my hair back, he grabs two fistfuls on either side of my face and hangs on until physically removed. I think he might like to fall asleep in my hair when it is down like that.
-I started swinging him around the room when he gets fussy and it calms him down. Either he likes it or he’s really confused about what I’m doing.

And that is Mr. Monk-Bell at 1 month. There is probably a ton of stuff I’m forgetting, but I did my best to get a good synopsis. I look forward to seeing what he manages to accomplish in his second month.