September 19, 2016
Happy one month of life, Harper Lorraine. For your monthly photo, I decided to make a number out of flowers to lay beside you. I chose to do the flower of the month instead of just any old flower. The September flower is the Aster flower, which conveys deep emotional love and affection.
This past month has brought us little sleep and little contact with the outside world (other than wonderful visits from family and friends who have brought several gifts for you, food for us, and many adult conversations). Even though I have overthought every moment of your life, I'm hoping like many other first-time moms have done as well, I have never loved you more. We are slowly figuring out life as a family of three (4 if you count your furry sister, Addie), but we are establishing a routine and learning your many needs and how to care for you to the best of our abilities. Being a parent is not for the faint of heart, but your dad and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Milestones: You quickly blew past your birth weight thanks to a little growth spurt that happened around week 2-3 that caused you to almost eat non-stop for a few days straight. You have been trying and have had success in holding up your head since week 1, which has made us super proud! You tend to eat every 2-3 hours and take a couple naps during the day, but you have been a little up and down with sleeping and eating at night. I have been a little back and forth with putting you on an eating/sleeping schedule since some days it seems to work but other days you are not liking it at all. Your cord fell off on September 1st, the morning of your two week check up and everything looked great. You and I had our first official outing when we ventured out to Publix. You were wrapped up tightly in my Solly Wrap.
Likes: You LOVE to be held on our chests, which usually helps calm you down. Baths are a favorite of yours but only when the water is running. You haven't noticed yet, but your furry sister follows you every where. It doesn't matter how many times we go up or down the stairs, she will be there waiting for your next move or cry. You love tummy time as you look around the house. Your neck is surprisingly strong, but the best part is seeing your BIG blue eyes look around as you love to look at us and the ceiling fan the most. When you eat, you love to have your tiny little hands by your face and ears as you calmly fall asleep. And just recently, I bought the Solly Baby Wrap, which is a lifesaver for me when I am home alone, going out to run a quick errand with you in tow, but you love how close you are to me, which makes you rest peacefully.
Dislikes: You very much dislike the hours from 5 p.m to 9 p.m., which I am sure are your witching hours. You VERY much dislike when your paci falls out and cannot reach it or when you are hungry and you act like you are clearly starving to death. You dislike naps in your crib during the day so I have allowed you to sleep on me instead or in your newborn section of the pack n' play, but I don't mind your tiny little cuddles as I know they will not last too much longer. You don't like being moved from your crib to the changing table in the middle of the night, but I love how you stretch your arms over your head and arch your back so much that you are super stiff, but then you provided me with the cutest duck face once I place you down!
Fun Stuff & Firsts: We have had a month filled with the start of football season, your newborn portrait session, and several walks with the entire family. You have met several people who love you dearly: Cole and Ashley Sessions; Adam, Brook, and Duke Rozen; and my girlfriends and their children from work (Courtney and Blake Baker, Marisa and Cooper Barth, Iris Koehneman, and Mary Nicolson who revealed to us that day she is expecting a baby boy in March of 2017).
Harper Lorraine Bentley, I hope your first month of life was as special to you as it was to us. We couldn't be happier that you are a happy, healthy, and thriving little girl. We pray that each month continues to bless us all and that God keeps you safe. We are so excited to see what the next month brings us!!!
Daily Schedule:
Our day was very much survival mode at this point. I woke you every morning around 7:00am or at least would try not to nurse you until 7:00 am to keep somewhat of a schedule. Even though you didn't really play at this point in your life, I would try to follow MOC's schedule of eat, play, sleep. You would normally be up from 7:00-8:30am as the mornings were nice enough outside for us to watch the sunrise on the patio. Then you would fall asleep on me. The rest of the day would be eat for 30-40 mins, play for 30 mins and then sleep for 2-3 hours. This schedule does not include the days/ nights were I would be feeding you on demand every two hours, which eventually stopped after the 2 week pediatrician check up and were gaining the right amount of weight. She suggested 3 hours between feeds. Our night schedules always stayed the same from the very beginning: calm down, bath, nurse, white noise on/ asleep by 9:00pm. You would normally wake 1-2 time before the next morning.
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