One Month

One Month, originally uploaded by reidpierce.

Her newborn wrinkles and b'acne are fading, soon to be remembered only by photos. Since her sole job in life, at this point, is to grow, I don't have much else to report. According to yesterday's doctor's appointment, Arden's plumping up - now weighing 9 lbs, 11 oz - she's put on more than two pounds in a month (My breasts, apparently, produce pure cream - no skim milk here.) That puts her in the 75th percentile for weight, but she's only in the 10th percentile for height. (She's only grown an eighth-of-an-inch - is that possible?) So, if her stats are right, I'm raising a beachball - soon to be as wide as she is long.

Everybody always wants to know how she's sleeping. I'm doing all the things you aren't supposed to do: letting her sleep on her tummy, letting her sleep in bed with us, letting her sleep in her swing half the night - and it's working out great. She pretty much sleeps all day still and wakes up two or three times at night (between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.) So, I'd say we're sleeping pretty well, given the possibilities.

Really, I don't know what to do with her when she's awake. I feed her, burp her, change her, and stare at her for a few minutes and then I start to panic. If I don't DO something, she's going to start crying. So I spend the rest of her waking minutes trying to put her back to sleep. I'm not a huge newborn fan. I mean, its really sweet when they cuddle up and sleep on your chest, but that's about their only redeeming quality. They really don't look cute in clothes yet. They all have that same scrunchie look. And they don't DO anything. Thank God for the Baby Bjorn. When all else fails, I can just carry her around with me. (I would also like to take this moment to thank God for my hands free bluetooth cell phone device that Scott gave me for Christmas, which allows me to do all sorts of unheard of things while talking on the phone - like change a diaper, breast feed and pump.)