Graham is one month old!

In some ways this has been the longest month I can remember, and in others it has seemed to fly by.  Graham is officially one month old today!  I feel like we are still getting to know our little guy, like he's still coming out of his shell. 

 He does have some definite likes and dislikes already.  Like his sister was at this age, he demands to be held all the time.  But unlike his sister, I cannot easily fulfill this need anymore.  Thankfully I had bought a baby wrap before he was born because I knew I would need to be hands-free to play with Piper.  Little did I know I'd be wearing Graham in it for hours and hours a day.  The good thing is that he loves being in it.  It's about the only thing that will calm him, and he goes to sleep almost instantly when I put him in.

 Speaking of sleep, like his sister, he doesn't like to sleep during the day unless he's being held (thus the wrap).  He won't even stand the swing!  I'm definitely getting my workout lugging around an extra 8+ pounds all day long.  He goes down well at night, though, so I can't complain too much.  Right now, he's pretty much out for the night at 9 or 10.  He gets back up to nurse around 1 and 4.  I rarely have to do more than swaddle him at the end of a nighttime feeding and lay him back in his crib.

 All through my pregnancy, I had prayed that Graham would be a better nurser than Piper.  He definitely was, even from the very beginning when he was tongue tied.  The best thing is that he is very quick--usually finishing a feeding within 20 minutes.  Piper would routinely take an hour or more at this age!  During the day Graham will go between 2 and 3 hours between feedings (usually closer to 2 hours).  At night he gives me at least three hours, sometimes blessing me with a four-hour stretch.  To say I'm eager for feedings to stretch out is an understatement :-).

 Although he hasn't presented with blood in his stool, I have a strong inkling that Graham has the same dairy sensitivity that Piper had as a tiny infant.  He has times of extreme fussiness accompanied by lots of leg kicking and drawing his knees to his chest.  This fussiness always starts while he is nursing and lasts until we can get him to fall asleep.  As of the beginning of this week, I have eliminated dairy from my diet (once again).  I have seen some improvement in Graham's complextion already (which is where Piper's improvements began), but I'm still waiting on the fusiness to subside.  He is clearly in pain.

 Those of you who knew Piper as a bitty baby would not be able to forget her spit up problem.  Graham has days where he rivals her, but most of the time (fingers crossed!) he only spits up normal amounts.

 I love to watch Graham and Piper together.  She loves to talk to him and about him, and he follows her with his eyes whenever she's near.  I know these interactions will only get deeper.

 Life has definitely changed by having two kids.  Josh has jumped into his newly-expanded role of fatherhood by taking Piper over when he gets home from work.  I could not ask for a better partner.

 Are we adjusting? Sure.  Are we thriving with two kids under two? Not quite yet.  But we'll get there.

These photos were taken when Graham was four days old by a photographer friend.  Aren't they fabulous?

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