the valentine nest: Arlo at 1 month

The first month has flown by with the hustle & bustle of caring for our little bunch! Arlo has been showered with much affection both wanted & unwanted though as far as we can tell, he is loving life. It is not hard to gather that those who reside at the Nest are enjoying our newest addition.

1 Month Stats

9 pounds 9 ounces

21 1/2 inches long

What a joy this little guy is with his tongue constantly poking out of his mouth, the beginnings of sweet little baby sounds when we talk to him & the loving toleration of all the attention from four older siblings. He makes us laugh when someone zooms in much closer to his face than the person who was previously there. His eyes are huge & locked in place like he is thinking "where did you come from & please don't approach me that quickly again!" He is mostly content which is a wonderful way of life for a 5th child. We have caught a few smiles when we are talking to him or tickling his double chin....can't wait to start seeing those all the time!

He like his sister Eloise has a high palette which made for a fairly painful first two weeks of nursing. Thankfully the pain has resided & he has become an efficient little eater. He is nursing about every 3 hours but has surprised us with a 4-5 hour stretch overnight a handful of times. Such hope! I had the pleasure of spending a few hours alone one afternoon & he was happy as he could be sucking down a bottle with a few ounces of milk. Woohoo! I have been lazy on stocking up any sort of milk supply in the freezer since I am not going back to work this time around....like there is probably 6 ounces in there : ) I need to get on the ball though so we can be free for a date night, a moment of freedom or extra long nap here & there.

Like eating, Arlo has fallen into a good routine of sleeping as well. He wakes up, eats, lasts about 30 minutes past eating then gets fussy till swaddled again. He is happiest being held to fall asleep & often passes out unnoticed in the crook of my arm while I am chasing the twins around the house. The swing runs a close second to being held & being laid in his cradle to fall asleep is the worst thing he has experienced thus far in life. He has proven he is capable of screaming himself to sleep on two occasions.....like the time I was panicked & on the phone with Poison Control when Owen was found taking a swig out of a bottle of Ibuprofen. Thankfully he was fine & although I felt bad for my sweet little newborn, it was a good test ; ) Once he is asleep he makes it till around the 2.5 - 3 hour mark from his last feeding. We borrowed a Rock n' Play from a friend & he is a pretty good fan of being snuggled in there....who wouldn't be? My goal this week is to work on getting him to sleep on a flat surface again. Overnight for the most part he falls back asleep easily & on his own after nursing but probably two nights a week he & I are awake with cat naps between the hours of 2-7am. Those are painful but I just write it off as increasing his meal order for the next night. We have never had a baby during chilly weather (that is only getting chillier) & it is sooooo hard to get out from under all the cozy covers! I'm tired but I love snuggling him at night without beating everyone else back with a stick ; ) He is a big fan of being strapped on me & we do that often as well. We just keep reminding ourselves that eventually they sleep all night.....eventually ; )

Pure sweetness....