One month old...Beach bum already

Woah! How did we get here so fast? My sweet baby is one month old already. I need to know how to slow time down a bit. Well, one solution is to get as much of this on video as possible so, Justin and I are ordering a really cool HD camera so that we can have baby Charleigh forever...even when she's 16. This week held lots of excitment as Charleigh was about to meet her only Tyner cousin, Jackson. He was so excited to meet her and super cute about the whole thing. He said in his 4 year old voice, "I just can't stop holding her..."

We headed off to the annual family reunion on Grayton Beach. We could only stay one night as we were still getting the hang of the whole newborn thing, and we had a few other things we had to get back for. But, the short time we had, we milked! It was Charleigh's first trip to the beach and I was anxious to see if she was going to be my beach buddy for years to come, or if she would scream and cry and my beach days would be over...she LOVED it! Just slept most of the time (which is totally fine with me) and was quite content when she was awake...SCORE!

This year's beach trip wasn't all fun and games unfortunately. While frolicking in the water, playing a game of catch with his brother...Justin lost his wedding ring! :( We all searched the ocean high and low for a good while but, no luck. (What were we thinking anyway). Sigh...so, seems like I know what Justin is getting for Christmas (I can't have him walking around without a wedding band, all those girls might think he's available... haha)

I feel the need to make a list of things we LOOOOVE so far, things that make our days easier:

#1 - The Sun Dome: Note to beach-loving mothers out there....the Sun Dome is amazing. Great invention. It kept her out of the scorching sun but has vents on the sides to let some of the breeze through, that way she stayed fairly cool. #2 - The Soothie Pacie: My oh my, my little darling LOVES her pacie. But only her Soothie pacie. And actually, only the green one, I tried to get her a pink Soothie (because it would coordinate with most of her outfits) but NO, she spits it right out and cries. Oh, and I discovered the best invention at Storkland...Wubba Nubs. All it is is a Soothie Pacie with a little stuffed animal attached to the end of it. I know it sounds weird but that little animal (ours is a duck) helps weigh down the pacie and keeps it in her mouth better! It's pretty cool. She is so cute when she holds onto duckie's little wings :)

#3 - White Noise Machine: Charleigh loves background noise. I guess it's because for the first few weeks of her life she ALWAYS had a visitor and there were always people chatting in the background. So, a friend of ours gave us a noise maker that I turn on during sleep times and, she loves it, goes right to sleep :) Although, I am looking for a more portable version, ours is quite large. I'm suddenly sorry I made fun of Jill for all those years!

#4 - Her Swing: This kid LOVES to swing. Since she is quite an alert baby, she only naps a couple times a day (which is not a lot for a kid so young) so the only way I get a shower some days is to put her in her swing. She will sit forever (if I'd let her) in that thing just swinging away. She likes to pick one spot on the wall and stare at it as she goes back and forth listening to her classical music. Most babies go to sleep in their swings but not Charleigh, she is too excited to see everything pass her by over and over again...she's so darn cute.

#5 - Gripe Water: So we really like Mylicon but for hard core tummy issues, and hiccups, Gripe Water (by Baby Bliss) is our go-to product. She seems to like how it tastes and it ALWAYS gets rid of her hiccups, which she has a lot of. Plus, there are times I give it to her and I can hear it working in her tummy.

#6 - Humidifier: You have to have one of these for any baby out there. If i hear a little rattle in her breathing, I just turn it on at night and by the next morning she is free and clear :)

#7 - AngelCare Movement Monitor: I think I mentioned this in an earlier post...it's a monitor that detects her breathing. After 20 seconds of no breathing it sends an alarm to me. It really works...100%. I LOVE it. I would not sleep if I didn't have this assurance. I will also include her video monitor in #7...so great!

#8 - Kiddopotamus SwaddleMe Blanket: I've read that just because your baby breaks out of their swaddle right after you do it, doesn't mean they don't like to be swaddled...they're newborns and can't control their arms and legs, they don't know that they are messing up their swaddle. I also read that swaddlig helps with a plethora of things, especially sleep so I was bound and determined to swaddle Charleigh as long as I could. This blanket (from Target) has velcro closure in order to keep the baby from breaking out. I know that some people think that is cruel, so for those of you out there...I'd advise you not to use this blanket. But, for my little darling...she LOVES it! She has slept sooo much better since we've started using it.

Okay, I'll stop the countdown for now but, I am sure we will find new things that we LOVE.

At this point in Charleigh's life, we are still dealing with the problem of no clothes fitting her! Most of her newborn outfits are still too big and lord knows her 0-3 month stuff swallows her whole. Started to worry that she wasn't gaining enough weight because she is a month old and NEWBORN clothes don't fit her! Plus she is in the lower percentile on her weight gain (I track it religiously) so, in my haste, I started feeding that girl until she popped, and the weight gain has definitely picked up!

Another delima...a mullet! I'm glad she has hair and all but it is starting to get longer in the back, and although I have a strong desire to cut it already, my mom advised me that all little girls have to go through that stage before their hair can grow out. So, I guess my daughter's mullet is inevitable :(

I started pumping this week. I don't love the act of pumping but I DO love that Justin can now get in on the feeding game :) And I love that when we are out and about, I have another option of feeding her. Speaking of which, Charleigh got her first bottle this week as well. I was afraid she wouldn't take it, as most moms warn you, but she wasted no time chowing down that sucker. And she hasn't had any confusion when I breastfeed her regularly either. So now, her last feeding every night is a bottle and her daddy gets to feed it to her, unless there is a visitor that wants to help and daddy doesn't mind.

In "not so good" news...I left Charleigh for the first time :( I went to my high school girls' bible study and left he with her daddy and Big mama. She did great and actually, since I was teaching the whole time, I didn't get a chance to really dwell on the fact. But I have never been so ready to get home!

So, I mentioned that she was back to sleeping better again. Well, I have news, this week she slept 6 1/2 hours, then 7 1/2 hrs, then 9 hours straight! Without a feeding. Now, this is not an every night thing yet but, it's progress for sure. Not like it really matters how long she sleeps, if she doesn't wake up to eat, I have to get up and pump regardless so, no rest for the weary :(

And the last cute things she started this week was screaming "ah!" She'll be sitting in her swing and if she is ready to get out, instead of crying, she yells, "ah!" haha. It's really cute. She does it periodically. Sometimes it's a mad "Ah" and sometimes it's happy "Ah".

Summary of one month with baby Charleigh: I am blessed to be her mommy. She is making me paranoid beyond belief. I adore every inch of her body. And The Great I AM Still Is!