Today Elliott is 1 month old. I am not surprised at how fast the first month went by considering how fast Laurel’s first month went. I read the post I made when Laurel turned 1 month old and it was pretty similar to how Elliott’s first month has been minus the stress of being a first time mom. I still visit many of the same sites I was visiting then, particularly kellymom.com and babycenter.com, however, I do not spend all day on the sites like I was with Laurel. I certainly feel much more relaxed this time around. Being a mom of two is certainly more challenging than being a mom of one and is something I am adjusting to, but I am learning as I go along. The hardest part is trying to ensure Laurel still gets her one on one time but still be available for Elliott. To keep her routine familiar, she still goes to daycare during the day, so when she comes home I try to coordinate it so that Elliott is napping or at least settled so I can put him down and sit with her while she eats dinner and spend time playing, cuddling, reading, or whatever she is interested in that evening. It seems to be working fairly well, but I think she certainly senses that Elliott is stealing some of her “mommy time”. She does seem to enjoy being a big sister and enjoys “holding” Elliott, so as he gets older and more active, there will be more opportunity to involve Laurel and help her understand how important her big sister role is.
Elliott is doing great. He is growing…fast! He has his 1 month check-up tomorrow, so we’ll get he weight and length, but I tried to weigh him this morning and I think he is 11lbs!! Laurel was only 8lbs, 14 oz at 1 month old. I shouldn’t be surprised considering he wakes up every 2 to 2 1/2 hours around the clock to eat. Its pretty exhausting, but I am realizing that he is still young and trying to enjoy every moment. It’s hard for me to even recall how sleep deprived I felt with Laurel, so I know the time will past quickly and my sleepless nights will be a faint memory.
I think most people think he looks like William, but we stopped by my workplace after my doctor’s appointment yesterday and many of my co-workers felt he looked like me. I will have to get William to post a photo of him as a baby next to Elliott to compare, but I think Elliott has his eyes and nose and maybe other features. It does seem that it will be pretty obvious that Laurel and Elliott are siblings. Though she has some of my features, I still think she looks more like William and looking back at her photos from this age, they look very similar. His personality seems more like William’s, quiet and laid back, but I think I thought the same thing about Laurel and she is certainly not quiet :-). Elliott doesn’t cry much right now, but when he does wake up in the middle of the night for a feeding, he cries very loud as if we are not going to hear him. Fortunately, he settles pretty quickly when we pick him up. If only I could get him to sleep 3+ hours at a time!!
More to come soon. Photos from the past month are below and on William’s Flickr page.
