:: 1 month old ::

Well, it's a little late, since Miss Olivia was 1 month old on the 26/10/2013 but golly! Is it ever hard to get a chance to blog when you have a little newborn refusing day naps...*more on that later*

I personally love reading baby monthly updates on all my favourite blogs, so I hope you will all indulge me with Olivia's! I also love the chance to write everything down and print it out for her Project Life - it takes a little longer to get into there, so this way I have all her milestones written down somewhere to access later.

I can't believe that my little munchkin is already over a month old...people aren't kidding when they say time flies! She's already changed so much...and my, oh my, what a first month we had. Without further ado, Livie's first month!

ONE MONTH
26/09/2013 - 26/10/2013

Weight: 3.86kgs (clothed) 3.78kgs (bare weight)

Clothing Size:0000/Newborn although some are still a little big!

New Milestones/Firsts: First car ride, first doctor appointment with Dr. Khan on 04/10/13, first trip down to the local grocery store, first photoshoot (and first shoot with our wedding photographer! More on that later!), first trip to the Plaza (7 weeks), first real smiles (oh they are so much better than wind smiles!!) and first roll from belly to back (and she's already trying her darndest to roll from back to belly! Stay little for a while baby girl!) She had her first time to a house other than our own - we made a quick stop at my parents' house for my Mum's family reunion! We also thought she had her first cold BUT turns out it was reflux... :( ...There are probably a million other "firsts" given her new to the world status, but they are the big ones I can think of!

Loves: Her Daddy. Oh my is this little girl a Daddy's girl! Not only is she the spitting image of him as a baby (I think she has my eyes...that's about it so far!), but all he has to do is talk and she would stop and listen. She could stare at him for hours. I'm just the food, clearly!
She also loves her Nanny's voice (my mum) and I think that's because my Mum stayed with us for the first 5 days out of hospital, to help out, so it's one that Livie recognises. It's so sweet to see her smile when she hears her Nanny!
Other loves include the "BABY" frame beside her change table - it currently has generic pictures of babies and grandparents in it, and I swear she thinks they are her friends! She smiles at them and coos a bit at them...she's going to be disappointed when I put pictures of her in there I think! She also loves to stare at the banner and hot air balloons on her wall, and if she is facing the other way she is captivated by the mobile I made! Score! (DIY to come on that one!)
Baby girl also loves cuddles, of course, the abstract canvas art in the living room, and she has also taking to loving to stay awake during the day...something we decidedly *don't* love. However she loves her sleep at night so that's fine by us!

Milestones I think she is close to: "Talking" (ie. cooing, making noises) purposefully.

Sleeping:Olivia was a fantastic sleeper for the first two or so weeks...then her poor little belly started playing up. She's a great sleeper at night, she started sleeping from 5 - 6 hours from 7pm quite early on, then would wake at 4am and sleep again until her wake time at 7am. She then feeds every 3 hours during the day....but the sleeping during the day? Was not happening unless she was on our chests. She also went through a period of 2 hour feeds, which I think is when her sleeping started to get messed up. It wasn't too bad then but week 5 was terrible! But more on that in next month's update!

Favorite activity/toy: She loves the Minnie Mouse rattle my aunt bought for her, and she's a fan of her vibrating rocker. But mostly she loves face to face time with her Mama and Daddy, and tummy time on the playmat with Daddy (Mama couldn't do this for ages thanks to Livie's birth)

Best part about being a mom:The smiles at 3am. There is nothing better than your baby looking deep into your eyes, and giving you a great big, beautiful grin! It makes everything else worth it :)

This month we: had a really rough time! Recovering from Olivia's birth was hard enough (Part Two of her story coming soon!) but on top of that we had latching problems, blocked ducts, excessively sore nipples, bacterial infections, mastitis, tongue tie, gas problems and reflux. *phew* We had it tough. Really tough. But thankfully month two is looking better...And this month was all about us getting to know our little girl, and getting to know ourselves as parents. So in spite of it all, all the pain and the problems, it's been amazing. And I'm more in love with my husband then ever before. He has shown himself to be an amazing, hands on Daddy and I love the relationship he has with our daughter already <3

That's it for this month! Stay tuned for Part Two of Olivia's birth story (you can read Part One here) and, if the little miss gives me time, a DIY for your baby's nursery!

Amanda -xox-