Zara at One Month

My baby is a month old. Seriously, when did that happen? Time has just been flying by and the days all seem to blur into one another. But my baby keeps growing (seriously, the girl is gigantic) and I'm starting to feel like I'm figuring out how to be a mom. Now, I'll feel truly successful when I can stop being mom 24 hours a day and get a few moments of Liz time in there. Babies are time consuming projects. I can only say that I'm so grateful that I don't have to worry about having to go back to a full-time job and leave my daughter's care in someone else's hands. It really is a blessing to be able to stay at home with her. But it also a really awesome blessing to have a wonderful husband who loves his baby and will take her from me so that I can have some time to myself too.

Look at how huge she's gotten! We don't go back to the doctor until her two month checkup, but according to my own measurements, Zara is now a little over ten pounds and 22 inches long, both of which put her in the 50 to 75th percentile.

I finally got David to take a few photos of Zara and me together. I've tried snapping a few of us myself, but it's generally after feeding her when I'm less than adequately clothed and it's best I don't publicize those for all the world to see. I look at these photos of Zara and me and wonder, "How is this my daughter? How did she end up with such dark hair?" Sometimes, I swear she doesn't belong to me because I see so little of myself in her. I know as she grows, I'll see more resemblances to myself but at least I can rest assured that she really is my daughter because she does look like David.
We took these photos before church on Sunday. Our first Sunday back at church, Zara pretty much slept through all three hours. So I was totally unprepared for our second Sunday when Zara wanted to eat non-stop through all three meetings and then exploded out the back-end of her diaper. And of course, I hadn't brought a spare onesie so Zara had to go without for the remainder of Relief Society. At least it happened near the end of church.

She's so cute in her car seat. And she does a great job in the car. She'll fuss for a little while but she generally just falls asleep after a few minutes.

Now on to her one-month status report:

General Observations, Physical Changes, Etc.

Zara has gotten very good at holding up her head on her own. Although sometimes she bangs her head against our chests really hard. I can't imagine that's good for her.

She smiles frequently, though I think it's still involuntary at this point.

She loves to sleep on either David or me belly-to-belly but she doesn't seem to really like individual tummy-time on her own. She tolerates it for about five minutes before she starts wailing.

Zara has really excellent lungs. She likes to remind us quite frequently.

Zara still has all her gloriously beautiful dark hair. I don't think it's going to fall out, like so many people told me it would, but I'm still afraid it's going to get lighter over time.

One thing Zara did get from me is her tendency to play with her hair. She loves to move her hands and fingers and she often grabs onto her hair or her ear when sleeping or eating.

Zara wears a combination of cloth and disposable diapers. We use the cloth when we're home and the disposables when we're out and about (or when the cloth diapers are being washed). She's already outgrown her newborn diapers and has moved up to a size one/small. I like the disposables in that they make it much easier to tell when Zara needs a diaper change and she can fit into her clothes better (the cloth diapers are rather bulky) but I'm definitely glad we decided to go the cloth diaper route because there is less incidence of diaper rash because fewer harsh chemicals are touching her skin and I don't feel like we're just throwing money away with every diaper change. She probably gets around 10-12 diaper changes a day and averages about four poopy diapers a day. She gets hilariously red in the face when filling her diaper and then looks quite pleased with herself afterwards. [And yes, that is probably more than you ever wanted to know about Zara's diaper output but it's amazing how important it has become to me since it's the best way to tell if Zara is getting enough food each day or is sick. Luckily, her diapers tell me that so far, she's doing fantastically.]

Zara loves to be held. This was fine during the first two weeks of her life but is becoming a bit more problematic now. She doesn't really care for any carrier we've tried putting her in, but she is starting to tolerate the Moby wrap more. (Although I still feel like I'm using that thing all wrong and it kills my back after a few minutes.)

Zara adores her Daddy and her Daddy adores her. At least I've got the food, otherwise I'd be totally replaceable.

Zara finally lost her umbilical cord about 16 days after birth. It still looks a little red and tender in that area and it's surprisingly deep. Belly buttons kinda freak me out. I don't know why.

Zara's eyes have started to get a little lighter than they were at birth and are now a grayish-blue. I hope they continue to get lighter like her Daddy's eyes. (She'll also be one lucky girl if she gets his eyelashes too.)

Zara's skin peeled during the first two weeks. I couldn't resist picking at it. (Just like I can't resist peeling my skin when I get a bad sunburn.) But now Zara has soft and smooth baby skin.

Unfortunately, Zara has some baby acne on her cheeks. It's starting to look better and I hope it'll eventually go away soon.

Zara likes to be sung to. We mostly sing church songs but my favorite is when David sings "Hello my baby" to her.

Eating and sleeping habits

Zara LOVES to eat. She'd probably be attached to my breast all day long if I'd let her. So far, she hasn't really liked the bottle (although we've only tried to give her a bottle twice so far) and she doesn't really care for her pacifer either.

Zara is generally a very good sleeper at night. She'll have one bad night about once a week where she just won't fall asleep after eating and fusses and cries for several hours before finally falling back asleep but she generally sleeps for 3-4 hour intervals and then falls back asleep after a diaper change and a feeding. She has slept for six hours straight twice in the last week.

Zara was an excellent napper during her first two weeks but the last two weeks she has not been sleeping during the day, much to my consternation. She tends to fall asleep after a meal and will sleep for about 15-20 minutes before she wakes up again. And she generally always wakes back up if I try to put her down in her bassinet to sleep.

I've been feeding Zara on demand and letting her sleep when she wants to this past month. But since I need a more consistent schedule (and time to get things done during the day), I'm going to try to get her started on a sleep routine in the next few weeks. Wish me luck.

Zara doesn't like chocolate milk. This makes me very sad. I just hope she'll continue to tolerate other dairy products. I like cheese and ice cream too much.

Accomplishments and Firsts

Since Zara was born in Korea, we had to get her a consular report of birth abroad (instead of a birth certificate) and a visa to stay in the country which meant getting her a passport. So at nine days old, Zara got her first passport photos taken. She didn't want to keep her eyes open but we eventually got one good shot. I found it really amusing to fill out her height, weight, and eye colors stats since they change so fast. We got her passport back this week and it's adorable.

Baby's favorite toys, places to go, etc.

Zara doesn't really have the ability to play with any toys yet, but she does like the sound her rattle makes. She can't hold onto it herself (it's still a bit too heavy) but she does like to watch it when I shake it.

Aside from a few visits to the doctor and trip to church, Zara hasn't really gone many places besides the grocery store, PX, and one trip to the IPark mall. We'll hopefully be getting out much more in her second month, especially when my parents come to Korea for a visit. I don't want them to just sit around at home the whole time they are here.

My favorite Zara moment from the last month comes at David's expense. (I find it hilarious....David probably doesn't.) Anyway, David was changing Zara's diaper one night last week. He had just taken off her diaper and was wiping her cute little baby bum off when she projectile-pooped all over David. Seriously. It was everywhere. On the floor, all over the changing table, and running down David's pants. All I could do was laugh and laugh and then help David clean himself and Zara off. David has understandably become quite wary when changing Zara's diapers now. He positions Zara's bottom away from himself and keeps a cloth diaper handy should he need to cover himself. I'm just glad it didn't happen to me.

Okay, one slightly inappropriate shot before I wrap this entry up. (At least I'm mostly covered up.) This is my absolute favorite part of being a mom, after Zara eats and sighs her little sighs of milky contentment and falls asleep on my chest. I know it won't last long so I try to savor the moments I do have. I love my little family.