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This is Fenn at One Month. For those of you who don't know, I'm taking a photo of him each month in this "12-month" onesie ~ always on this blanket and always on the 10th of the month. It will be interesting to see how he changes and how he "fills out" the onesie throughout his first year.
It was an interesting and exhausting first month for Mommy and Daddy. We got off to a shaky start. I was trying to breastfeed exclusively for the first 3 months, but for some reason Fenn wasn't getting enough to eat. He seemed to be a really slow eater. And we had trouble keeping him awake. Because he wasn't eating enough, he wasn't gaining weight fast enough. We kept having to make trips to the pediatrician to have his weight checked. Before he was even two weeks old, we had to start supplementing with formula using a syringe. Then when he still wasn't gaining weight quickly enough, we had to start supplementing with a bottle. He got the best of both worlds because I mixed breastmilk with his formula up until he was 3 1/2 months old. The bottle supplements really worked ~ he gained 6 ounces in 2 days! Hooray! No more trips to the pediatrician until his 2-month checkup on February 12th.
Now, back to the "pure exhaustion" I mentioned in an earlier post. Oh....my....gosh!!! I had no idea what it felt like to be that tired. And no one can really explain to you what it feels like. They tell you it's really hard to get through those first 4 or 5 weeks, but you really don't understand until you experience it. We are so happy to finally be parents. But I have to admit there were times in those first few weeks where I wondered "What have I done??? How am I going to get through this?" We laughed, we cried (well, I cried)... and somehow we made it through. To me, giving birth was much easier than taking care of a newborn the first month or so. Anyway, it has been hard, but it is totally worth every sleepless night. I think it is natural to mourn your former life... and for Dan and me, we've had a lot of years to get attached to that former life... picking up and going somewhere whenever you want, sleeping in on a Saturday morning, meeting friends for drinks, quickly running errands without a baby in tow, etc. But now that I'm a mom, I wouldn't want to go back to that former life. I have the best life now!
So, to sum up that first month.... we made it through the sleepless nights, the pains of breastfeeding, being peed on while changing a diaper or during baths, having pee run down the wall behind the changing table, having poop on your hands, washing numerous loads of clothes (now that you're washing baby stuff), learning to plan WAY ahead before you can take the baby out, trying to NOT be late for appointments, learning to take a baby's temperature (rectally),... the list goes on. I think I'm going to like this motherhood thing!
Just a few more pictures I wanted to include here. These were all taken during Fenn's first month. Enjoy!
He's only a month old in these pictures, but look how strong he is. He holds his head up pretty good and even turns to look up at Daddy. Amazing! I am in complete awe of this child.
If you know how much Dan and I like Chick-fil-A (about as much as Uncle "G" loves Milo's in Birmingham), then you know why I'm posting this photo. This is Fenn's first trip to Chick-fil-A. We do try not to eat a lot of fast food, but we have to admit that we love CFA and go an average of once per week. In this photo, Fenn seems completely unaffected by the aroma of chicken cooking.... but give him time!
Fenn's first Christmas was really nice. It was just the three of us for the first time. We made a sweet potato souffle' to go with our food from Honey Baked Ham, and we had Red Velvet Cake from Ham 'n Goody's. Yummo! We opened presents on Christmas morning and then spent the day hanging out at home. It was q.jpg)
uiet... as quiet as it can be with a newborn in the house. These are just a few of the pictures we made at Christmas. OK, Fenn looks terrified in o.jpg)
ne of them...like he's hanging on for dear life. But he really does like that gift ~ it was his big gift from Santa. He is supposed to lie on it and spin around to see the different play areas on the mat. It helps to strengthen his neck and learn to hold up his head. We don't know how he did it, but the first 
time we put him on it he managed to use his foot and do a complete 360!
We took Fenn out for his first outing (other than going to the pediatrician's office) on Christmas Eve... to Pelancho's Mexican Restaurant (one of our favorite mexican restaurants here in Knoxville). Dan's family has a tradition of going out for mexican on the night before Christmas, so Dan and I have tried to continue that tradition. For some reason, it's hard to do here in Knoxville; we have a hard time finding a mexican restaurant that stays open later tha.jpg)
n 5:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve. What's up with that??? I think El Rio Grande in Lanett has always stayed open on Christmas Eve. (We sure do miss El Rio... Eddie and William.) Luckily, Pelancho's is open. At this point, the outings with Fenn are really easy. He just sleeps while we eat. We're dreading the days when he starts screaming in the middle of a restaurant.... just as soon as our food arrives. So for now, we're enjoying it while we can.
Well, we're not going.... Grandma is going home to her house. She stayed with us for 3 weeks and was an enormous help. She got to see Fenn come into the world.... I think that was better than any Christmas present she could have received. Fenn enjoyed getting to know his Grandma and looks forward to seeing her again. Thanks again, Grandma! We love you and miss you!
Just wanted to post this picture of Fenn playing on his Gymini playmat. I like the photo because it is so colorful. Fenn liked his playmat from the start. Even at a week or so old, we could put him on it and he would move his legs and make the windchimes move.
Even though Fenn didn't get to spend Christmas with Grammy & Poppy, he did get to see them a couple of weeks before Christmas (on the day he came home from the hospital) and then again shortly after Christmas. Those were short visits, but they got to come again a few weeks later to stay a little longer. Fenn really liked that. These are some of the photos we ma.jpg)
de at the house by the Christmas tree and fireplace. Grammy is a busy lady.... we always have a hard time getting her to look AT the camera when we're taking her picture. I think she's always thinking about what she's going to do next! Merry Christmas, Grammy & Poppy!
Our 2nd night home, we decided it was time for Fenn's first bath (well, at least his first bath from us). OK, that's a nerve wracking experience for new parents! He was so small and we were so afraid we were going to drop him. It went well.... except for when he peed on us! Something about that warm water being 
poured over him... Hmmmm....... must remember to keep him covered when bathing him! Anyway, he seems to like his bath for the most part. He likes having his hair washed and feeling the warm water on his head. When they bathed him at the hospital right after he was born, he was screaming at first, but then stopped crying immediately when they started
washing his hair. He did the same thing the first time he heard his Daddy's voice. He was screaming while they were cleaning him up and evaluating him, and as soon as Dan said something he stopped crying and calmed down. He definitely recognized his Daddy's voice.
I love wrapping him up in a towel after his bath and cuddling with him. He's so sweet and calm, and he seems so appreciative to be wrapped up and held tight. Notice the left hand to the mouth. I think he might be a "leftie" because it seems to always be his left hand that he puts up to his mouth... sometimes it's the thumb
, sometimes it's his index finger, and sometimes it's as many as he can fit in there.
Just thought I would mention how generous people are... I think babies just bring that out in people. In addition to all of the beautiful gifts we received for Fenn (way too many to mention here), we also received a few things ~ either to feed us or just brighten our day ~ after Fenn arrived. We received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from Fenn's new pal, Gabe. (His mommy and daddy are Jim and Kama. Gabe is 13 months older than Fenn.) We also received a precious "cookie" bouquet from Fenn's Uncle David, Aunt Cindy, and cousins Austin & Harrison. The cookies were yummy! I saved the one that said, "Welcome Fenn!" and the Teddy Bear ~ I plan to shellac them and use them as Christmas ornaments. Then there were
the food gifts which were a big help after Fenn was born. (Grandma was a huge help with Fenn ~ especially at night or when Mommy needed a nap during the day. But Grandma doesn't cook anymore!... so she wasn't much help in that department.) Our neighbor across the street, Julie, made a huge pan of lasagna and a pan of brownies. They were both so good. We had several meals off of that! Grandma took a particular liking to the brownies... as she would sneak into the kitchen at night and eat them. Our next door neighbor, Nicole, made a yummy pasta, sausage, and cheese dish. I can't remember what she called it, but Nicole... I still need that recipe! My friend, Barbara, sent us a Honey Baked Ham gift certificate. That was great... we used it to purchase the majority of our Christmas dinner. And Todd, Angie, Seth, and Jesse (Fenn's uncle, Aunt, and cousins) sent us a goodie basket from River Street Sweets in Savannah. If you've never been there, you have to go and try their pralines!
Thank You everyone for all the gifts, prayers, and well wishes!!!
After spending two nights at the hospital, we were released to go home. The thought of that was a little scary.... we would be taking care of him by ourselves... no more hospital nurses. While we were at the hospital, we kept Fenn in our room the whole time because we heard you actually get more rest with the baby in the room (because you're not worrying about him). It was actually pretty easy because he slept most of the time. Things were bound to be different once we got him home.
Thank goodness Grandma would be there for 2 more weeks to help out. We had no idea just how much we would need her help. People tell you it is exhausting taking care of a newborn.... but they don't adequately describe just how exhausted you will be. (More on that in a later post...)
We arrived home shortly after lunchtime on Wednesday, December 12th (Fenn's actual due date). Grandma was waiting at the house, and Grammy & Poppy would be arriving shortly after us. We spent that first day visiting, getting settled back into the house, playing with the fur 
kids (Asha and Petey) since we had been gone for 2 days, and introducing them to Fenn. Petey was somewhat interested at first... he sniffed Fenn for a while. But after that, he pretty much ignored him. That's pretty much what we expected from him ~ ignoring him and pouting a little because he's no longer the center of attention. Asha surprised us because she didn't seem interested at all. We later figured out that she had just not seen him (probably because we were holding him). The next day she got a glimpse of him and went nuts. She was a little too interested in him now, but she eventually settled down and adopted Petey's attitude of ignoring him.
These are some of Fenn's first smiles... talk about making your heart melt. The first time I knew it was a real smile (and not gas or a signal that he was about to spit up) was on Thursday, January 24, 2008. He was 6 1/2 weeks old. I'm so glad he did it before starting daycare. I worried that his first smile would be to someone other than
Mommy or Daddy. I dropped Fenn off at daycare a couple of times for a few hours the week before he started full-time. That was mostly so Mommy could get used to the idea of someone else keeping him. His first full day is Monday, February 4th. Fenn seemed to really like Ms. Taphne when he met her. .jpg)
She's really cute and bubbly.... and she talks really loud (which kids love!). All the kids seem to respond well to her. She keeps Fenn and 3 other boys ~ Jackson (almost 4), Braden (2), and Andrew (1).
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