ada charlotte {one month}

My sweet Ada,

I can't believe you've been here for a month! Cliche as it may be, the time has flown by but it also feels like you must have been here for so much longer than that. Our little family has gone through so much in your first month of life -- the excitement of you being born, the heartache of not getting to bring you home from the NICU for 16 days, the overwhelming responsibility of being new parents. It's definitely been (and continues to be) a challenge trying to figure each other out, but your daddy and I love you so much and we are so happy to have you in our lives :)

Stats

• I totally thought that -- since you were born weighing 11 pounds -- you wouldn't fit in 0-3 month clothes for long. However, many of your 0-3 month clothes don't even fit you yet! So you wear 0-3 month clothes, but for the most part, they're still too big.
• You definitely skipped over newborn diapers straight into size 1. I think you wore one newborn diaper in the hospital, and that looked pretty funny :)
• I'm a little unsure about your height and weight because the last time you had a doctor's appointment, you were only 3 weeks old. At that appointment you weighed 10 pounds, 10 ounces, and I never actually heard how long you were!

Notable events

• First bath at home! Given by both mama and daddy. Your hair is curly when wet but then dries straight. 10.15.2016.

• First time to church! We only went to Sacrament Meeting, but you did a great job sleeping right through it! ;) 10.16.2016

• First family outing to Jaker's Jack-O-Lanterns -- a pumpkin patch and Halloween fun place near us. It will be much more fun when you're a toddler next year, but it was still fun to go this year :) 10.22.2016

• Visits from lots of people who love you! Aunt Lacey; Uncle Lance, Aunt Mackenzi, & Zander; Mama's friend Ashlee; Mama's cousin Talyn; Aunt Rachel, Jackson, & Adeline; Grandma and Grandpa Petersen; and Granny B. You charm everyone with your gorgeous hair and adorable facial expressions :)

Tricks

• Despite your young age, you are great at holding your head up. 
• You also arch your back so much that you are already nearly rolling over! 
• While most people say new babies only smile when they're gassy, you seem to smile for other reasons, too. It's often when you're sleeping, so I like to think you're dreaming of happy things :)

9.30.2016

10.7.2016

10.13.2016 

10.20.2016

Favorite things

• I love love love snuggling you! We did more dedicated snuggling in the NICU, but now my favorite time to snuggle you is when I burp you.
• I also love to trick you and put my cheek or nose against your cheek when you're hungry so that you'll root toward them. It's like you're giving me kisses!
• Although it means I miss out on sleep, nighttime feedings are my favorite because you're more calm and cuddly at those ones :)

Random tidbits

• Daddy and I call you lots of different things: Missy Miss, Missy Girl, Sweet Girl, Little Miss, Ada Girl, Little Love, Roley Poley (because of your chunky rolls and because you sometimes roll away from us when we're changing your diapers), Wiggle Worm, Squirmy Wormy (also because you move so much during diaper changes), and Archie Girl (because of the crazy way you arch your back -- see pics below).

• Daddy was the first one to experience you going to the bathroom during a change (both kinds ha!), but you've peed on me way more times since then.
• Dad takes really great care of you. He feeds you nearly every bottle he's around for, changes your diaper, and puts you to bed nearly every night. It's so sweet to me to see how much he loves you :)
• You are a noisy girl! You make these cute little noises both when you sleep and when you eat. Someone described your noises as a cat purring, and I feel like that's a pretty accurate comparison :)
• You are pretty calm during both baths and diaper changes.
• You are a great night sleeper -- you'll go up to 6.5 hours without waking! Too bad we're trying to work on boosting mama's milk supply so now I wake you every 3 hours to make you eat.

Love,
Mama