Joshua's 1 month update

How is it that my littlest is already a month old? I'm already so aware of how much he has changed over these few weeks. His once tiny little limbs are now plumping up quite nicely and at four weeks old Joshua has gone from sleeping pretty constantly to now having much more wakeful and alert periods. He also seems a lot more responsive to noise and movement around him and I often spy him tracking us if we are close enough for him to spot us.

I am combination feeding again as, just like his brothers, Joshua has a keen appetite and I just can't seem to satisfy it on my own. The mixed feeding is going really well though; I've settled into breastfeeding as much as I can and Joshua takes a bottle after most breastfeeds to top him up. He feeds on demand so we just go with the flow and I let him lead me with how often he wants to feed. It tends to be every 2-3 hours at this stage but we have had a couple of nights where he's gone a bit longer between feeds and we've all felt a lot better for the extra sleep it's provided us all!

We're hoping to see our local health visitor in the next few days as I really want to have Joshua weighed again. Last time he was weighed he had shot right over his birth weight (8lb 3oz) and was up at 8lb 9oz- I am sure he is much heavier than that now though as you can really see the extra rolls of chubby gorgeousness especially in his face, arms and legs!

In terms of a routine, we definitely don't have anything set in stone yet. As I said, I feed on demand and the evenings can vary a lot but generally once Joshua is fed I have a couple of hours to get on with the everyday tasks like cooking, or bathing the older boys. I'm not exactly sure how we manage it but we do! I definitely have my husband to thank for being so hands on with every aspect of looking after our boys. I really couldn't have got this far without him!

All in all, I have to say it has felt a lot easier settling into having a newborn third time around. To be fair to him, Joshua has had little choice with getting used to our noisy bunch, poor kid! But I definitely feel that because we have been so relaxed around him, it's had the effect of making him a very chilled out baby.

We're so in love with our little boy and when I look at Joshua I still pinch myself- I have such an overwhelming sense of gratitude and pride that he is here safely and that our little family has grown once again. 

I'm really looking forward to the next couple of weeks because I know we are likely to see the first signs of Joshua's personality developing, beginning with that first smile I am just yearning to see! 

Love,