Zoey: 1 month

I know there've been a lot of Zoey posts lately, but buckle up for another one. Zoey Bird is officially a whole month old!

Weight: 11 pounds (This can't possibly be right, can it? I think my scale is off.)
Height: 22.25 inches
(These are both my own measurements, not the doctor's, so take their accuracy with a huge grain of salt.)

-MSPI update: We tested foods with soybean oil in them over Thanksgiving weekend with success. I know a lot of kids don't have issues with the oil but still do with the proteins, but I never even tried it with E so I didn't know what to expect. Z did fine, so that's a win. However, we failed our test of soy proteins this past weekend. So it looks like we're dealing with another MSPI baby.

-Did you know that caffeine can mess with an infant's bowel movements? I never had an issue with E, but Z is apparently more sensitive. She went almost a week without a "real" poo. I called the nurse hotline after the first 2.5 days to see if I should be worried since she was only three weeks old (but not acting like she was in pain at all), but the woman on the phone didn't have any advice I hadn't already tried. I did my own Googling and guessed it might be my morning coffee, so I switched to decaf (sigh). Her bowel movements are still a lot less regular than they were, though, so I'll be asking our doc for his opinion later this week.

Also, this was part of my conversation with the nurse when I called (below). Good times, y'all.

Nurse: What is her date of birth?
Me: November 2nd.
Nurse: Has she been in the hospital recently?
Me: Well, on November 2nd.
Nurse: And what was she here for?
Me: ... to be born.
Nurse: Oh! *laughs* I'm competent, really. 

-Around three weeks, Z also went through a growth spurt. She slept poorly and ate in short, frequent bursts for about three days. I can't tell you how happy I was when things went back to her normal. She's now doing 4+-hour stretches typically at least once a night, followed up by a 3-ish hour stretch. (Though often she needs to be rocked back to sleep, which can take over an hour some nights.) We're all still exhausted zombies, but at least we're able to piece together enough sleep to function and keep our sanity. However, she has recently stopped sleeping well in the Mamaroo during the later night shifts. She seems to prefer to sleep on the Boppy pillow. (All the safe sleep experts are cringing right now, I know.) We're considering buying either a Snuggle Me or a Dockatot as a safer option--does anyone have experience with these? Recommendations? Cautions?

-Z likes being carried in our Wildbird sling. Sometimes it takes a while, but so far it's always put her to sleep. I'm not sure I am doing it right--slinging requires a little more finesse than I anticipated and I don't quite have the hang of it just yet. But it works, even if I'm doing it wrong. And I love that.

-E is getting better with the whole situation. She's still stubborn and cranky at times, but in general she's much more her usual self. And she is super cute with Z. She'll jingle toys in front of her, shush her, and tell her "It's OK, Zoey, we're still here! Big sister is here!" if she gets fussy. She's finally excited about her big sister role, and she's thrilled to "help" whenever I ask her.