ONE Month!

Dear Sweet Boy of Mine,

You sure have kept me on my toes this past month!  There are days when it feels like you have been with us forever, and then there are times when it seems like we were just celebrating Christmas and anticipating your arrival! Either way, being your mom has been the biggest challenge and most rewarding experience of my life thus far. I often find myself just staring at you in awe and not believing that after everything we've been through to make our way to you and bring you home to us, you are finally here. I'm not sure that surreal feeling will ever go away. I hope that it doesn't!

Grandma and I decided to attempt a photo shoot for your 1-Month birthday. You did really well! You're a very fidgety baby and don't like to sit still for long, so many times the pictures I get have a blurry hand or arm because you're usually swinging it around. Luckily, we were able to get a few good shots.





Although it didn't take long before you were over the picture taking and ready for a bottle.

Here are some of the things I've learned about you during your first month with us...

- You love to eat...and often! You seem to be eating anywhere from 2-4.5 oz every 1.5 - 3 hours. This gets very exhausting at night, as that tends to be the time you prefer to space your feedings closer together! I've been very fortunate to have your grandma and papa here since before you were born, so they have been a tremendous help to your dad and I. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to repay them for how much they have helped us out. I know they're happy to do it though because they're crazy about you!


- You are quite the stretcher! Any chance you get you like to stretch your entire body as far as you can. This is so fun to watch with your little arms reaching as far over your head as you can get them.



- You're really starting to get interested in everything going on around you. You have great control now over your eye movement and will look towards sounds and music. You love to stare at the lights in our kitchen. You also love the white noise sounds on my phone. They seem to have almost a hypnotic affect on you when you're being fussy.

- You're very strong! You're now able to hold your head up while turning it from side to side for quite a bit before it starts bobbling. You do this mainly when we're holding you against our chest.

- I'm starting to learn to distinguish between your different cries. When you're hungry it's more of an abrupt "yell" telling us, hey, I'm ready to eat! When you're gassy it's a cry that absolutely breaks my heart. That one tends to come with you clinching your fists and attempting to crawl up our chest. We're still trying to get the gas under control with different remedies. I hate that you're experiencing pain from that. It's getting better, but still not great. I'm hoping that your digestive tract matures soon so you don't have to be in this pain any longer. In the meantime, I'll continue to find ways to soothe you and make it better for you.

Here are a few more photos from your first month...

Our first family photo! This was taken when you were 5 days old.

My favorite picture of the two of us so far. You were just a week or so old in this picture!

This was taken on the same day. We both love you so much!

Cody loves to kiss and sniff your head. He's super protective over you and really watches out for you!

Snuggling up to your very proud Papa!

Your Grandma doing what she does best....loving on you!

Being your mom has been amazing and truly the best thing that's ever happened to me. It has brought me even closer to your dad, which I didn't think was possible! I have no greater joy in life than watching you and your dad interact. It melts my heart to see him nurture and love you. He is such an amazing dad and I'm so fortunate to have him as my best friend and husband. For the past 10 years I've watched him be a wonderful dad to Grace, and I couldn't wait for the day when we had a child of our own. He has far exceeded my expectations of what a "father" should be and I love him so much! And from everything I've seen so far, you love him too!

Love,
Mom xoxo