Baby Mim - One Month

Dear Mim,

How is it even possible that four weeks have flown by since you arrived and turned our whole world upside down (in the best possible way)?  I really hope the speed of this first month isn't any indication of how fast the next few months (or years) are going to fly by. I'm not ready for you to grow up so quickly!  I'm trying to savor all your newborn goodness and soak you up every second that I have with you. Just the thought of going back to work right now makes me want to cry and throw up.  If I could just hold you in my arms forever it wouldn't be long enough.

I've said this before (and I hope I'm not jinxing it by saying it again), but you are such a good baby.  You are happy and sweet and so incredibly cuddly.  You're still sleeping quiet a bit during the day, but you are starting to have longer awake periods where you love to chew on your hands and take everything in.  You love looking around and are starting to turn your head to follow noises/voices.  Your eyes are still a blue/grey, but definitely aren't looking brown.  I really think you're going to have dark hair and blue eyes - the opposite of your brother.  You have beautiful lips and the cutest button nose.  You also have gorgeous hands and elegant long fingers.  You most certainly did not get those beautiful hands from me. 

You are usually very quiet, unless you're hungry, gassy or need a diaper change, which is completely different than your brother.  He never stopped "talking" (and still hasn't).  You are much more deliberate and quiet.  However, you are a very noisy sleeper.  You grunt and snort and make the most ridiculous noises.  You are sleeping in the Rock 'N Play next to our bed and you keep your dad and me up all night long with all your grunts.  

Speaking of noises, you can burp loud enough to make a frat boy jealous and you toot when you sneeze or have the hiccups.  It's absolutely astounding and adorable. You also poop more than any baby I've ever met.  Seriously, you are a poop machine.  Which is why you've already had your first diaper rash at just a few weeks old.  Triple Paste to the rescue.  You also have a tendency to poop and pee mid-diaper change...especially on your dad.  In over two years, your brother has never pooped or peed on either of us, but it only took you a few days to get us both, multiple times.  We've used the same changing pad cover for two years and in the last week I've had to buy 3 more because of your impeccable timing.  

I'm happy to report that you're still a very good eater.  Unlike your brother, you have mastered both breastfeeding and bottle-feeding.  Mac was frantic and insatiable, but you are much more patient and relaxed about eating than he was and so far you don't seem to have any of the same issues of sqwaking or gagging like he did.  Breastfeeding this time around has been such a wonderful experience and I'm so glad that it's working out for us. 

I'm also pumping once a day so your daddy can feed you a bottle every night and I can build up a freezer stash for when I go back to work.  Your dad loves feeding you each night - you two sit in the rocker and watch movies and snuggle together for hours.  It's so wonderful to see you so relaxed and happy in his arms. When you're upset, he can calm you down quicker than anyone.  I know you are going to be a serious daddy's girl. 

Even sleep is better this time around (knock on wood).  You don't sleep for very long periods of time (usually right around 3 hours in between feedings), but you usually eat quickly and go back to sleep after a feeding fairly easily.  I do wish you could go for longer stretches, but I also don't hate our middle of the night Gossip Girl watching snuggle sessions.  You still love to snuggle and would prefer to be sleeping on someone to anything else.  You're in someone's arms about 90% of the day (especially for naps) and as long as you get plenty of daytime snuggles, you don't mind sleeping in the Rock 'N Play at night, which is fine with me.  It definitely makes it harder to get anything done, but we don't mind.   

This month has been full of firsts for you.  First bath, first trip to Target, first overnight at the farm with your grandparents.  It's all so exciting and new.  But because you are (probably) our last baby, we're not at all rushing things.  Whereas sometimes I felt very trapped and worthless during maternity leave with Mac, I'm actually enjoying all the downtime with you.  I'm not stressed out when I can't return texts, calls or emails.  I'm not in any hurry to check errands off a list or accomplish much.  Maybe part of that is knowing how easy it is to lose a whole day just sitting on the couch and holding you while you sleep and that there will always be time to do all that stuff later.  I'm okay with not being productive because I know you'll never be this tiny again and I don't want to waste a minute of it.  

Little lady, you have already brought so much love and joy to our lives.  We have been waiting and praying for you for so long that it's still very surreal to have you here where we can hold and kiss you.  Thank you for being so incredibly sweet and for making this first moth so enjoyable for us.  You are an absolute delight and I am so looking forward to seeing what the next month will bring us.

Love,
Your mama

Baby Mac - One Month

And because everyone comments about how much you look like your brother, here are the side-by-side comparison shots.  Other than totally coincidentally being able to strike nearly the exact same pose, I actually think you look really different here.  You are definitely your own little person.