One Month Already

Dear Nicholas,

We celebrated your one month birthday on Thursday. It's hard to believe 31 days have already flown by since your arrival. But it's even harder to believe that just a few weeks ago you were in my belly and we had no idea who you were or exactly how our lives would change when we met you. And boy have our lives changed... and in mostly good ways. We get (a lot) less sleep, I have mastered the art of eating dinner with one hand while holding (or sometimes nursing) you, and I now no longer think new mothers are exaggerating when they say they don't even have time to shower. But I've also discovered that being a parent forces you to really be present and live in the moment-- something your type A mama has never excelled at. And there have already been so many great moments to savor.

I love staring at your precious little face and am mesmerized by your adorable expressions. You are quite expressive, and we have already cataloged a variety of your favorites including your cute little pout (we may be in trouble when you hit toddlerhood and figure out how to use this to your advantage), the Mr. Magoo (scrunched up eyes when you are screaming), your perplexed face with raised eyebrows (complete with little wrinkles on your forehead!), and even some content little expressions bordering on a smile. I also love when you stare back at me as though you are trying to memorize my face. I think you know I'm someone important to you, but you can't quite figure out who.

To date, you've been an excellent eater and an OK sleeper. You had no problem latching on from day one, and now spend a good 10-12 hours a day chowing down. You eat every hour and a half to two hours during the day and every two to three hours at night. The biggest challenge with feeding you is that you are a little bit lazy and will eat heartily for 4-5 minutes, and then you just kind of relax and slowly sip your way in and out of consciousness for 20-30 minutes on each side. This makes for what seem like endless marathons of cluster feeding every evening for two to three hours at a time. During the day you sometimes fight sleep, and then when we do get you down for a nap, it may only last 45 minutes or so. The good news is that you are definitely showing some improvement in your night time sleep. You usually go back to sleep fairly quickly after night feedings and will stay asleep for 2 hours or so-- although we've had some 3 hour stretches and even one 4 hour stretch. We're hoping to see a few more of those in the coming weeks!

This month everything you've done has been a first-- including your first trips to the doctor, the grocery store, and several trips to restaurants; your first bath; and your first visits from Gammy and Grandpa, auntie Kristin, and auntie Laura. You also hit one big developmental milestone and shocked us all by rolling over from your stomach to your back during tummy time the day before you turned one month. Since then you've done it several more times. We think it's a sign of your supreme intellect because you hate tummy time and must have just figured out it was easier to roll over than deal with us forcing you to lift up that huge noggin.

You've visited the doctor twice so far-- once at three days old, and once at two weeks old. At three days, you had lost ten ounces from your birth weight (down to 6 lbs., 8 oz.), but at two weeks you were back up to 7 lbs. even-- just 2 ounces shy of your birth weight. You aren't due for another visit to the doctor until your two month birthday, but I'm guessing you're now weighing in around 8 pounds. I can't cinch your newborn size diapers so tightly and you're finally starting to fit into a few of your 0-3 month clothing items. I'm looking forward to seeing you fill out a bit more so you can wear more of your cute outfits that friends and family have so generously gifted us with.

Nicholas, I knew that becoming your mother would be wonderful and challenging, but all the cliches are more true than I could have expected. Motherhood is the toughest job I've ever had, but being your mom is also the best job I've ever had and I find myself falling more and more in love with you everyday. It's only been a month, but you've changed our lives for the better and we are so excited to see how you will continue to grow and evolve over the next weeks, months, and years.

All my love,

Mommy