William, One Month Old

Some quick thoughts about Will:

1. When he lays down to nurse, no matter how cranky and hungry he is, he begins smirking and shoving his fist into his mouth.



2. When he sits up from nursing, his peach fuzz hair sticks out sideways, his tongue hangs out of his mouth, and he looks adorably ridiculous.
3. He loves being carried and held. He folds his little arms in the Ergo, rests his chin on them, and looks around until he falls asleep.
4. When I nap with him, he fidgets, sweats, punches me, and makes little squeaky baby noises.



5. Nursing him is beginning to no longer be painful. I'm starting to enjoy the bonding instead of "dreading the feed".



6. He sleeps from ~8:30 PM to 3:30 AM, feeds for 30 minutes, and then wakes up again around 6:30-7. Good stretches! Two nights he has slept from 8:30 PM to 5:30 AM. Total flukes, I imagine. It doesn't matter, though. I get up every couple of hours thinking he is in bed with me - I walk around the room disoriented, I search for him in the sheets, and then I am reminded (either by a sudden return to sanity OR by Brian) that he is in the nursery. He is always in the nursery, Maegan. Sleep is touch and go! Coffee is absolutely essential.
7. He has a huge potato butt in his cloth diapers.



8. He loves riding in the stroller, especially on very bumpy terrain. He wears a look on his face the entire time that says, "What's going on here?!"



9. He loves the bath very much. I swish him around at the end and he just leans his head back into the water with his mouth open and a smile on his face.





10. At five weeks, I got my very first eye-contact smile. And Brian just happened to be on the phone with me.
11. He sure LOVES his black and white mobile. I do believe it's making him smarter. :)



I love my little baby so very, very much. It feels good to pick up on his cues, to learn what works and what doesn't, and to be keeping him alive successfully. He's turning into quite the little chunk - he's gained over four pounds from birth weight in his first month. He never spits up, but we have been battling a pesky heat rash that I just can't seem to get rid of. I've tried half a dozen creams at least - next on the list is Caldesene powder, as soon as it arrives from Amazon.

Holding his little body against my chest, feeling his peach fuzz head turn against my neck, and hearing his little squeaks and grunts and splutters - these have been the greatest joys of my life. So simple, so common, and I know they will be gone in a flash.