Nico: 1 month

Dear Nico,

You  are one month old!  It is hard to believe.  On the one hand, it seems like you've been with us forever. On the other hand, it feels like we just brought you home from the hospital.  

It is amazing what one can forget about newborns in just 2 years.  For example, I forgot how much babies eat.  Yikes.  I spend my days in the glider while your brother and sister are taken care of by the baby sitter and your father.  I feel lazy and incompetent.  But then, sometimes I feel like I've got the most important job in the world (and, the best job in the world): taking care of you.

So all this eating means that very little else gets done (except for diaper changes and burping).  Your brother and sister are doing exceptionally well though. They love you more than anything and are always so happy to see you.

Life is pretty much the same since you've arrived. After the 5 o'clock scramble, where I feed you and somehow manage to put food on the table for your hungry brother and sister, we do the bath & bedtime routine.  Bode and Gianna will bathe (while I feed you) and then we all read on the bed together (while I feed you).

Later, your father returns home from the office.  He usually finds you and me in bed (while I feed you). We will talk for a few minutes and then your father has to heat up some leftovers for himself.  After he eats, he'll return to the bedroom for more talking.  He will take you and try to get you to burp. You usually fall asleep, because you love nothing more than to rest and sleep on someone's chest. And once we know that you're down for awhile, I will bid your father goodnight, because I've learned that I need to sleep when you sleep!  You usually wake again around 11 PM, and then we're back at the 1 1/2 -2 hour feeding routine again.  (I am so bleary eyed and sleep deprived but I always manage to make it through another day.) We get out of bed at 5:30 or 6:00 AM,  and greet Bode and Gianna.  And then another day begins.

I may sound like this is all mundane and mind-numbing.  It is, in a way (all the feeding) but I wouldn't change a thing.  You are a month old already!  Soon you'll be 3 months, and then 6 months, 1 year, and then 6 years. As my brother reminded me, "The days are long, but the years are short."  So I'm going to enjoy these long days (and nights) while I have them with you, my sweet baby boy.

Happy 1 month, my sweet Nico.
Love,
Mommy
xo