One Month

Dear Alex,

You've been with us for five weeks. We're starting to get the hang of taking care of you and figuring out what the issue is when you cry. (Hint: it's usually that you want food. You stick your tongue out as a very early sign that you're thinking about eating AGAIN.) You make the cutest, funniest faces, and when I'm tired and frustrated, watching you make some funny faces will cheer me up again immediately.

You are still in a Pavlik harness, but I think that very soon, maybe even at your next appointment to Shriners in three days, you'll be graduated to a smaller brace. This means you'll (probably) be able to wear normal onesies again instead of the side-snap T-shirts and we'll be able to see your feet again and wear normal sized- socks and leggings. None of this seems to phaze you at all, even the shoulder straps rubbing against your neck. The worst of it for you is that the straps slow us down while changing your diaper.

Over the last week or so, you've begun making sounds that aren't grunting and crying, words like "blerg" and "blat" that are very cute. You have started to reach your hands out toward things, though not very accurately, and I've seen you look at me and at Daddy more often, especially when you hear us. Less and less often are you looking to the sides or over the tops of our faces. You also get crossed eyes more often, which is really funny looking and, luckily, perfectly normal for young babies.

You want to eat more or less constantly. I pump milk regularly in self-defense, otherwise I'd constantly be sitting on the bed with you nursing. This way I can pump, which is faster than you getting milk directly from me, and feed you from the bottle, which you also drink more quickly than you would nurse with me.

This means that you're alert and just hanging out more often, too. I talk to you a lot, and make faces at you, and occasionally sing. (You don't like the singing part too much yet.) I feel like we should read to you more often. When we do, you look at the pictures, so you'd definitely be getting something out of it.

You've met all the major players in your life now: all of Mommy's and Daddy's "immediate" families (in Mommy's case that's more than her parents and siblings). I'm working on -okay, thinking about starting to work on - a photo book for you of all their faces and names so you can see their pictures more often. With all this time at the pump you'd think I'd have started it already, but I haven't. I haven't finalized your birth announcement yet either, although it's all ready to go except a second picture.

You are a total cuddle-bug. You never want to be put down. Very often I'll finish feeding you and hold you snuggled against my neck and shoulder. If I try to put you down, you'll wake up and protest and want to eat until you fall asleep again. I'm getting better about getting you back to sleep without the feeding. If you'd only learn to keep the pacifier in your mouth, that would be going a lot easier too.

Your Daddy and I love you a lot and are so glad you're part of our family.
Lots of love,
Mommy