Caleb: One month

Caleb, today you are one month old. I've held you in my arms for 28 days now but I have prayed for you and over you with my hand on my belly for so much longer.

You are our little dude. Not thinking about it, I called you dude from the start and your daddy made fun of me. So I upped the ante by calling you Turtle and now that nickname has stuck with me.

One day, you'll see how newborns stretch. The legs curl up, the feet turn in, both arms stretch high above the head and the hands ball into little fists. It's one of my favorite things about a fresh baby.

When you do it, I call you Touchdown Turtle and my heart melts.

You were born hungry and wanting to eat every three hours on the dot. For four weeks, that hasn't changed. I'm so grateful breastfeeding has worked so easily because it is such a sweet, tender time for me.

You are a noisy, messy eater. I don't know if it's because you're a boy but I can tell you your sister wasn't like this at all. I laugh nearly every time I lift you up after you eat because I'm just amazed at how messy and drippy your face can be.

And it's impossible to feed you discreetly because you make noises as if I haven't fed you for two years.

When you were born, you weighed 8 pounds, 7 ounces. When we left the hospital four days later, you weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces. You lost quite a bit but you and I were both carrying extra fluid so the doctor wasn't worried. Four days later, you were back up to 7 pounds, 13 ounces.

Seven ounces in four days? Yeah, the doctor wasn't worried at all about you gaining weight. And he hasn't even seen your face after you've gobbled down a meal.

 

Caleb, you are a fantastic sleeper. You've never slept shorter than three hours at night and I'm so thankful for that. I wasn't sleeping very well before you were born and since you joined the world, I've been sleeping wonderfully. Thank you, son.

At the hospital, everyone noticed that you have a super strong neck. Less than 24 hours after you were born, you started picking your head to turn from side to side. You didn't want to miss anything and if you heard your dad talking on the other side of the room, you would pick your head up off my chest and turn towards his voice. It was amazing. You still want to take everything in and will do pushups on our chests when we hold you.

Your dad and I were absolutely thrilled when we learned you were a boy. However, having a daughter first means there is a learning curve when it comes to changing your diapers. And right now we're pretty bad at it. We're trying to go quicker but we still take a long time and you used to scream for most of the change. You are doing much better at getting your diaper changed and I think your parents are too. All I can say is we're working on it, Turtle.

Actually, this whole parenting thing? We're working on it too, Turtle. But always know we just love you to bits.

Sometimes you just need to cry

My friend Bridget, a Linden Lady, sent me the world's best clip. It combines so many, many things that I love.

1. Adele's "Someone Like You"

2. "Friday Night Lights" finale reference

3. Haagen Dazs

4. Coldplay

5. Hilarity

The timing of this clip couldn't be better as Joe and I watched the finale of "Friday Night Lights" just last night and are mourning the end of the series. I wanted to shout "Texas forever" and go to Applebee's when it was done.

Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can't lose.

"Everyone with a heart and an iTunes account has done this. 

So I know it. I get it. And I want in."

Thank you, Bridge. Thank you.

P.S. If you want a good read, Bridget's last post made me laugh ridiculously hard. Don't you agree with me that she should blog more often??

This is real life

Caleb is going to be a month old on Tuesday. I'm really not sure how we got here. Time flies when you're in love which is exactly how we're living right now.

We spend most of our days holding this new baby and playing fort and pirate ship with the big sister. I'm learning the new two-kid routine of getting out the door for preschool, running errands and finding time for a nap. Because no matter what, mama's gotta nap.

So far the transition has not been as bad as I thought. Based on people's warnings of going from one to two kids, I was preparing myself for the seventh circle of hell. So maybe the adjustment has been good based on my incredibly low and fearful expectations but I'll take it either way.

It probably also helps that my recovery is about 40,000 times easier than my recovery with Madeline. I remember not wanting to move or laugh for all of May, June and July 2007.

But whether it's because of the c-section, my second kid, looking forward to "Friday Nights Lights" every evening or because I felt so awful for the last trimester, this recovery has been a walk in the park and I will be forever grateful for that.

Madeline has a little brother and sometimes I want to pinch myself to make sure this is real life. And it is. This is real life for us.

She loves to "babysit" Caleb when I'm in the shower or in another room. She coos over him and thinks every inch of him is cute.

One time she walked into the room and whimpered, "Ooohhh, look at his cute little armpits." True story.

Who says that? My daughter, that's who.

Madeline is in love with "knock, knock" jokes right now. She is surprisingly good at making them up. She tells them all the time and wants to hear them from Joe and I too.

A Madeline original:

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Soap.
Soap who?
Soap aren't you glad you don't have to wash Santa's sleigh?

Joe and I are awful at making them up. Which is why Joe googled jokes earlier today during a marathon session.

We aren't doing much these days other than being a family. And that is just fine with me.

All of these photos were taken by my sister-in-law Jenny who runs Junebug Images. That's why they're all so pretty. She also got me a subscription to People magazine for Christmas which is just the final proof that she rocks.

Joy and happiness

Right now, I'm loving all of this.

1. Caleb smiles all the time. Go ahead and tell me it's just gas or reflexes. I don't care. My son smiles at me and I get to see his sleepy face light up throughout the day.

2. Madeline sings Christmas songs around the house now. Her little voice, getting most of the words wrong, makes me so happy. She's like her daddy who sings around the house and that makes me happy too.

3. My Pandora is set on Mariah Carey's Christmas station. I have no shame in admitting this is just so I can hear "All I Want For Christmas," both her version and the one from "Love Actually."

4. If Caleb develops a bald patch on the front left side of his head, it's because I am physically incapable of not stroking it.

5. Joe brought home a big bag of peanut M&M's when I was having a bad day three days ago. The bag is empty tonight.

6. Last summer and fall, I shopped for 0-3 month gender-neutral onesies at Goodwill. This week, I got to look for BOY clothes. It thrilled my soul.

7. Madeline is making Christmas gifts for us in her preschool. It's supposed to be a surprise but it is just killing her to not tell us. This might make me a bad mom but her agony cracks me up.

8. Joe really is the funniest guy alive. He and Madeline went to his sister's concert while I stayed home with Caleb. He texted me the best one-liners throughout the evening, tying together high school show choir and "Friday Night Lights" references. It was brilliantly executed and I wanted to stand up in the living room and applaud him.

9. McDonald's has small peppermint hot chocolates for $1 until December 5. I'm addicted. I plan on buying one every day until then. I may or may not have bought two at one time this week because the small just wasn't going to cut it.

10. Hayley's guest post at The Nester, Favorite Thiiiiiiings, makes me want to throw a party. Seriously, is that not the best idea ever? Even though I'm in no shape to throw a party and should probably focus on, you know, cleaning my baseboards or something, I want to do this. Maybe next Christmas when I'm not tied to my white couch, breastfeeding and watching a bunch of teenage football players.

11. It might be weird to make an 11-point list but I just to mention this: I can bend over and TOUCH THE GROUND! You have no idea how amazing this is. I can pick stuff up off the floor. I can use the dustpan. Sometimes I reach down to touch the ground JUST BECAUSE I CAN and that is happiness beyond belief. I will never take that motion for granted again.