One Month Old

A week ago Tuesday our little Miles is one month old (he’ll be 6 weeks old tomorrow).  It hardly seems real. 

In some ways, it seems like he’s been here forever.  I just can no longer imagine my life without him!  On the other hand, it doesn’t seem possible that a month could already have passed since I first held him in my arms and first saw his precious face.  The time really has flown by.

This past month has been exhausting, to say the least.  I honestly have no idea how much sleep I’ve been getting, and caffeine is becoming more-and-more of a necessity.  I now understand why my mom always has to have her afternoon cup of coffee.  Motherhood is very tiring!  And yet, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.  It’s an amazing thing to have someone so tiny and helpless rely on you…to need you.  My heart skips a beat every time Miles turns his head to my voice, or stops crying when someone hands him back to me.  In the past few days, he’s also started to smile.  To see your child smile at you for the very first time is absolutely indescribable. 

I get asked a lot if Miles is a “good baby”.  I’m never quite sure how to respond to that, because I’m not sure what criteria they’re basing “good” off of.  He’s not the type of baby that eats at a regular interval and then immediately nods off to sleep.  He has his fussy times of day, and there have been nights he’s been up every hour.  And boy can that kid scream!  When he gets hungry, he “goes down fast”, as Andy says.  Within a matter of seconds he can go from completely content to screaming like a banshee.  But, thankfully, a little bit of mama’s milk always seems to do the trick. ;)

We’ve really enjoyed seeing his little personality come out.  One of the first things most people notice about him (if he’s awake) is that he has the biggest most alert eyes.  He’s always looking around at everybody and everything.  He never wants to miss out on anything…which can often lead to trouble getting him to sleep.  He also hates being confined.  Swaddling went out the window after the first week, and he still screams when we strap him in his car seat (although he’s getting a little more used to it).  He loves being outside.  If he gets fussy or antsy, all we have to do is take him out into the sun and he quickly becomes perfectly happy and content.  Yesterday we took him down to a state park near us and walked all around…he ate up every minute. 

He’s very active, and gets frustrated that he can’t crawl, reach something, or turn over.  He’s notorious for kicking his legs against you, trying to stand up.  My dad is convinced he’ll be an early walker, but I guess we’ll see.  His neck is getting stronger by the day, and he’s lifting his head up a lot now…I think looking at something is a big incentive for him.  As I said earlier, he’s also just started to smile at his mommy and daddy.  It’s like he changes a little more each day!  It’s neat to watch…but I also don’t want him to grow up too fast.  

Suffice it to say, we are all doing good.  Miles is growing like crazy.  As of a week ago, he’d already grown two inches and gained almost a pound (almost double than that if you count his weight loss after birth).  He’s starting to sleep better at night (he had night and day a bit mixed up at first, heh!), and he’s grown to love his baths (which he hated at first). 

And Andy and I?  We’re falling more in love with our little man each day.  We love each minute that we get to spend with him.  Miles is truly the most incredible gift we’ve ever received.  We know that God has great plans for this sweet babe, and we’re excited to be a part of them. 

One month down…many more to go.  We love you, precious boy!