Dear Dirk,
The past four weeks have flown right on by. Your dad and I cannot believe how fast each day goes and are astounded that you are already one month old! You continue to be my little food monster and are gaining weight like a champ. Your little body is finally starting to gain some baby fat weight which will be very necessary when the weather gets chilly and our first family trip to WA for the holidays.
Your bum is still too small for most types of diapers, even the cloth diapers we got… so Pampers is a lifesaver right now.
You were able to rock and roll out of your swaddle when you were one week old. I knew that you were getting strong muscles when you were practicing your soccer skills in my belly! You are also able to hold yourself up during tummy time with both arms and look around… your head was wobbly the first two weeks but has gotten so much stabler that you can actually turn and look at people when they talke to you or if something shiny catches your eye. The doctor could not believe that you were so mobile- mom is oh so proud- and we found some fleece sleep sacks that you now wear in your crib so that mom can get some sleep and not worry about you suffocating when you wiggle out of a swaddle. Dad is the swaddle master, by the way… he is proud of how tight he can wrap you : )… too bad you have mad ninja skills.
When you are hungry you make a face like you are a little bird- it is so precious! You eat about every 3-4 hours. You now can be a little stinker, but we are your cheerleaders through all of the painful moments… your face gets red and scrunched up when you have tummy rumblings- and we found some medicine that makes you feel better and a little less, oh how do you say, gassy : ).
The last two weeks you have been able to track sound and movement with your eyes. I love talking to you and showing you things around the house and outside. We put up the Christmas Tree after Thanksgiving and you are transfixed by the lights- your mouth hangs open and your eyes get HUGE. It is just darling.
You are definitely taking after me as a child now. You can tell the difference in elevation between sitting and standing… and boy do I have some nice looking arms because of it.
You were able to meet Grandma when you were five days old and Aunt Rachel this past week. They carried you around and talked to you all day! You LOVED that they both wore glasses.
We have started taking walks this last week. You really do not like getting strapped into the stroller, but you love the cobblestone in our cul-de-sac and looking at the different shapes and colors. Sometimes you scrunch up your face like it was hit with acid when you are in the sun, apparently our house is quite dark, and your little eyes have a hard time with sunlight- we are fixing this with excursions to the backyard and having the windows wide open, because well, Arizona has A LOT of sun and you need to get used to it.
Your chin gets all wobbly when you get nervous. You have uttered a couple of coos and ahhs for the first time this last week.
You really enjoy bath time-especially when you get your head massaged and water poured over it! And you love to hang on to someones hand- it makes the nervous chin wobble go away during tub time.
Our cat Babygirl finds you fascinating, until you start screaming, to which she ambles off and hides, or stares at you in a worried fashion. She always checks to see if we still have you when we get home- she sticks her head in the stroller or in the car seat as if to say ‘hi’ or ‘that thing is still here’ I haven’t figured out which.
You enjoyed your first Thanksgiving with Grandma, Aunt Rachel, Dad and I. Dad and I said we were especially thankful because you were in our lives. We love you with all our hearts. We scarfed down Aunt Rachel’s scrumptious cooking, completed a puzzle and listened/watched White Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. You had to endure my singing that night 2am-4am when you weren’t feeling good as I put White Christmas back on- sang and danced to the musical. I didn’t even attempt to hit a high note because I remember how you hated that when you were in my belly : ).
I can’t wait to see what the next month has in store for you. You are getting bigger, stronger and smarter each day and I feel so blessed to be able to see you grow up. We take our first plane trip in three weeks solo-without dad- and will be in WA for nine days. Can’t wait to have you meet more of the family!
Love,
Mom
