Today your Grandma K gave you a special gift. It is a locket with an “L” on it that belonged to your Great Grandma, Linnea. While you will never get to meet her, you are named after her because she was a very special person.
Great Grandma Linnea was a very happy, social and loving person. She was always whistling a tune, and she told me that if she ever stopped whistling, then I would know that something was wrong. She had lots and lots of friends and loved to throw parties. She would introduce me to her friends and proudly share my latest childhood accomplishment, which always made me feel special. She was the type of person who could never say no to someone or something in need. For this reason everyone came to her with animals that needed a home. For this reason your Grandma K grew up with dogs, cats, birds and even a mouse. She would always tell me how handsome your Dad was, and although she did not get to see us get married- I knew she was hoping we would.
You carry a little bit of her with you, and this necklace will help remind you of that. I know she would have been beaming with pride for you too.
Inevitably, the first question that people pose when they meet you is “who does she look like?” The answer to that question is complex because each day that seems to change. It also seems to differ from person to person. We’ll let you decide for yourself.
While you certainly will have bits of your Dad and I in how you look and in your personality, the combination is uniquely yours. We enjoy discovering that each day.
Today is your first Christmas! We have a few presents for you here, and Mom and I exchanged a few presents too, but nothing compares to the gift that you have been.
Lifting you up out of the basinet each day is a new little gift. Each day we get to enjoy watching you grow in little ways. It’s hard to believe sometimes that you have changed so much already, but you have! Here you are in the hospital when you were two days old:
And here you are today in the same outfit on Christmas morning:
A year from now, we’re going to need to look back at these pictures to remind ourselves of how small you were at first!
Today will be a big day (as was yesterday!). You’ll be meeting your Uncle John and Aunt Jean for the first time, and you’re going to spend a lot of time in the arms of those who love you. Luckily you haven’t grown so much that we can’t hold you all day long!
When we first told your Aunts and Uncles that we were pregnant, your Aunt Jean asked what we were going to call you. I asked, “What do you mean, what are we going to call the baby? We don’t even know it is a boy or girl.” She then informed us that all growing babies needed a name, and if we didn’t pick one she was going to call you Cletus the Fetus. Well, I wasn’t going to allow anyone to refer to you as “Cletus the Fetus!” I then informed her that “Super Baby” or “Baby Awesome” were acceptable names for you.
When Uncle Joey came home from college for Christmas, he made sure everyone knew the first name we had given you.
We think your first given name suits you just fine!
Today you are two weeks old! You’re growing a lot every day, and you’re even more interested in looking around and investigating the world.
We’ve spent a lot of time together in the past couple weeks listening to music. Today we listened to Wilco as you laid on my chest and turned your head from side to side.
Yesterday you had your first official doctor’s appointment, you had a good time looking at the large mural in the waiting area.
Everything went great! We filled out a chart that had all of your activities on it, and you were already doing a few things from the 1 month age. (Lifting your head and chest up when you’re on your belly.
Here’s your growth chart:
I used metric so that we could keep it straight (that’s what they use at the doctor’s office), but for the record, you now weigh 7lbs and 13 oz! You’ve gained 10oz since your birth. You’re also 20 3/4″ tall, which puts you at the 76th percentile for your height. I think you might be tall like me!
We’re off today to ECFE (early childhood family education), so you might meet some new friends today!
You are almost a week old, and it seems like you are gaining new expressions every day. They say that these smiles are involuntary, but it seems clear that you know our voices when we talk to you.
You are already growing so much. We’ve spent what seems like hours just watching, as if you will sprout inches, grow more hair or get chubby cheeks spontaneously. And then, when we turn away or lay you down to sleep, you wake up slightly different.
You had your second car ride today, and your first trip to the coffee shop. You were completely content to ride along, and you slept through all of the falling snow.
Tonight was our seventh wedding anniversary, and we celebrated it by eating sushi, something your mom loves and wasn’t allowed to eat when pregnant with you.
We have much to celebrate and be thankful for, but most of all we were celebrating this anniversary in honor of you. There were lots of big smiles all around! 😀
Today was your first outing after coming home from the hospital. We took Yeti to the vet for some vaccinations, went to Java Jack’s (refueling for mom and dad), picked up some christmas lights at Bachmann’s, and stopped at Petco for some dog kibble. You slept the entire outing! You looked very cute doing it though, because you were wearing the outfit that Grandma K made for me to wear home from the hospital.
You have been here almost a week now, and it is clear you are the center of our world. Your Dad and I could spend hours just watching you (and do)! I know you won’t stay this small forever, and I just wanted to tell you what I have loved about your first week of life.
Day-long snuggles
Baby squeeks
Contented sighs (both yours and ours)
Sleep smiles
Your baby smell
Watching you sleep peacefully
Laughing about you filling your diaper right after we change you
Burps that sound way too loud to come from you
Watching you look at the world with wide, curious eyes
Sharing you with people who love you almost as much as we do
Feeling so full of love that we might burst
Those are just a few of the things that I hope to remember as you grow. We look forward to all the things yet to come.
by
mom
by
dad
