happy four (month) birthday, Adam!

Dear Adam,

It's been an exciting month! You've been on your first overnight trip, you've been to your first birthday party, and you've grown to almost double your birth weight.

Every time we take you somewhere, everyone says the same thing... "he's so beautiful" and "he's different every time we see him" and "he's so good all the time." Little do they know, huh?

Actually, you are good all the time. It's just that sometimes when you're hungry or wet or tired, you feel like you need us to know about it. Now. Loudly. I can't say that we're used to it.

The good part of you learning to communicate is still the smiles. And the laughs. We found a new game this month, "patty cake." Granted, I'm doing most of the work when we play, but you're having at least half the fun.

Now that you've found your toes, it'll only be a matter of time before you're rolling... and rolling and rolling. Your Mom and I will cherish these few months when we can count on you staying put.

It was a real blessing to be home this Memorial Day weekend and to let the three of us spend time together and with our friends. Monday, you and I got to play a lot, and today when I went to work, I really missed you.

You still make me prouder and prouder every day to be your Dad.

Love,

Dad

fourteen weeks

Most Sundays, we have a leisurely afternoon to take pictures, naps, etc. This week, was busy busy busy... going to lunch with our friends, buying a wedding present, and glasses for Mom. So this is the sum total of pictures of Adam on his fourteen week birthday. We promise to do better... :D 

three months... and one day

Adam,

I haven't got things together this month. I've been writing you a letter on your birthdays, and I don't want you to think I've forgotten. You still bring joy into our lives more and more.

Probably the best thing you've done for your Mom and I is your nighttime sleep consistency. We can be pretty confident that by about 9:00 p.m., you're going to be sacked out for a while. You even gave us an eight hour stretch a couple of times. Keep up the good work!

Interesting for us, you're still a car seat sleeper. Each night, we bundle you up in your favorite blanket and set you down for a good night's recline. I don't know whether it's the reflux or the security of being snuggled in, but the seat is where you're living these days... at night at least. We don't even have to go anywhere... if you're in the seat, that's it. If it makes for a happy baby and happy parents, we're going to keep it up. I just hope you're grown out of it by the time you go to college.

During the day, you're a great kid, eating and playing, but usually not napping. Mommy and you have gone to the YMCA several times recently, and you're meeting new friends and getting new experiences all the time. Maybe you just don't want to miss anything, and that's why you don't want to nap. We hope that in the future months you'll learn to enjoy naps. Maybe as you grow closer to thirteen pounds from your current 12.6, your tummy will be able to hold more food, and you won't be as hungry as often.

There was that one time... you slept in your crib for a nap. But, even if you don't get the napping thing down, we'll still love you, because that's what we do. You can't make us love you less, because you're ours. We're your Mom and Dad, and we want you to grow up to be strong and wise and pure.

Love,

Us

adam in the morning

One of my favorite times to see my son is first thing in the morning, before he wakes up, with the new daylight streaming in the window. He's so quiet and serene... just a wonderful reminder of the miracle of God's creative Spirit.

Adam in the Morning

he goes up to eleven

Adam turned eleven weeks old today!

happy one month!

Adam, it's amazing to think you've been here for a month. In some ways, it feels like that crazy Sunday was just a few days ago, but when I factor in the time it has taken to change 223 diapers, it feels like a month, at least. The time that we have spent has been in two- to three-hour spurts, and a lot of it was crying or feeding, but it's been quality time.

You've been a positive disruptive force in our family, blowing apart our couple-centered life, teaching us self-sacrifice, and keeping us on our toes twenty-four hours a day. Your mom and I are functioning on less sleep and less exercise, but we kind of have a groove going. I think I'm to the point now where I can let you sleep and not be continually checking to see if you're breathing. And every time you look up with your little blue eyes with a gas-induced grin, it's totally worth the effort.

I'm so glad that you've been able to meet both sets of grandparents since my Mom and Dad zipped in last weekend. All four of your grandparents think you're a very special little boy. And, before you're two months old, you're going to get to meet a bunch more of your family at Easter.

So, reflecting on your snowy one-month birthday, I continue to be convinced that the challenges that we have faced have helped each of the three of us learn to love each other more. God is continually blessing us with you.

Thanks for being our favorite boy!

Love, Mom and Dad

the most awesome wife in the world

This morning, Adam was up from 1:30 to 3:30.

I was not.

Lydia knows I've got an important meeting this morning at work, and she didn't keep me up a wink.

Have I told you lately that I love her?