One Month with Jonah

How is it possible that one month has passed?  It really has been a great month.  With the exception of a few days when my tiredness caused me to lose it and everything seemed a bigger deal that it really was, I have really enjoyed my days here holding my little baby and watching the older boys play together.

The time at the hospital with Brian and Jonah was wonderful.  I missed my little (big!) boys, who couldn't come to see us until it was time to check out.  Gavin had been having tummy troubles and we didn't want to have him around the baby.  Their faces were priceless when they walked into the room. They were so excited to see their new brother.  The transition to three kids has been good.  Much easier than when we had two.  McKay shook things up around here and I had to figure out how to have a 22 month old and a new baby.  I also had just quit working so I wasn't quite sure what being a stay at home mom looked like.  Jonah has been easier because I think he's just fitting into the routine that we've already got established.  It helps that he's an easy baby (at least for now!) and is just here hanging out with us.  Every family has their own opinion about how many kids is easy or hard.  All kids are a lot of work - but I am grateful that this time around has been much smoother!

Jonah is such a good baby!  Really.  I feel like he's been pretty predictable pretty early.  Our first two nights at home were spent holding him while we slept - he didn't even cry - just wanted to be held.  By Day 5 he was doing three hour stretches of sleep in his crib at night.  What a champ!  I can only think of one night that I was up every two hours.  The rest all 3, 4, and 5 hours of sleep at a time.  So why am I still so tired??  At about 3 1/2 weeks he had a growth spurt or something where he was whiny and hungry 24/7 for two or three days.  Other than those couple of days, he has been an absolute perfect angel baby.

But I keep thinking...Isn't it amazing how quickly you can be so infatuated with someone?  I am seriously in love with this little boy.  I don't know much, but I do feel like I have some perspective this third time around.  I know this newborn phase won't last forever.  I know soon I will be able to sleep for longer than three hours at a time.  Already I can't remember how skinny his little legs were and what they looked like exactly.  I feel like I've got to soak it all in and I have been totally ok with spending my days here at home and hours and hours in a chair nursing him.  I cannot get enough of his wrinkled forehead, his super soft skin, his fuzzy back, his perfect fluffy strawberry blonde hair,

I've loved watching the boys interact with him.  Gavin has been the perfect big brother from the start.  He will hold him for quite a while.  He'll wipe spitup and ask me repeatedly, "Take a picture, mom!"  McKay loves his little brother, too.  The first day or two Jonah was home McKay seemed pretty bent out of shape and a lot angry.  He needed some extra attention.  But now his face is in Jonah's face and he has his own baby talk.  He loves to "pet" his brother and give him kisses on his head.  He has been sucking his hair, too.  Gross.

Grandma Woolf came to stay with us for five days when Jonah was three weeks old.  Then Grandpa flew in for two nights and a day and hung out as well.  The big boys ate it up.  G & G were party animals and took them all over the place.  Dinosaur Museum, Barnes & Noble, Provo Bakery, the park,  Cabela's, McDonald's, Target, In 'n Out...  They were starved for the attention and loved hearing grandma's stories and watching Power Rangers on her ipad.  I was able to rest and clean and the house was picked up for the whole week!  Thanks to my mom for running around after me putting dishes away and folding stray piles of laundry.  It was fun for all of us and I was so glad to have them here to help me, hold Jonah, and love on Gavin and McKay.

Jonah is already getting so chubby and big and I am sad to see his smallness slipping away.  But I am so excited to see who he becomes and find out more about his personality.  His name means gentle and dove (or something like that...) so we're hoping he lives up to it.  We could use a calm one around these parts!