Athan's First Month

My blogging void from the last month is directly related to today's topic...Athan's first month!

I decided to be realistic and let Jay handle all the posting of pictures and telling the story of Athan's birth and just focus and recovering and caring for our newborn. It was great to see how fast he did post pictures and stories about Athan. I loved seeing his excitement.

Now one full month has passed and so I want to record a few details here before they are erased from my mind. I think two things surprised us the most about Athan in the early weeks with him. (1) This baby can sleep! We were shocked at how much he slept and how he didn't really want to wake for feedings. We had to wake him to eat. I even set an alarm a few times at night because he wasn't old enough to go the 7 hours that he once went on his own without eating. Of course, we knew this was change as he grew older and reached more of his full term age (he was over 2.5 weeks early). (2) And, oh boy, is he loud!! These aren't so much cries that I'm talking about as just regular noises. He grunts in his sleep and makes all types of sounds. His digestive noises are even loud. Jay and I have gotten many laughs in the middle of the night just listening to him.

Our biggest event of the first month was a trip to Colorado for David and Lauren's wedding. He was just amazing on our trip. He slept so much of the time and adjusted so well. The only time he cried in public was at the end of the reception. He did have a few meltdowns in the hotel or car. The most memorable was our last night in the hotel as we were trying to get the boys to sleep. Jay was holding a screaming Athan, and I was consuling a hysterical Hudson after he ran into a dresser (he was in serious need of sleep). Another great moment was at a gas station near the Kansas border when he shot poop out all over me and the car (thanks for letting us borrow your car, Gigi!). I yelled at Jay to come help and before we could finish cleaning him up, he had peed all over me again. You have to laugh in these moments!

Hudson has done great. He has adjusted well to being a big brother and has the sweetest "little" voice when he talks to Athan. He loves to talk about how he is going to teach Athan about sounds and how to do all kinds of things. We've had to work on being gentle, not squeezing Athan when he gets the urge or trying to pick him up. Every once in awhile he does get tired of Athan being around or being in my arms and just asks for me to put him to bed or lay down on the couch. I'm really proud of him though.

We've had a good first month. We're grateful for all the help we've had from wonderful family and friends. Extra helping hands and a warm meal have meant so much to us. We're adjusting to our new sleep schedule and trying to be realistc about what we can expect from Athan. It's sometimes hard to remember how much work it takes to get a little one to sleep. We can remember Hudson doing well, but we may forget how much effort it took on our part and how he has to get a little older before he can do more on his own.

I'm thankful for this time and for Athan's great health. God has heard our prayers.