Six weeks of "Stu"

Dear Son:

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You are six weeks old now! Things I want to remember about you at this age:

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-Your eyes still haven't settled on a color. One day they look like they're turning brown, the next they look blue again.

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-Your hair seems to still be dark, but it might be thinning a tad in the back from laying down on it in your cradle and the car seat.

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-You love watching your sisters! You're quite content when they have you surrounded. (I wonder if in a few short years this will change and you'll want them to leave you alone?!)

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-You now often smile and "talk" to the crosses we have hanging on the wall behind the couch when I feed you there. It's probably my favorite thing you do right now! I wish I could memorize the sound of your little voice.

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-Some of the things I call you right now: Baby Brother, Baby B, Little Prince, my son

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-You'll let anyone hold you, which I'm thankful for. Your sisters were a bit more finicky!

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-You're still so touch-oriented. Today we were at a restaurant and you were getting fussy in your car seat beside me. All I did was cup my hand against the side of your face, and you began to drift off to sleep. Usually if you're fussy, all I have to do is pick you up, hold you close and rock you and then you're content.

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-Your newborn size pants are almost too short for you, and you're beginning to wear size small (0-3 months). I'm really sad about the pants...those newborn size ones are so precious! I'm going to be saving the first pair we ever bought you. They're navy blue, and they're my absolute favorite pair on you. Tonight I put you in a pair of size three months jammies for the first time, and they almost fit you perfectly! We wonder if you're going to be tall like your Papaw Dees.

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-You're still taking about four ounces of formula at a time, and you eat every three hours.

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-You're not sleeping through the night yet, but you're only waking once in the middle of the night still. So that's ok. Since you're my last baby, I'm going to savor all the middle-of-the-nights I get with you!

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-You don't get mad when we put you in your car seat or in the bathtub anymore.

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-Your poor little tear ducts are still blocked, so your eyes get green-"goop"y a lot.

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-You're so laid back and go-with-the-flow! Your sisters were much more high-strung and high maintenance.

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-You don't flail your arms and legs quite as much anymore, though you don't have complete control over them yet, either.

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-I'm beginning to think that you sleep better under lighted and noisy conditions. For instance, the other day you wouldn't nap, so M and I went into my room to make the bed since you weren't sleeping anyway. We turned on a small lamp, and our presence calmed you down. We ended up playing on the bed, and after a few minutes I realized that you were finally snoozing away in your cradle! All it took was a little light and a little noise.

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-We're not swaddling you anymore when we lay you in your cradle to sleep. You had begun kicking and wriggling out of your blankets, so we decided you were ready to sleep without them. So we've begun putting you in your footie jammies to sleep (we'd been putting you in onesies to sleep before since you were all bundled up). Daddy put them on you for the first time Thursday night, and you were about the cutest thing I've ever seen!

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-You're cute and all in your footies, but I'm deeply sad that you've outgrown swaddling. When I laid down to sleep every night, I used to love watching you in your cradle all swaddled up looking like a little pea pod. Sometimes your little legs would kick up out of reflex, and your blankets made you look like a little cocoon moving. I realized last night as I went to sleep watching you that I'd never again see that since you're my last baby. I wish I'd been better prepared for that while we were still swaddling you! I don't think I savored it enough.

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-You're ready to be moved into your crib now. (Which means we need to get on the ball finding bunk beds for your sisters!!) I noticed last night that you take up so much space in your cradle since you're getting so long! Your hands touch the sides of the cradle when your arms are spread out.

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-If someone's holding you while you're awake, you prefer to be held upright rather than laying down. Your sisters were the same way.

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-You no longer need receiving blankets rolled up on either side of you in your car seat for support. You don't slump over anymore!

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I love every precious thing about you. You're such a good baby! I love you so very much.