Happy 1 month Kensley!

Dear Kensley,

Today you turned one month old! I cant believe how fast this month has flown by. After that last month of pregnancy I thought you would never be here and look, you will soon be driving! And having boyfriends! And telling me that Im ruining your life. *Sigh* Please don’t ever become a teenager. Anyway, I told myself a long time ago that I was going to write you a letter each month telling you all about the accomplishments you have made and anything else I choose because I AM YOUR MOTHER. And that should be a good enough reason for anything.

Since your only a month old there really aren’t a lot of things you have accomplished yet. But there are three things you are really good at and that is eating, sleeping and pooping, so I thought Id go ahead and tell you how wonderful you are at those three things. Let’s start off with the thing you are the best at – EATING. You are an eater girl. You started off with just a mere 20ml at the hospital and have worked your way up to almost 6oz sometimes. Your not much of a crier, but if you wake up and don’t have a bottle in your mouth within 5 seconds, boy do you let us know. You turn a wonderful shade of crimson and scream this blood curdling scream that would make the toughest of men run for cover. Lately you may give me a few whimpers to let me know your hungry and if I miss those cues your head starts spinning round in circles and I start wondering where I can call an exorcist at this time of night…When you finally get your bottle you attack it much like a lion pounces on a gazelle. Your mouth opens wide and you shake it violently back and forth all the while trying to shove both your fists in your mouth. You get even more frustrated with me (its not my fault) and scream louder, but if you would just get your hands out of the way you could have your bottle a few seconds faster. You attack your pacifier with just as much vigor as you do your bottle and almost every night I am lulled to sleep by the sound of you loudly slurping on your pacifier. You also have been given the nickname “Binky Face” because of the ring around your face that forms after you try to suck it down your throat. Just to prove how much of an eater you really are, the nurse from Help Me Grow came to our house yesterday to weigh you and you weighed 10lbs 5oz. You were 8lbs at birth, but when we left the hospital you were a mere 7lbs 12oz. So really, you almost gained 3lbs in a month. I know that someday that sentence will mortify you to no end, but I have to tell you that Im proud of my Little Miss Piggy Pants.

Sleeping has been a work in progress. Right now I would give you a C-. The night you came home you woke up every 2 hours, but after that you really seemed to basically get up, eat and then go back to sleep. I told everyone how lucky we were and we really have been. There have only been a few times that you wanted to wake up at 3am and STAY UP FOR EXTENDED PERIODS OF TIME. Thank God those were only a few nights. Unfortunately, those were nights that daddy was at work and momma had to deal with you on her own. For some reason laying in bed with me seemed to quiet you down so I didnt get any sleep so that you could.Now you get up around 3am and 7am and I can deal with that. So yeah night time sleeping is pretty good. Day time sleeping is a different story. The only way you will sleep during the day is when you are being held. I don’t get it, because at night we can swaddle you and put you in your bassinet and typically you can fall asleep on your own. During the day that doesn’t work. I cant tell you how many times Ive tried to put you in your bouncer seat so I could (and Im so sorry to inconvenience you) go to the bathroom and had to run out with my pants around my ankles to pick you up and hold you on the toilet with me. Forget trying to get anything done during the day, my sole purpose on earth is now to carry you around in a comfortable position. Thankfully, Daddy comes home and you lay peacefully on his chest so I can then cook dinner, clean up the house, do dishes and all the laundry that had to be put off during the day. But I hope this doesn’t come across as you being a bad baby, your really not. And its probably our fault just as much as yours because we love holding you. And I secretly love the fact that when you are upset, momma is the one who can calm you down.

Pooping- Yeah, your pretty good at this. Is there anything else to say about pooping? Besides that you HATE when I change your diaper. Because far be it for me to bother you by giving you a nice clean diaper and a dry bottom. Someone should definitely call children’s services on us for the way we treat you.

I forgot to mention how much you love bath time. You started out really disliking the sponge baths but once your umbilical cord fell off (Yay! Your such an amazing baby!) and we put you in the big girl tub you have loved it. I think you really had a blast the first time we put you in because right before we set you in the tub you peed all over daddy and he was so shocked that he just stood there like a deer in the headlights. He had three different places to set you over so that you didnt pee all over the floor, but all of that went out the window. I know you were smiling to yourself about that one. Now you sit there peacefully and let us do all kinds of crazy things. Wash your hair! Scrub your bottom! Eat your toes! And I am so excited to think you may be a swimmer just like your momma. Nothing makes me happier than that.

So this month has been pretty eventful. Its hard to believe that before this month, we didn’t know you or who you were or your personality. Now you are our Binky Face, our Miss Piggy Pants, our Sweet Pea. This month has been all about getting to know you and I have to admit, I really, really like you. I don’t know what I did to deserve a little girl as perfect as you, but Im so glad to have you. My hands are so full and so is my heart. You won’t understand the love we have for you until you have a child of your own, but I hope that each and every day of your life you know without a doubt that daddy and I love you more than anything we have ever known. We are so lucky to have you and we wished and prayed for you long before you came into our lives. We wondered what you would look like and who you would be like and in our wildest dreams you couldn’t have been as perfect as you are. We love you and I cant wait for all the many months to come.

Love,

Momma