Lewis is 11.2 pounds, 21 1/2 inches long. He still sleeps the vast majority of the day away, though there are a few periods of alertness in which he likes to watch the world around him. He is much better at nursing than when we began, but he still needs to be burped multiple times per side during his meals; he gets overwhelmed pretty easily. And he has a really hard time getting some of his burps to go ahead and come out, so we go through periods of fussiness each day (or night) while he tells us just how uncomfy his tummy is. Fortunately, once he's asleep for the night, he has not had trouble going back to sleep between meals.
In this month, I've only cried uncontrollably in the middle of the night once--though I'm sure there have been more times that I wanted to cry and decided not to feel so sorry for myself, because all this is normal! The night before last, I had the distinct thought, "I wonder if I'll ever be able to sleep through a whole night again, even after Lewis is sleeping all night." And then I smiled to myself, because I remembered having the exact same thought in Lincoln's early days. And the answer is YES! my body will definitely be able to sleep for a full eight or nine hours in a row again, and will return to a full night gladly (whether a "full night" will still last 8 or 9 hours is another story).
Lewis is a cuddly baby. This is a fact I love, because Lincoln was never much for cuddling, even at his tiniest. It is a wonderful, wonderful thing to nuzzle a soft, fuzzy baby head again my cheek, to fold his little body in my arms against my heartbeat. But it also means I have long days in which nothing much seems to have gotten accomplished. I'm very aware of this sensation in the moment, but when I look back over the past month, I know it has been a wonderful month.
He's beginning to look chubby, and the plumper his cheeks get the more he looks like his big brother did. I could see from the beginning that the bone structure of his face looked a lot like Lincoln at birth, but his facial features were different. Every little feature on Lincoln's face was the spitting image of his daddy, and though I could see Lincoln in Lewis's face, I couldn't see Andy. We're not really sure that he looks like me, necessarily--but Andy is sure (and rejoicing) that he has my nose, at least. I like the Huntress nose, but Andy apparently never has. And this is random...but when holding up his ankles to change a Lewis diaper, his little joints do lots of cracking. I am reminded of midnight trips to the bathroom when I was a little kid, and being comforted to hear the sound of my daddy's ankles popping as he turned them in his sleep in the next bedroom over. So maybe he has Johnson Joints :0) I've never had this experience with Lincoln, but it's an exhilarating thing to have a baby that looks like you, that people can visually connect to you. It makes the feeling even more real that, from my own body, this brand-new little person was born, and some of who he will be is rooted in who I am.
And his little grin? The one that smirks across his face as tummy bubbles dissipate? It's beautiful. And I am so looking forward to when he will smile at us all for real.
Welcome, again, to our family, Lewis Jeremiah. We love you so much, and are honored to be entrusted with your care, your keeping, your raising and teaching.
"My son, if your heart is wise, my heart will rejoice--indeed, I myself; yes, my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak right things...My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways." Proverbs 23: 15-16, 26
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