Growth Spurt

Dear Jack,

You nursed yesterday at 3:30, 4:30, 6:30, 7:30, 8:30, and 10:00 before going to bed for the night. You woke at your typical one, four, and seven, and then ate again at 9:30, 10:30, 11:30, and 12:30.

I think you may be going through a growth spurt.

Somehow I feel better about this whole process having come to that conclusion.

Happy growing!

Love,
Mom

Backseat Help

Dear Jack,

You may not always appreciate her, but I do want you to know that your sister tries to help you any way she can.

Love,
Mom

Dear Jack,

I want you to really look at this picture. I want you to see your father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. With you, that makes four generations of Nolen men. I want you to watch these men and use their examples when deciding how to live your life. I want you to be proud to carry the Nolen name.


And when you are older and wonder where you got your distinctive ears, I don't want you blaming me one bit... the Nolen I married got his ears from his mother's side of the family.

Love,
Mom

Baptism

Dear Jack,

We had your baptism today. You won't remember it, but I hope you will grow to understand it, appreciate it, and, when the time comes, confirm it with your own profession of faith.

Love,
Mom





P.S. A whole lot of folks love you a lot and came from all sorts of far away places just to be present during this event. Even more folks love you a lot and weren't able to make it today. I am so grateful to each and every one of them... those present in person and those present in spirit.

Excited

Dear Jack,

I am excited. Excited that your Uncle James and his family will be here soon. Excited that your dad is on the way back from the airport with Grandpa and Nana Nolen. Excited that your other grandmas will both be here soon. The whole family is gathering and that is exciting.

But more exciting is the reason for the gathering: your baptism this Sunday.

I am excited that God sent His son for your salvation and for mine. I am excited that God offers you the gift of baptism and that I will be able to give you that gift tomorrow. I am excited that you are a child of God and that tomorrow, in front of all of this family, we will make that statement publicly, boldly, and quite officially.

I am excited for you.

Love,
Mom

One in the Morning

Dear Jack,

These were my thoughts at one in the morning:

God, in His infinite wisdom, made the cry of a newborn baby to be one of the most piercing, adrenaline raising, urgent sounds in the world. Only to that newborn's mother. All other newborn cries are just cries. That makes so much sense evolutionarily. It does not make sense at 1AM.

You are particularly adorable when your face is all red and scrunched up. Also, most newborns don't cry real tears. You, my boy, are advanced.

Love,
Mom

Finding the Joy

Dear Jack,

You are a pretty easy baby. You cry pretty much only when you are hungry, so as long as you can nurse on demand (which we do), you stay calm and happy most of the day. You go predictably for two to three hours in between feedings, so I can be fairly sure that having fed you, we can go out for an hour and half or so and do fun things, or just run errands. You like being in the Moby Wrap and sling that I have, so it's nice to walk around with you close, but you also like your swing, so I have the option of putting you down when I need to.

See, mostly very easy.

Of course, all bets are off in the evenings. You are a fussy, fussy guy in the evenings. From about six or seven until about eleven o'clock at night, you want to nurse pretty much the entire time. You nurse until you fall asleep and then you wake up any time I try to move you and then you scream and cry until you can nurse again (and really, that milk is not a truly never-ending supply, so for at least thirty to forty five minutes in the middle of all of this, we have to take a break and you hate taking that break and often cry until you can nurse again). Holding you, rocking you, putting you in your swing, none of these things work. So really, for about four hours every evening, I sit in a chair, holding you and nursing you.

There is a big part of me that misses the time when I could do what I wanted in the evenings. Your marathon nursing time is also the "after your sister goes to bed and grown ups can do what they want" time and since nursing is not one of your father's many talents, he's still doing whatever he wants while I am pretty much limited to sitting in a chair with you.

Sigh. Or, to put it another way, you and I are bonding each and every evening at a time when your sister is fast asleep and doesn't need my attention anyway. I hold you and look at you and smell you and just marvel at how beautiful you are. I remind myself that the days of having evenings to do what I want are just around the corner and the days of holding a newborn will come to a close so much faster than I want them to. I thank God that He gave me such a gift as you and that I am able to sit and nurse you like I wanted to. I just try to slow down and enjoy the moments.

I find the joy.

Love,
Mom