Archives for May 2012

Dear Baby Wee,

You may be wondering why I didn’t use your “real” name. From Day 1 in the hospital, your beloved older brother has taken to calling you, “Wee” (he thinks babies say, “WEE!” instead of “Wahh!”), and, while it used to be funny, it’s actually become your most commonly used nickname. We all probably use it more than “Anthony”! Haha!

You also may be wondering why I am writing you this, 2 weeks and 2 days after you turned 1 month old…let me tell you, kiddo. Momma’s trying. While you may get the short end of that proverbial stick, you are definitely benefiting from being a second child. It’s surprising how much “came back” to your Momma about raising an infant. You and Momma have had a MUCH better breastfeeding experience than she did with your brother. You’re gaining weight like a Buddha (one of your other nicknames), and you nurse on demand, whenever you feel like it, unless Momma is teaching a piano lesson. Momma knew which foods to avoid to keep your little tummy from getting too upset and gassy. So, even though your first letter is a little late, you’ve had a much better time of it 🙂 At your one month appointment, you were 11 pounds, 4 oz., which is the 90th percentile! Yowza! Explains the gazillion rolls you have all over your thighs and arms. You’ve been in 3 month clothing for the past 2 weeks and have already moved up to Size 2 diapers!

One of your other nicknames is “Barnacle”. While you will occasionally tolerate being put down, you are ALWAYS happy being held. You stop crying within a millisecond of being picked up, every time. When Mommy carries you around the house or the grocery store in a sling, you are peacefully asleep within a minute. Snuggling with you is pretty much one of the best parts of Momma’s day.

Also, you are a fantastic sleeper! From Day 3 of your life, when we were given a bassinet/rocker contraption, you’ve slept one 4-5 hour stretch every single night! For the past 6 weeks! Granted, once you are awake you want to nurse every hour to make up for lost time, but Momma loves that one long stretch of sleep so much that she could kiss you (oh wait, she does, all day long!).

You spent the first 5 weeks of your life living at your grandparents house, which meant that you had dozens of hands to hold you at all hours of the day. Your Nana and Papa Cone also came over often (sometimes every day!), along with your Aunt Brooke and Emily, and your Cousin Rachel. Just recently, you met and bonded with your Uncle Joe who you DEFINITELY look a ton like! You also met Uncle David and Aunt Autumn. There are SO many people who love you, Mr. Anthony. You will never lack for hugs and kisses.

Speaking of hugs and kisses….your older brother smothers you with them all day long. When he hears you cry, he runs over and says, “Wee! Wee!” until someone goes and gets you. He tries to pick you up, and whenever we ask if he wants to “hold” you, he shouts, “Yeah!”. Whenever we ask he if he wants to go and see you, he gets super excited and starts saying, “Wee! Wee!” over and over. He loves to pat your head and give you “cuddles”. He leaves toys in your bouncy seat for you, and sometimes shoves one of his pacifiers in your mouth (super generous, right there!). Safe to say, he’s one of your biggest fans around here!

Lately, you’ve been more and more alert, but no real smiles yet. Already, we can tell you are super serious, yet also easy going. For instance, you had a HORRIBLE diaper rash for 2 weeks, but we didn’t even think it was that bad at first because you hardly ever cried about it. Once it went from open sores to a yeast infection, we had to treat it with some medicine, and now you don’t even cry during a diaper change. Most of the time, it doesn’t even wake you up! Like I said, you are incredibly docile, unless we put you down 😉 You can go from perfectly content to SPITTING MAD in less than 5 seconds, then back to content a few seconds later, over and over. Your Dad has the perfect description for you: “I’m fine, I’m fine, life is good, ahhh—WAIT, I’M NOT OKAY! SOUND THE ALARM! THE WORLD IS ENDING! DO YOU HEAR ME?? ah, okay, this is tolerable, I can wait, maybe I’ll take a nap…” Not even tummy-time phases you– you just turn it into a nap.

You are also the world’s noisiest eater. I thought your brother was loud, but you definitely take the cake! For the last week, all 4 of us have been sleeping in the same room. Your cries don’t wake up your older brother, but your eating sure could! You grunt, hiccup, spit, growl, and then grunt some more. It’s hilarious, and kind of embarrassing (I’m not sure I want to take you in public– people might think I’m nursing a piglet down there!). For the first couple weeks, you only nursed one side at a time, which still gave you plenty of milk (evidently, considering your weight gain!), but made Momma more than a little uncomfortable at times. You also grunt and growl through most of your light daytime naps.

While we have hit a few bumps along the road (jaundice, the yeast infection, even a belly-button hernia!), it’s been much easier than we all thought to integrate you into our little family. You will make such a perfect complement to Gregory, and he will always love and protect you. While it’s been 6 weeks since you were born, Momma can’t imagine how she lived life without you.

Love, Momma