Surreal Grace: One Month with baby Thomas

In an attempt to give Mr. Thomas the same blog love as I did Mary Kate, I wanted to record some details of our first month with this precious boy. I could sum it up in one sentence. I am in love.

He is a dream, y'all. He is like every other baby in that he cries when he wants to eat, loves to be held, wakes up a few times a night, and poops every 2.1 minutes. But he also is an awesome eater, is starting to smile, and stares so sweetly into your eyes. There isn't a person in this house who isn't gaga over this boy.

We went to the doc today and Thomas is 9 lbs, 7oz, (up from 8.6 just last week!) and 20 1/4 inches long. This puts him in the 38% for weight but 8% in height. It makes me giggle, this little short, round person I have. Obviously we are not the least bit concerned about this stuff right not but it still makes me laugh.

Life is exhausting, I won't lie. He is up a few times a night, 2 on a good night, 3 on a bad one. Thankfully, he mostly eats and then goes back to sleep. I have started a bad habit of letting him come into bed with me after the last feeding (usually 4 or 5 am). But I love that just a little bit of snuggle time next to mom sends him back to sleep until 7 or 8, usually giving me some alone time with MK first thing in the morning. I think if I let him cry just a little bit, he'd go back to sleep at night but we tried that one night and Mary Kate woke up and cried for over an hour. I am afraid that when we start sleep training T, we're going to need to re-train Mary Kate. Oh how I miss sleep.

But life is exhilarating too. The more Thomas wakes up to the world, the more I see his gorgeous blue eyes, the more deeply I fall in love with this boy. Some of my favorite parts of my day with Thomas Perry:

nursing him when he looks up into my eyes, with a little hand on my neck.
getting MK out of bed and the first thing she asks is to "kiss kiss!" her brother
hearing MK give me a play by play of any of his needs. "Thomas hungry." "Thomas ready to eat." "Poor Thomas, Thomas crying." "It's okay buddy, It's okay." "Don't cry buddy." "I kiss Thomas tootsies."
watching an already beautiful bond between Thomas and his big sister.
having him fuss in his bouncy seat only to put him in my arms and have him fall asleep in seconds. I love that I comfort him so.
Watching Ross with his son. He adores him. He jumps at the chance to feed him, change him, hold him- anything.
remembering where we were with Mary Kate at this point and thinking about how adjusting to Thomas has been so much easier than it was with my girl.
praying over him in the middle of the night. It feels like no one else in the world is awake and it's just us. I pray for his health and happiness, his present and his future. I pray that he knows how greatly he is loved, by us, but more importantly, by Jesus. I pray that he loves us and Jesus right back.
the feeling of accomplishment I have when both kids are fed, dressed and in the car (screaming or not), ready for our day. I truly feel like this deserves a medal :)

I know there is more but Ross has been sick so we're a man down in this house and that is taking the fatigue to a whole new level. This little person is the best addition to our family, more than we could have ever dreamed. In June, when we faced the risk of losing this little guy, countless people pulled together. Our moms dropped their lives and moved into our home to care for us. Our sisters took care of MK whenever we needed. Our friends took her on play dates. We had our house cleaned and had meals delivered by generous people. All of this so I could stay on my back and keep this baby baking. My best friend's grandmother prayed and prayed from her basement apartment in New York, as did the elderly women on my own grandmother's handicap pew at Blessed Sacrament Church. A village of love, with their prayers and service, enabled us to bring this perfect boy into the world. He is healthy and beautiful and I feel such a debt of gratitude that I've had the last month with this angel baby.

To our little boy, you are a treasure. You are the perfect addition to this family and we wouldn't be the same without you. We truly thank God for you!