Nathan @ 1 Month

It’s hard to believe Nathan is already a month old! The time is going by as quickly as everyone said it would. I can’t believe how much Nathan has grown this month. It’s certainly been a month of adjustment, but I am doing my best to savor all these moments – whatever they bring. Here’s a look back at Nathan’s first month.

I was so thankful Nathan was born over our Spring Break. It was wonderful to have Andy with us at the hospital every day. All too soon, Dad had to go back to school but he hurries home as soon as he is able to cuddle with Nathan. This is the view I often see of my two favorite men, since Nathan likes best to sleep on top of us.

We were thankful to have my Mom come and stay with us, especially since that coincided with the first week Andy returned to school. Mom was great at keeping us caught up on laundry and cooking meals and cleaning the house so I could sit and feed Nathan – which is what still fills my time every day. Her great help certainly contributed to my smooth c-section recovery as well. It was also so good to have Mom’s help getting ready for our baptism company, as well as having an extra pair of hands to help with Nathan. What Grandma minds doing that?

We celebrated Nathan’s baptism on Palm Sunday at Ascension and had a full house of family to rejoice with us. It was impressive that we had 6 of his 8 Aunts and Uncles with us for the day, too. Nathan is a content baby in church and has slept through every single church service he’s attended…so far.

We also celebrated our first Easter as a family of three only a week later. It’s good to have a tripod at times like these, because we certainly don’t want to miss out on these family picture opportunities!

Other than the big events of baptism and Easter, we’ve been staying home and away from the various illnesses that seem to be making the rounds lately. Nathan did get a bit of congestion already but handles the nose cleaning pretty well. He weighed in at 9 pounds at his three week check-up. Now, we don’t go back until 2 months in June but I am confident he has gained substantially since then.

Nathan is handling breastfeeding very well – after a bit of transition from our time in NICU. He takes a bottle without any fuss, too. This is a boy who loves to eat so if there is food, he’ll drink it! He does have some gas issues that have caused him discomfort so we are hoping he grows out of that soon. He also loves his pacifier, and that is very helpful at times!

Nathan and I take lots of naps together because he sleeps best on top of us. Thankfully, with rare exception, Nathan is sleeping 3 to 4 hour stretches at night – which is lovely! It’s even more lovely now that he’s sleeping at night in his bassinet. Now, if I can just get him to nap there during the day so I could get more things done! Oh well. We’re working on it, and I figure these newborn holding days will be over before I know it.

We take lots of pictures so Daddy won’t miss anything that happens during our day. Actually, it is my husband who is taking most of the pictures. With over 600 pictures taken in this past month, we are going to need several photo albums to capture all the cuteness like this.

Nathan likes riding in his carseat. This has been great for our drives to and from church, as well as the doctor. This bodes well for our travels this summer because we have two trips planned to Nebraska for weddings!

I enjoy all the precious moments at home with my boy. He has such big eyes and is eager to take in all that is happening around him. I think we’re starting to see the beginnings of real smiles, too.

Nathan likes his tummy time. I hear that some babies do not, but Nathan has enjoyed it from the very beginning. He also has very strong neck muscles as all his visitors and doctors have commented. This is a tummy time picture from 3 weeks and you can see how well he controls his neck muscles already! Nathan has even rolled over several times (from tummy to back) when he gets excited.

Of course, we have been reminded day in and day out that Nathan Reagan was indeed worth the wait. We are so thankful that he’s here! This month has brought so many changes to our lives and we look forward to the changes in the months (and years) ahead that Nathan will bring to our lives!

I hope you all enjoyed the glimpse into our lives over this past month! I’ll try to keep you posted with monthly updates on Nathan as he grows. Now, to attempt to resume our regular posting schedule here at Joyfully Thriving!