One Month

Let's see how good I am at committing to a montly letter to my daughter. This is not an original idea - I originally saw this done at http://www.dooce.com/ and thought it was wonderful.

Dear Natalie,

You are now one month old, I can hardly believe how lucky your father and I are to have you in our lives. You are such a sweet baby and we really appreciate how calm and content you are. You have many nicknames now, and are referred to as: bebo, boo boo, chiquitita bonita, precious, bright eyes, sweetums, baby girl, and button. Sometimes I call you Natalie.

You spent the first week of your life in the hospital. You had quite the stubborn case of jaundice. Of course, you had three strikes against you - first I had gestational diabetes, then you and I have a blood type incompatability, and then you had quite the pointy bump on your head from being poorly position against my cervix before being delivered by c-section - all of which contributed to your bilirubin levels being so high. So we spent the first week of your life with me trying desperately to increase my milk supply and recover from a c-section and with you spending hours under LED phototherapy. You were a little princess and I appreciate that you took the treatment so calmly - resigning yourself to only being cuddled while you ate every 2.5 hours and sleeping peacefully in your little "tanning" bed. You only gave your father and I a couple of heart attacks by pulling your eye guard off a few times, but because you were sleeping and had you eyes closed, the nurses and doctors assure us you weren't going to go blind. You seem to see just fine, so I'll trust them on that - you'll probably end up with poor eye-sight anyway due to genetics on my side of the family.

We brought you home from the hospital exactly one week after you were born. We were thrilled to be home with you. I was really happy with the support and help I recieved from Grandma Pam (my mom), who brought me coffee in the mornings, snuggled you, and did housework for me in preparation to recieve my inlaws.

You have charmed all your grandparents - and you are very lucky to have three sets. My mom and her husband, my dad and his wife, and your father's parents. You also have two great grandfathers - my dad's dad and your father's dad's dad - and a great-grandmother, my mom's mom. When you were born, there was a second great-grandmother, unfortunately she has passed away. We attended her funeral together on Christmas eve, and I am very sorry you didn't get to meet her. She really would have been thrilled to meet her first great-granddaughter. I promise to tell you stories about her as you grow up.

While we feel very lucky to have you in our lives, I want to tell you that you are also a very lucky little girl. You are loved so much by your parents, your grandparents, your parent's cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends of the family. You are snuggly, but not demanding to be held. You seem just as content in our arms as you are in your sleeper chair, car seat, and crib. I hope you keep your content nature - your father and I are certainly committed to keeping you happy, safe, and content and have no plans to fail you in this regard.

So my little one, we have begun our journey together now and I am looking forward to every minute of it. We are so happy that you have made us such a happy little family of three. You have already grasped my heart - and while I won't speak for your father, I can't imagine sharing such a wonderful man with anyone but you. I'm sure it is true love between you two.

Your father's favourite picture

Love Mom