Clark is 1 Month Old!

I am posting this late since I had so much to catch up on!  Clark is actually 6 weeks old now, but I wrote this post the day he turned one month and saved it until I was ready to blog it!

Dear Clark,

Wow- I cannot believe that you are one month old today!  It seems impossible to imagine that it has already been a month!  This month has flown by!  Since you were born our offer on a house was accepted and we are now in the building process-currently working on the blueprints, you had oral surgery at only 3 days old, we have had lots of family and friends come visit and we started potty training your sister all in 4 short weeks!

It seems like you have always been here to me.  You blend right in and for the most part you were a pretty easy going baby for the first 2, maybe 3 weeks.  Things are getting harder now.  Just like your sister, you are hard to put to sleep for naps and you wake up shortly after going down and cry and cry.  Since your oral surgery you are now getting a good latch and nursing better!  You eat about every 3.5 (sometimes 4) hours during the day about 20 minutes each side for a total of 40 minutes each feeding.  You cluster feed in the evening, but that's okay because it means your tummy is nice and full before we go to bed!

You are so tiny...I look at you now and just can't believe how fast you will be as big as your sister.  These newborn days can be long and tiring...but I continually remind myself of how fleeting these moments are and how quickly you will be running around with your sister and telling me no and exuding your own independence.  Those days will come all too soon.

I feel like the days have been so busy keeping up with your sister, work for the office, dishes, cooking, and just running the house that I long for those quiet moments where I can just soak you up, hold you in my arms and stare at you and take you in for all that you are. I find that time at night, sometimes when you are asleep and sometimes while you are nursing.  You sleep next to me or in bed with me at night and I can tell we have the same sleep rhythms now.  When I stretch you stretch, when you are waking up I am too!  We are so in tune with each other and I think that is part of the reason you sleep so well at night.  We won't be able to keep you in bed forever, but these early months are such a special time.

You like to nap in your bouncer and it helps you to take longer naps.  If I swaddle you in your crib you wake up after your first 30 minute sleep cycle (just like your sister did for months before we figured out sleep cycles) and the only thing that puts you back to sleep in nursing, so we are using the bouncer for a little while until you can nap better without it.

You smiled when you were 2 days old and met your sister for the first time.  We waited and waited for Claire to smile, but you haven't kept yours hidden for long.  You seem to have a special connection with her already and she comes running to you anytime you are upset offering you her kisses and suggesting that maybe you need more milk, a kiss, or a burp.  She tells you she loves you every time she sees you and asks to hold you everyday.  It is so special to see the bond that is going to grow between the two of you.

I love you so, so, so very much!  You are our "little guy", our "Clark the Shark", "Clarky" and our "Clarkster"!  You have acquired quite a few nicknames in your short time this month and even more love and hugs and kisses from all of us.  We are so blessed to have you here and so grateful God made you for our family! We love you so much!

Stats:
weight: 8 pounds, 6 ounces
length: 21.5 in (43%)
head: 14 in (6%)
clothes: newborn
diaper size: we just moved into size 1 at 3 weeks old
sleep: no routine yet, but you will give a 4 hour at night and once or twice you slept for 5 hours at night
nursing: no schedule yet, you are pretty much nursing on demand right now