dearest darrell {2 months old}

Dear Darrell,

Mommy's little boy! My love for you grow more and more each day. You are 2 months old! Wow... I can hardly believe that my breast milk is the one and only thing that you ate and what makes you grow.

For the past few weeks, we've been trying to learn to differentiate the sound and tone of your cry. You would cry when you're hungry and sleepy. You don't really cry when you have a wet or dirty diaper. Your hair also started falling out. You also smile more! You are still exclusively breastfeeding up to this point. Breastfeeding has been tough for mommy. My goal is to breastfeed you exclusively for 6 months. That sounded so easy when I made that goal a few months ago, long before you came along :) It's been getting easier and easier for the past few weeks, though! I'm getting the hang of it and it doesn't feel too painful for me anymore.

Your sleep is still inconsistent for the most part. You can sleep for anytime between 1-4 hours stretch, with 2 hours stretch most of the time. You've been nursing to sleep and on most days you sleep on my chest. Whenever I put you down to your bassinet next to our bed, you would wake up and cry, so mostly I like to keep you close to me on my chest. After a few weeks, mommy just figured out that you REALLY need to be burped as soon as you finished nursing. Otherwise, you would wake up crying because your tummy hurts. We've also been nursing you on-demand and we don't create a set schedule for you. It's been quite hard for mommy this way and a lot of times daddy feels a bit helpless too. Sometimes daddy also help feeding you with the bottle.

{Darrell's milk-drunk face}

During your second month, this is what mommy noticed.
Things you like: nursing, milk, being outside (looking at the "outdoor world")
Things you dislike: diaper change, tummy time, being swaddled, bath time

{Bath time that he hates}

No matter how hard it has been for me, you are truly the best gift in our lives. I even wonder why didn't we decide to have you sooner! :) But of course everything happened for good in God's beautiful time.


xoxo,
Mommy who loves you very much

dearest darrell {one month old}

Dearest Darrell,

My dear baby boy, you are one month old! In the beginning, I wouldn't exactly say that time flied so quickly. To be honest, It's been a tough month. Our first week with you was undoubtedly the HARDEST week in my entire life altogether.

{exposing Darrell in a lot of sunlight to clear up his jaundice}

You had jaundice during your first 5 days of life and we had to bring you to the Dr office back and forth. Dr told mommy to bring you near the window for sunlight exposure and to breastfeed you as much as possible to pass down the bilirubin level to your stool. That was not an easy task for me because breastfeeding was SO painful at the time. You were such a great nurser from the beginning though! Your latch has always been great, but mommy has just been in so much pain and no matter how great the latch was, it was still painful. I tried my best to nurse you as much as possible though. You ate A LOT! People say that baby boys drink more milk, and that's very true in your case! Thank God the jaundice cleared up on Friday when we brought you to the Dr.

Your cord stump fell on day 8. Your kungkung has gone back home to Indonesia when you were 11 days old. Kungkung had been helping us with cooking our meals and we were so nervous being left alone without help. You were such a tiny little blessing in our eyes that we were so scared to do anything wrong. Google has been my best friend for things like: how to change baby's diaper, how to bathe baby... etc. Your daddy and I were such a nervous parents. However, we also learn that above all the research we did, we try to trust our parental instinct best.

As far as sleep, you have been sleeping a lot on mommy's chest because that's where you sleep longer. You've been nursing to sleep for the most part. You're also not so much a big fan of tummy time. You were always so upset when we put you on your tummy to exercise. When you were 2 weeks old, we brought you to church. Everyone at church was so excited to see you. They were also really sweet for cooking meals for mommy and daddy. We were so grateful to have such nice and helpful friends in our lives.

You also have started to make some sweet coos. You also smiled at us! Also, you celebrated Daddy's 30th birthday with us! Daddy couldn't be happier to share his special day with you as well. We went to the Boiling Crab for lunch together.

During your first month, this is what mommy noticed.
Things you like: nursing, milk, being swaddled
Things you dislike: diaper change, tummy time, being swaddled

Yes, I really can't tell whether you like being swaddled or not! You were always so resistant when we swaddle you, but then you sleep better/longer with the swaddle. However, you keep trying to get out of the swaddle as well, kicking here and there.




I said that in the beginning, I wouldn't exactly say that time flied so quickly. My days and nights have been quite blurry these days. However, right now at this very first moment, when you were sleeping and I look at you, I just feel that time flies so quickly and you grew too fast!


xoxo,
Mommy who loves you very much

dearest little d.

Today is June 23, which is exactly 2 months before your due date!

You really are becoming a rock star at night, aren't you? I feel you moving a lot when I'm just about to sleep. Sometimes I'm wondering whether you're doing some kind of somersault in there :) Your Daddy is crazily in love with you. He kisses you ALL the time. He can't wait to play with you :)

Lately, I've been feeling some kind of light stabbing pain that comes and goes somewhere on my cervix, especially at night. I wonder if those are the Braxton Hicks contractions. No matter how nervous I am imagining the process I have to go through to bring you out into this world, I always try to overcome those feelings imagining holding you in my arms for the first time. And that works every time :)


Kisses and hugs,
Momm

dearest little d.

How time flies! You are getting bigger and bigger, my little man! You've been kicking and moving a lot and i LOVE feeling the flutters of your movement in my tummy. You definitely move a lot more at night! Your daddy and I fall in love with you more and more each day.

We often wonder on what kind of person you are going to be when you grow up. What kind of things will you like? Are you going to be artsy like mommy, or analytical like daddy? Are you shy or bold, observant or active, talkative or quiet? Most of all, everyday we pray that you would grow into someone who loves Jesus above everything. I pray everyday that I can be the best mom for you and to be able to rise you up becoming someone God wants you to be.

Kisses and hugs,
Mommy