1 Month

I didn't do anything special for Maya's one month birthday, but Justin did get me a present "just because". I guess, if you want to give it a reason or justify the fact that I got a gift and not Maya, you could say it's the one month anniversary of me being a mom. Which it is. (Because she was born at the very same moment that I became a mother. What a coincidence!) You could also say, "What one-month-old needs a birthday gift?" And I would totally back you up.

She outgrew newborn diapers this week. She smiles every day and even sometimes laughs or talks. Pooping is still a big ordeal for her - it takes all her strength and concentration. Her eyes are still blue and her hair is still brown, though it's lighter and longer than it was when she was born. She's great in the car as long as the car is moving. I'm pretty sure she'll be walking as early as next week because holy cow, the girl's got some leg power.

I think all the sleep I haven't been getting in the last month has slowly compounded and has now caught up with me. She started out sleeping pretty well at night, only waking up to eat. Now, I think she may be trying to kill us a little bit.

But, hey, what is parenthood if you're well-rested? There's a word for that, and it's called heaven. And you don't get that kind of heaven in this life. (Or so it seems.) The kind of heaven you get here involves watching your baby's eyes light up every morning when she sees you, her tiny hand grasping your finger, and your husband getting you gifts just because he loves you and telling you you're the strongest and most beautiful woman alive because you are the mother of his child.

So, here I am, nursing my one month old baby at 11:30 at night, because she's starving after eating all day. I'm just praying she'll go back to sleep after this so I can close my own heavy eyelids for a while. If not, I'll have a date with Netflix over the final season of HIMYM that just posted. It's basically a win-win for me, really.

When I look at pictures of her from that first week, when we were still in the hospital, I can't believe how much she's grown since then. One month seemed forever away when I still had that tiny newborn in my arms. Now we're here, and she's pretty much the same as she was but she's not the same at all.

Since I can't stop her from growing anyway, I'm excited to watch her grow, to watch her learn and live and become who she was meant to be.

One month down and we're all still alive. I'd say that's good enough for now, wouldn't you?