Happy 1 Month Birthday!

Dear Calder,

Happy one month birthday, little man!  We cannot believe we have been able to see you everyday for an entire month.  We feel like you were just born yesterday.  I have a feeling we will always feel like this.

You are growing and gaining weight like a trooper.  You currently weigh just over 4 pounds.  When you were born you weighed 2 lbs 13oz.  Your lowest weight was about 2lbs 8oz.  At 4 pounds you look huge to us! You are 17 inches long today.  When you were born you were 14.5 inches so you are growing fast!  I feel like you look big in this picture but to put it in perspective that is not a piece of printer paper it from a small notebook about the size of a hand...

You are currently breathing with the help of a nasal canalas.  The prongs go in your nose and push a little bit of oxygen into your lungs.  You do all the breathing yourself it is just a little extra pressure to make sure you take a deep breath. You are a shallow breather like your mama.  You are getting food through a nasal tube but you are also starting to suck your pacifier like crazy.

We love your feisty attitude.  You fuss and cry when you are not happy about something.  Things that make you fuss include: laying on your back, tubes in your mouth, touching your back, head or belly, armpit temperature taking, any time you get lifted off of your mom or dad's chest.   You are also very easy to console.  We just put one hand on your head and one hand on your feet and talk to you and you snuggle right down and go to sleep.

Daddy likes to talk to you about our house and everything you will see when you come home.  Mama likes to talk to you about all the things you will do when you come home and you are older.

Today was very special because your sister held you for the first time ever!  Tayler was so thrilled to hold you.  When you were in her arms you had the best stats of the day!  Your respiration, heart rate and saturation levels were perfect.  She talked to you and you just relaxed.  You opened your eyes for a while and the nurse turned off the lights so you would leave them open.  Tayler talked to you very quietly so Dad and I couldn't hear and you were both so happy.  These pictures make me tear up every time I look at them.

We could not be more thankful to have you as part of our family.  We did not think we would ever be a family of 4 and you are an answer to so many prayers.  We are exhausted and we cannot imagine life without you...you are kind of a rock star.

Love,
Mama, Daddy and T