one month

our precious emmie is now 1 month old.  we have a one month old baby.  how is that possible?  as i type, she is squeaking on the floor while ben tries to encourage her to crawl.  in case you're wondering, she isn't crawling.  she's laying completely flat.  we have had so much fun getting to know our little one - she is a doll.  a complete doll.

Aliases: emmie collins, emmie, e.c.b., bean, little bean, princess, princess emmie, squish, smoosh, chunk, mini, little one, itty bitty, baby sumo, squeaks

things we've been learning about our little:

you still move and play with your hands all the time, pointing, smacking, punching, fiddling.  in the past few weeks you've started to ball up your tiny baby fists more often [especially when you eat] and make rock 'em sock 'em robot swings with your arms combined with frank the tank shoulder movements.  it is precious.

you're smiling a lot more, instead of crying whenever you're awake you have pretty long awake periods where you just look around and investigate.  in the morning and early afternoon are your happiest times.  but your smile is elusive, or i'm slow... i can never capture it on film - i have to get better at that!  i need pictures of this adorable little face.

you're nearly bald.  you've lost lots of your hair.  i found tiny little hairs all over you for about two weeks - it was sad.  the top of your head was bald and the back much thinner then when you were born.  but let's be honest, it's a do that would make hulk hogan proud.  you have new baby hairs growing on the top of your head and we are so excited!  the sooner you have hair the sooner momma can start covering you in bows & hair clips.

you make awesome faces when you sleep, i wish we had a time lapse camera on you - it would be hilarious.  the grins, frowns, & brows are just incredible.  we laugh with [not at] you all the time.

you like your swing & watching the bird mobile go round and round.  you should thank aunt greta and uncle paul for that.

you've been on an adventure to your first leader weekend (only for a few hours, 45 minutes away), went to your first wedding and rehearsal, visited lots of friends and fam, ran our first errands alone together.  you even had your very first baby cold at 5 weeks old.  it broke momma's heart to hear your little pug noises through your stuffy, runny nose.

you're still sleeping great [except during your few sick days] you sleep 11 p to 5:45 am, 6:30 to 8:30, 930 or 1030 depending on the day, and then 12 until 1:30 most days

like i said, you have more awake time now.  you have few hours a day where your bright eyes take it all in.  during those times i try and get you to have tummy time, play with momma, eat or get your bath if it's time.

about every second or third night you're still screaming for an hour or so.  we don't love it when you scream but if that's your baby exercise, then so be it.  speaking of baby exercise, poppa is very good at helping you work out your arm muscles and bicycle kicks.

you're still eating well.  i don't time how long you eat anymore but i think we've got the hang of it pretty well.  you've had your second bottle and mom is getting a little more comfortable having people feed you & planning bottles out in advance.

i can't believe how big you're getting.  you're longer and have a few more baby rolls then when we started.  we're still figuring out how to juggle life, work, housework, friends, family, ministry and an itty bitty all in one.  i'm actually not too great at it but hopefully we're not screwing you up too badly [haha].  thinking about the weight of loving and teaching you well when time goes so fast is a little intimidating.  i pray daily that God will help us be wise in the way that we raise you & that he'd take care of the rest.  i may have cried watching 'married to jonas' [a dumb reality tv show] when the youngest was going to prom & the poppa cried.  thinking about emmie getting ready for prom, uh too much!  i'm a crazy mom already.  it only took a month.  yikes.

we love you little squish.  you are a beautiful, strong little snuggle monster.  you are so precious to us.