Dear Nolan, (Week 15)

 

Santa's little helper!

Dear Nolan,

This week you did MUCH better at sleeping. You require a pretty strict routine, bath, massage, warm swaddle, and a bottle of EBM to top you off. We also started you on rice cereal in your milk this week. The doctor suggested that it might help you with the reflux you were having. So we do that once a day at bedtime and you seem to be sleeping a ton better. Last night you slept for 7 straight hours!

We put up the Christmas tree here, and you are madly in love with the lights.

This week you also became so ticklish that it is difficult to change your diaper. You giggle if I touch you anywhere on your belly. Its so cute and makes everyone around you smile!

You are such a smiley and happy baby. Every single day you seem to get bigger and change. Some days when I get you out of your crib in the morning, I swear you seem so grown up. You have come so far since the NICU days. I just cant believe that you arent my little 5lb baby anymore.

You still dont enjoy tummy time, and will roll straight to your back as soon as we set you down. But you love laying on your floor mat and staring up at your toys. You also have mastered turning on the toy on your bouncy chair. Its adorable!

You continue to light up our lives every single day. We love you so much. And there is nothing sweeter then watching you smile so huge whenever your Daddy walks into the room.

We love you forever,

Love,

Your Mama

Dear Nolan (week 13)

Dear Nolan,

Where oh where did my sweet baby go? You were so adorable two weeks ago and then BAM, suddenly you are a grumpus. You will be smiling and cheery and then suddenly you turn that smile upside down. So sad.

You have a doctors appointment later today, so I will update about your size. But I will instead tell you about how you DO NOT sleep. At all. Unless I am holding you and moving. No napping, no sleeping. You love being in the moby wrap though.

You absolutely love your bouncy chair and will spend an hour playing in it. You smack the toys and they move and then you squeel with delight. You also will hold these intense conversations with them.

I love getting to watch your personality develop. I love hearing your new sounds. This week you started with “Maaaaaaaaaaaa”. It makes me laugh because I feel like you are yelling for me.

You can roll from your belly to back
Now and it makes tummy time impossible, as soon as i lay you down, you flip over.

I love you so much my little man.

Love,
Your Mama

Dear Nolan (week 12)

Dear Nolan,

What a smiley baby you were this week! We spent some time exploring this week and the Japanese ladies LOVE you! And they love you even more when you give them a big gummy smile!

I dont know how much you weigh, but good God are you heavy in my arms! You got to be dressed up for Halloween as baby Spiderman. I think that your Daddy and I enjoyed it more than you did though.

You are getting so big! You make noises like “ah-goo” and “oooooh” and “maaaaaa”. Its pretty cute! We love watching you talk and coo, it makes us wonder what your first words will be. My guess is “Dada”.

Little man, I didnt think there was any way for me to love you more, but then you startes smiling at me when I talk to you. My heart melts!

And to add to my joy, you have recently learned how to sleep at night. You are asleep by 9pm and you are awake around 7am. You wake up 1-2 times to nurse and then fall fast asleep. You take a long nap from around 9am until 1pm. And then an afternoon nap at some point for a couple hours.

You like to watch your glow worm and you talk to it! Like I said, you are adorable.

We love you so much baby. Every day you amaze us even more!

Love,
Your Mama

Dear Nolan (Week 11)

Dear Nolan,

My goodness little man, you are growing so fast. I cant believe that you will be 3 months old soon. You are starting to outgrow some of your 0-3 month clothes already and it is killing me! You are so long that it is hard for me to get the onesies buttoned.

This week marked the start of our adventures in Japan. Your first time in a foreign country. When we arrived you were so tired, even after sleeping almost the entire 10 hour flight here. I couldnt believe it, you only woke up to eat. Then you slept the 2 hour bus ride to our home and I was even more shocked, who is this baby that sleeps?

You got to see your Daddy for the first time in more than half your life, and you have spent alot of time with him this week. NoNo, he is amazing with you. He kisses you and snuggles you and you smile at him and coo at him. You two make the same little smirk and it melts my heart.

Your eyes seem to have turned decidedly brown now, but you have flecks of color in them just like your Papa does. You have long gorgeous eye lashes and full lips. You learned how to pout this week, and you stick your bottom lip out like a little boy. Its sad, and kinda cute.

Along with pouting, you have learned how to whine. DEAR GOD, PLEASE STOP WHINING!! This drives your Mama nuts! You are still rolling over onto your back just about every time we set you on your tummy and you are trying so hard to push off on the ground that I am sure you are gonna be crawling by Christmas time!

We love you somuch!!

Love,

Your Mama

Dear Nolan (week 10)

Dear Nolan,

This week begins with us taking the big trip to our new home in Japan. This is your first time leaving the country, and the first stamp in your passport!

Last week was full of doctors appointments, movers, running errands, playdates and saying goodbye.

You did so great this week buddy! You slept like a dream, napped pretty regularly even though it was in ypur carseat while on the go. You were a smiley happy guy!

This week we saw the start of your social smile. We smile at you and you smile back!

You truly love your Papa and I know he is going to miss you like crazy. Whenever your Papa talks to you, you smile. Whenever he kisses you, you smile. You love him so much!!

You weigh over 10lbs now and are 22 inches tall. Your eyes are maintaining a hazel green color (im hoping!!) You arent a huge fan of tummy time, but you sure do like your glow worm.

I am amazed by you everyday. And am more in love with you every second that we are together. Keep growing little man!!

Love,
Your Mama

Dear Nolan (week 8)

Dear NoNo,

This week was so much better as far as sleep went! You started sleeping in bed with me and that seems to have cured our sleepless nights (for now).

You are finally big enough to fit into the cloth diapers that I love so much! And in the past four days you have only worn 5 disposable diapers (only when we are out). Next up is switching you to cloth wipes.

You discovered the computer this week and are just mesmerized by the screen saver! You and your Papa spent about 30 minutes playing with it while I did some little things.

This week was also the first time I ever left you to go out. Your Grammie and Papa watched you so that I could go
To dinner with Miss L.

You are such a serious baby and sometimes I really thinknyou are trying to read my mind. But when you smile at me….my heart melts!

This week you also got to meet Baby Kenny. Miss A and I were friends in high school and it was so cool to get to have babu boys born around the same time. I think that Kenny, Parker and you are gonna be best of friends.

You are the high light of my day. I wake up every morning so excited to
See you. And my heart is so full ot could burst.

Thank you for choosing us to be ypu parents. We love you so very much! Keep growing stronger and bigger so we can plan some more
Adventures!!

Love,
Your Mama

Dear Nolan (week 7)

Dear Nono,

You are now 7 weeks old. I cant believe its been 7 weeks, I feel like you have always been a part of my life. Its hard to imagine what life was like before you.

You weigh over 8lbs now and are 21 inches long. You have out grown all of your newborn clothes now.

This week you helped get our stuff packed and sent to Japan. You were so perfect!

This week you still have stopped sleeping. I think that you are just running on Japan time now. Thats gotta be it!

Now if only you would stop losing socks…. Things would be pretty perfect!

Love you my little man! Thank you for making my heart feel so full!

Love,
Your Mama

Dear Nolan (week 6)

Dear Nolan,

Today you are 6 weeks old. You are such a big boy now! The Newborn clothes are getting tight and some of your 0-3 months are fitting.

This week you went on your first ever plane ride! And you visited the first of many states other than Washington. In California you met your cousins, Tia’s, Abuelitos, and some family friends.

You also started out this week by deciding not to sleep, at all. The heat in Cali was too much for you and no matter how much your Tia D rocked you and snuggled you did not want to sleep for your mama.

Ironically you ended this week by sleeping in a 6 hour stretch. I was so worried when I woke up before you that I almost woke you up!!

You love tummy time now, and the lights on your mobile make you smile so big! You are starting to reach for things and get entertained by colors. And you love to watch people talk!

When I am nursing you, you like to reach up and caress my face and hold my hands. You are just such a sweet boy!

It was sad saying good bye to your AbueIsa. Knowing it will be a few months before she sees you again. She loves you so much! And I am so thankful that we got to spend this week with them letting them all have a chance to love on you.

Little man, you are so loved by your family and friends. I hope that you always know what an answer to all of our prayers you are. I hope you know how much joy you bring by just being you.

We love you to the moon and back,

Love,
Your Mama

Dear Nolan (week 5)

Dear Nono,

Today you are 5 weeks old. I can barely believe that Ive been holding you in my arms for that long.

I would love to say that this week was perfect, but in an effort to be honest with you, it wasnt. This week you stopped sleeping and Im sure you were trying to kill me with sleep deprivation. You have been grumpy, fussy and LOUD!

Little boy, this week you discovered that you can yell. And you do. Alot.

You also learned that you like tummy time on your mat and you love your bouncy chair.

You weigh 7lbs 1oz and are now 20inches long. You are huge!! You are even wearing some of your 0-3 month clothing.

And your passport came inthis week! You can now go to japan!

We love you so much, even if you dont sleep! You sure make the time fun with all your little smiles!

Love,
Your Mama

Dear Nolan- week 4

Dear Nolan,

This week was another amazing week! You met your Tia from California and some cousins.

You had your baptismal by Father Hart and your Padrino proudly held you at the alter during the service. You did such a good job and slept through the service. At the very end you puked on your gown (the one that was your Daddies and will one day be worn by your children).

You can lift your head while you are on your tunny now and have amazed us with your ability to control your neck!

Today you got to go the airport to say goodbye to your Daddy. It was very sad but you were a champ!

You have started to outgrow your newborn clothes and are almost into your 0-3 month clothing.

You are getting so big and you make some of the cutest noises!

We love you so much, and would love you even more if you would let us sleep!

Keep growing and getting stronger!

Love you to the moon and back,
Love,
Your Mama

Dear Nolan (week 3)

Dear Nolan,

You are 3 weeks old (and one day) and you are a little doll! You are so verbal often yelling “aaargh” or “a-goo”! And you say them both with such emphasis that I just wish I knew what yoy were trying to say.

Right now you are about 6lbs and 19.5 inches tall. You have outgrown premie clothes completley and now wear newborn clothing.

You rolled from your belly to your back about a dozen times now. This makes “tummy time” very difficult!

You are doing better at breast feeding but still prefer the bottled boob juice! You are eating about 2.5-3 oz each feeding. An you sleep in 2 hour stretches unless you are snuggled with us in bed and then you will sleep for 4 hours!

You absolutely love theshower and bath! Doesnt matter if Daddy is in with you or I am, you just love it!

Every day your getting bigger and changing. You are awake a little more and so expressive!

Oh Lil Man, we just adore you!!

Love,

Your mama

Dear Nolan- 1 week

Dear Nolan,

You are one week old. What a whirlwind week you have had Lil Man. You came home from the NICU, met your Daddy, met your Great Gramma, learned to breastfeed, and got more kisses and snuggles then are able to be counted.

You are an amazing baby who was nive enough to sleep in 3 hour stretches for us last night. You eat about 40mLs every feeding, and you weigh 4lbs 15oz, head is 32cm and you are 19inches long.

You have outgrown about half of the premie clothes but you are just a little too small for newborn clothes.

You have giant hobbit feet that you do not like anyone to touch. You have a cute little birth mark on your butt, and you pee everytime we change
You.

We are amazed by you. And so in love with you. Thank youbfor choosing us as your family.

Love,
Mama and Daddy