Dear Micah,

Life feels pretty normal now.  You’re no longer this strange being in our household that we are trying to adjust our lives around and learn to understand.  Don’t get me wrong, we’re still working on balance and you still bring constant newness to our every day, but you feel like one of the tribe now.  Our family is incomplete when you’re not around.

April is another month of “firsts” for you.  It was your first time being babysat by friends instead of family while mom and dad were out working on the weekend.  It was your first month to look at us – REALLY look at us – and deliberately smile.  You learned this just in time to Skype with your Auntie in Florida.   It was also the first time that you and your other Auntie hung out downtown together while mom went to photograph an even newer addition to the world than you.

It was your first “sleep over” in a strange place (at your great grandparents’), and you did amazing!  Mom only had to go in 3 times the first night to let you know that you weren’t alone, and you settled in wonderfully for the rest of the weekend in your little basinet that you are rapidly outgrowing.  This means it was also your first road trip, and you only made us stop once to feed you.

April was also filled with routines that are well established now like bath times, bed times, cuddle times, and play times.  We won’t mention nap time.  We’ve given up on structuring that one for the time being.  We tried.  We failed.  We choose our battles.  However, you are a rockstar at going to bed now and we only have to put you down once.  You will lay in there and “coo” at your little musical fishes for sometimes up to 45 minutes before you put yourself to sleep.  You now go to bed between 7 and 8pm each day, and when you first go down, you sleep 4 or 5 hours in a row for us before your little tummy demands to be filled.  We just need to work on how many times you wake up between 1am and 7am now, cause sometimes it’s a little out of hand!

Mom is getting used to doing the smaller shoots solo or bringing along friends that want to help as you stay home with daddy now that you are almost 18 lbs and too heavy to lug around.  Speaking of how chubby you are, we’re almost ready to wean off of pumping entirely and start working on your freezer stash of milk that we worked so hard for when you were first born.  You are so, so big!  Whenever mommy shoots newborns now, she feels like she has a little toddler back at home.

You are so awesome, my little big man.  You will smile for us almost any time – even in the midst of crying your heart out sometimes.  You love to talk and coo back and forth with us.  You fall asleep everywhere but your crib (unless it’s at night for some reason), but will only truly conk out in your favourite swing.  You will self entertain for up to 15 minutes to let us shower and get things done, which we SO appreciate.  You are a pretty happy baby unless you are hungry.  You are a vomit MACHINE.  Seriously, 6 outfits in 3 hours?  And I only change you after you have thrown up multiple times.  I’m looking forward to when I can pick you up and not get puked on one day.  You are NOT a fan of tummy time, but LOVE to suck on your fists and eat your blankets.  Sometimes you won’t even let me catch your spit up for you because you grab the blanket and ram it into your mouth while I am trying to contain your last meal.  But you’re awesome, and we love you soooooo much!  Mwah!