~ Janie is 1 Month Old ~

WOW... has it really been a month since our precious Janie Caroline joined our family? It doesn't seem possible! This feeling of time flying faster than ever before is something that we both never understood prior to becoming parents and now with a second child, our heads are spinning! While there is more work with two kiddos, it is amazing to have a newborn again and a big sister to share the fun with.

Janie is an absolute blessing and the perfect addition to our family. She and Clara already seem to have a special connection and it warms our hearts in a whole new way to watch them interact. Janie has the brightest, wide (still blue) eyes and when she is awake she likes to take in her surroundings. Her looks are pretty baffling to us since we both have dark features and yet our little one appears to have light eyes, fair skin and even reddish-blonde hair. While Clara was a "little Kevin," Janie resembles Mommy more, but we still stare at her trying to decide who she really looks like.

At this phase, Miss Janie seems to enjoy riding in her swing, watching her mobile and short segments of tummy time. In her first few weeks she was asleep whenever she wasn't eating and now she has longer periods of wakefulness during the day and late evening and only wakes up once per night. She is a wonderful cuddlier and is happiest being held tight in our arms or laying on her tummy or over a shoulder or on Daddy's chest. We REALLY enjoy this part of her personality.

Little "Gem" is a wonderful eater and today at her 1 month appointment, she now weights 10 lbs., 1/2 oz. and is 22 inches long, placing her in the 90th percentile in both categories. She eats like a messy little piglet but spits up a lot afterwards, then acts famished again a short time later. Mommy is trying to get her to burp several more times during her feedings to reduce the spit ups, but nothing makes her more mad than interrupting her feedings. Could this be reflective of her future personality!?!

Another endearing quality of our sweet baby is that she has a huge repertoire of noises. She makes happy, eager grunts, funny pooing noises, sweet little gasps, high pitched squeaks and of course different cries. Even when she sleeps, she lets out adorable squeaks here and there. Then there are all the adorable little expressions that go along with her noises. Each one reminds us of a different person that she resembles at that moment. As each day passes we see more and more of her sweet smiles. Daddy and Clara get the most from her after we all have eaten dinner.

We wish there was a "slow down" button so we can savor this wonderful time in our family, but the four of us have so many more amazing times to look forward to knowing that we have been so very blessed!