4 weeks and 1 day old

Yesterday Jules reached the 1 month mark, and his day was pretty exciting:

He's still on this crazy every-two-hours feeding schedule, so I was up with him every two hours (did I mention he's hungry EVERY TWO HOURS?) all night until 6:30, when Patrick left for work. Then the baby and I broke rule no. 1 ('no babies on the bed:" it's my rule and I can break it if I want to), and I discovered that Jules loves the bed, where he and I snoozed for a couple of hours peacefully, and, safely. Gosh he's sweet. He lies there on his back, with his head turned to me, and I curl my arm around him protectively, and we both fall asleep.

After that, I put the Moby wrap on, inserted my baby, and got some stuff done in anticipation of the arrival of the Merry Maids at 1 o'clock. What stuff? I washed all the bedding (requires doing 3 loads of laundry), I loaded the dishwasher and/or washed the dishes, and I got myself and my boy dressed so that we could go before they got here.

I took him to visit his cousins and his Aunt Stacey, and we hung out with them for awhile, where we watched HGTV on their giant television, he was admired by his cousins, held by his aunt, and had his diaper changed by me in big boy Matthew's cool room (that kid has neat stuff). Afterwards, we drove in the rain to the post office so I could buy stamps for his birth announcements (is it lame to send birth announcements after a month?), which I ordered last week from Tiny Prints and thought weren't going to come until March but they were rad and got them to me a week early, and without any extra charges or my even having to ask. They also came out really great, and maybe I will share them with you later.

Then we got something for me to eat, came home, and watched TV, addressed birth announcements, and napped (guess who did what?) until his dad came home. And the 1 month birthday celebrations began! No, not really. He was going to have a bath (and get his hair washed for the first time!) but it was just too cold, and I was tired. Yes, everyone has told me to "sleep while he sleeps" (which he's doing right now, in the Moby wrap) but to be honest, I just can't make myself do it. There are other things to do. When I told Patrick all the things I had done while wearing the baby in the wrap, he was kind of surprised. I won't lie to you: before we had the baby, on a rainy cold day like yesterday, if I had been home with nothing to do except wait for the maids, I would've pretty much done nothing. I wouldn't have done laundry or cleaned up the kitchen. I would've sat on the couch and watched reruns of "America's Next Top Model" or something like that. It's interesting that now it means something to me when I make the bed. I don't always get to take a shower, but I've made the bed every day since the baby came home (unless Patrick has done it), and I like that. Not being a slob anymore seems to be a nice side effect of becoming a mother. Patrick's been the same way. It's kind of weird, but good.

So the other day I received a card in the mail from my mother. She likes sending cards with spiritual messages and bible verses. In the past I've sort of ignored the messages and just thanked her for thinking of me. This card, however, was perfect in every way. She picked the perfect verse to send us, and though I'm always going to be a little suspicious about religious stuff in general, I really liked this card. Also, I think I get my corniness from her. Fine, whatever.

On the outside it said, "God wants you to remember: He is for you. He loves you. He believes in you. He will not fail you. He will provide for you. He will bless you. He will give you rest. (Mom underlined that part, and the next:) He will strengthen you. He will answer you."

I mean, jeez, rest and strength? What else do new parents need?

Here's the verse she hand-wrote on the inside, after her personal message for me and Patrick:

"We shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed." I Corinthians 15:51

Now, I think that verse is actually referring to the rapture but boy was it appropriate. It also reminds me of that line from the U2 song "Bad," where Bono says he's "wide awake" and that he's "not sleeping." I don't know what the hell Bono is talking about in that song, but I bet it's about Jesus (even though Wikipedia says it's about heroin; you have your opinions, and I have mine), and it seems like Bono and my mom are telling me the same thing (did I just write that? TOTAL CHEESE! Well, I told you I was corny. Still, I'm not going to delete it, even though I'm wrong about Bono's meaning. I both love and am driven crazy by U2, and I know my interpretations of their lyrics are juvenile sometimes, but those big gorgeous dumb guys know what they're doing, or they did, anyway ["Achtung Baby" and everything that followed: yech]). In one month the big change to our lives that we were told about and anticipating but not really able to conceive has happened. Patrick and I are now parents, to this gorgeous little boy. Our hearts are now attached to him. We've changed. I have changed. Mom was right.*

Happy one month, my little guy! We love you!

*Bono, not so much.