O. Henri

You are my hero baby. So sweet and peaceful. I don't want to miss a single second with you, Ollie Bear, because you are changing way too fast. Too fast. You are my lucky number three who goes by Oliver, Ollie Bear, Babe and O. Henri. I always said I would never nickname my children, but it just happens.


This week you are giggling aloud, and how awesome it is. Once you start you cannot stop. You are grabbing onto things, particularly me and my shirt, as if to say "Don't let go, Mama." You are kickboxing the air and sucking on your whole hands.


These are the days. I love the mystery of not knowing everything about you. Who you'll be. What comes next. It's exciting. At the moment you enjoy warm baths, nursing and burping, tummy time on the Boppy, and weekend catnaps on Daddy's chest. Oh to be a baby. Today you threw a physician's assistant off her game by almost rolling over on the table. At 11 weeks. It appears you are a combination of your brother's gentle temperament and your sister's surprising strength.


You smile and coo and follow my voice with your eyes. You listen to me read and watch me dance. Together we have a routine but never a rigid schedule. You go with the flow. You can snooze pretty much anywhere... especially in my arms as I walk around. After hours you sleep soundly in your itty bitty bed next to ours, and I feel good knowing you're close. You usually wake once to feed, around 4 a.m.


You have dark brown hair and light brown eyes. They glisten. You are partial to your peach lamb and fuzzy blue blanket. I am partial to your stretches and yawns, your itty bitty pink lips, and the deep indentation in your chin. You prefer to lay on your side or slightly propped {less reflux}. Just three things make you sad: Late-night diaper changes, hats over your eyes, and nurses who can't find a vein. You have been dealt a bit of tricky in your life already ~ in the form of a defective thyroid ~ and you've handled it so amazingly.


You are 14 pounds and 25 inches long today. That's approximately 75% for weight and 95% for height. Tomorrow you'll be even more... because growing is sort of your thing right now. That and studying your brother and sister with great intensity. Learn from them, my love, and savor every minute. These are the days.