Happy One Month Birthday!

Dear Benjamin,

Happy one month birthday to you!!

I think this has been the fastest month your dad and I have ever had!  It seems like just yesterday we were meeting you in the hospital and wondering what kind of little boy you'd become.  Well, we know you have so much to do in the months and years ahead of you, and we can't wait to find out all about your big personality!

In your first month, we've already learned a lot about you (and hopefully you've learned a lot about us!).  Here are some of the things you like to do:

*Read with dad or mom (though you don't really look at the pages yet!):

*Sleep (and occasionally your brother Lincoln likes to sleep along side you too):

(and whenever you can, you wiggle your hands out of the swaddle to make sure they're near your face:)

*Hang out with your mom (and brother) at home (though Lincoln has been known to wake you up out of many naps with his extremely loud, but protective, barking):

*Cry (even during most of our photo shoot today!):

*Play in the activity gym (which mostly involves just hanging out and staring at the animals or the wall, though recently it's included actually swatting at the animals and sometimes rolling over from your stomach to your back!):

*Hang out in the swing (even if mom has to put it in the bathroom so she can shower):

 *Stare at your favorite "toy" - you have loved it for a few weeks now:

And some other things about you:

• occasionally, when you're crying or really upset, the birthmarks on your forehead kind of look like a lightning bolt, which reminds me that we can't wait to read Harry Potter to you.
• you really love to cuddle - sometimes it's the only way we can get you to take a decent nap!
• sometimes you snore!  But it's a very, very cute snore of course!
• you like to march to the beat of your own drum... so far our attempts at routines (courtesy of Baby Wise) have only been semi-successful.  You like to surprise your mom with long naps when I think they'll be short, or very short naps when I think they will/should be long.  Each of these brings lots of cries!!  And every night is a guessing game with how long you'll actually sleep between chowing down!  (You like to keep us on our toes!)
• you don't like your crib at all and especially do not like when we try to have you take a nap in it. 
• sometimes you and I dance around the house, which you seem to really love.  I turn the music up loud (anything from Adele to Passion Pit - or even Raffi lately!), and we get our groove on.  I hope you will always do this with me :)
• I tried to have you watch the Jeopardy episode that dad was on, but you were seriously uninterested.  Apparently, this does not impress you!
• your dad and I sing to you a lot.  But not normal songs... we make up songs about you to the tunes of other songs (like Baby Beluga).  Someday you will think this is incredibly dorky.
• we have a lot of nicknames for you (some which have been borrowed from your older brother Lincoln): Bubba, Stinker #2, Beast, Tater Tot, Baby Bear, Potato Burrito (when you're swaddled up), Stink Bug, Benji-bub, Cry Factory, the Town Crier, and many others.... Aunt Amber likes to call you Benny Poo Poo.  :)

We are so blessed to be your parents, Mr. Tater Tot.  I know we have a lot to learn, but we do love you a WHOLE lot.  And, I'm pretty sure that can make up for the areas that we may not be so great in yet (like deciphering which cry means what...).  You have a lot of family and friends that love you, and I hope you always remember and feel just how loved you are.  I certainly want you to become whoever it is that God wants you to be - but I secretly hope that means you become a man who wants to make a difference in the world for other people.  I hope you get to use all your gifts to help bring joy to those around you, and to help end injustice in the world (a tall order!).  I know there are big things in your future, and I hope you take them all on with a big and full heart!

We love you!