Kiersten & Eric: Rua

5 November 2014
Dearest Rua,

One month old! The past four weeks have flown by, and each has been so happy. I love having you here with us. You are, thankfully, a pretty happy, mellow baby. I was definitely nervous at the prospect of having another colicy, always crying baby with a toddler to take care of as well. So it has been a relief to find that you are quite the opposite, happy unless you need something. Thank you!!

You've had a fun first month. Your Dad took off for China when you were just two weeks old, leaving Mom with two kids. So we took off on a road trip to Phoenix, just us three girls. We went to stay with your cousins Nathan and Lizzie. And once again, you proved to be such a sweet baby - sleeping the whole way there and back, waking up only to nurse. It made the 7hr trip much more manageable than I feared it would be. Your cousins loved holding you, and your Aunt Ruth was so wonderful in helping to take care of you and Abby. Abby was in heaven being there. You also got to see your Grandma and Grandpa Hinckley and some more cousins while we were there since they came out for the Phoenix Temple open house. It was fun to have you meet so many of them.

Since we've been home in San Diego we have started to adjust to our new normal of being a family of four. Dad is back full-time at work and we are going day by day here at home. We have started going out more, you've had lots of 'first' outings - to the zoo, to the library for story time, to different parks, grocery shopping with mom. And you are usually so great. Today was your first time at the zoo and you were wide awake for the first hour, wide-eyed, looking around, seeming to take everything in. Abby even picked out a zebra outfit for you which was perfect for the occasion.

Some fun things about you from this past month:

You rolled over three or four times from your tummy to back while we were in Phoenix. It must have been a fluke (obviously you are way young to be rolling), with you just being in the right position or something, but it was crazy to see it happen multiple times. Hasn't happened since though.
Your little legs are getting stronger. In the last week or so, you are pushing down on them more when we hold you upright, already starting to try to stand on your feet.
You like to track our faces or toys as they move in front of your face.
You really enjoy tummy time.

You are seeming to react more when we talk and play with you. You are starting to make little happy faces at us, those smiles are probably going to start really popping out soon!
You would really love it if we let you sleep on your tummy. If only we could, night-times would be a lot easier! You do not like to be put down in your crib at night.
You do seem to be a pretty good sleeper though, at least hopefully you will prove to be. You only want to nurse a couple times a night. I keep waking up though because you keep making noises and I think you are waking up to nurse, but nope, you don't want it. So you are somewhat of a restless sleeper at night. Hopefully we can get these night down relatively soon.
You are starting to blow little bubbles with your mouth. So cute.
You are great at breastfeeding. You were tongue-tied, just like Abby was. But we caught it right away and then got it fixed the day after you were born (thank goodness!). So after a day and a half of pure torture for your mamma, things quickly improved. And once I healed, it was smooth sailing from there! Yay! So nice to not have that worry this time.
Oh, and you had your very first Halloween. You were pretty adorable as a caterpillar (and Abby was a butterfly).

It is an adventure every day around here now that we have you. Some days are good days, some are not so good. But every one of them really is wonderful with you here. Thank you for the happiness you have brought us.

I love you my sweet little girl, my beautiful Rua.

Love,

Your Mamma

And some more pictures!