Malia is 1 month old!

Dearest baby Malia,

We have enjoyed you so much this past month, getting to know you and welcoming you into our family. You fit right in, like you have always been here.

You are such a sweet baby girl, so giggly and smiley already. I swear you have been smiling since you were born. I have never seen anyone so happy when they wake up, even though I know you are hungry and your diaper is soiled. You get so goofy on your changing table, I love it. Your smile makes my heart melt, I love it. Your baba loves coming to get you in the mornings, you are so happy to see him and make goofy faces with him too.

You are growing so fast. We all love your chubby cheeks and super rolls, even though they are a bit hard to get clean. You quickly outgrew your newborn diapers and I feel the next size I buy should be 2's. You are fitting very comfortably in 3 month clothes and I have to admit, it is really fun putting you in all the cute girl clothes.

You are super strong. You can already lift your head up off my chest while I'm burping you. It is crazy, like you have super human strength.

You don't really have a schedule yet, each day is different. There are days when you decide not to really nap, just take little cat naps here and there. Then some days you sleep the whole day away. I do feel that you are figuring out the difference between day and night though, really quickly. You go much longer stretches at night between feedings, which is great. I am getting up usually twice a night to nurse you, sometimes three, depending on when you nursed before going to sleep. Usually it is somewhere around 2:00 that I am waking up and then again around 5:00, it really depends. During the day, you nurse anywhere from every hour (if you are having a growth spurt) to every 3 hours. Your naps have gotten shorter during this month. Just last week some of your naps were 4 hours during the day!

You are such a different sleeper than your big brother was. You actually sleep in the car and you are able to put yourself back to sleep on your own. It is amazing. You will sleep in the stroller, swing occasionally or in the vibrating chair, again, amazing for your baba and I to witness. I do have to wrap you once in awhile in the Moby, but I'm not wearing you 24/7, which is what I had to do with your brother. It is fantastic and I hope it doesn't change.

You are in love with your brother already. It is the sweetest thing to watch the two of you. You are so happy to see him and love getting smooches from him. You are the first thing he wants to see when he wakes up in the morning and when he hears you waking up, he races back to give you a kiss. He also loves taking a bath with you and just really loves having you around. He tells you "I love you baby sister" probably 100 times a day. It is a very special bond you guys have.

You have started to coo already too, which is just the sweetest sound. You love talking to us. You have also become just super alert in the past week, checking everything out around you. You love sitting in your swing and will smile and talk to "Jacque the Peacock", a toy we have hanging for you to look at.

You are in love with your binky. Your baba and I are so relieved that you are able to self soothe with it, especially me, since you were using me as your binky. It is so cute watching you suck on it and keeping it in your mouth with your hands. It is also funny because if it falls out near your mouth, you try to get it back in there by rooting around, sometimes successfully too!

We were all so lucky to have your baba home with us this past month. I know he has really treasured this special time with you. We are all so happy you are here and growing so healthy and strong. Your ge ge is so happy you are here and tells me all the time how happy he is that you are not in my tummy anymore.
I am loving getting to know you better with each passing day and sometimes still can't believe you are really finally here.

I love you baby girl,
your mama