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... of one whole month!

Quinn-Dad: "Abram. You're almost one month old!"
Abram: " Whaaaaat?!"

Yup, we've nearly made it. Through all of the struggles of the last four weeks, we were encouraged by many friends that sometimes it takes almost a month for babies to catch on to eating and settle in to more of a schedule. I wanted to believe them. I really did. But as I sat in bed every night around 3:00am with Abram on his second hour of feeding without seeming to get anything, I have to admit that I was skeptical. There were many times that I wanted to give up and just give him formula. But for some reason, I really felt like we were supposed to stick it out.

Babies his age should be getting about 560 ml of milk/formula and gaining about an ounce a day. Abram is little and has never gotten that 560 (more like 460 ml on average), BUT he gained 11 ounces in 7 days. So he was obviously getting enough. The big problem was that it was taking him a long time to get even the minimal amount of food. But we just kept it up and hoped that he would eventually get the hang of it.

And yesterday, it seems that he did! We just decided to let him wake himself up to eat rather than forcing him and that may have been the key. He slept for almost 4 hour stretches last night (which means almost a full night of sleep for us) and when he ate, he ATE! So he's eating less often, but he eats better and more when he does eat. This is such a blessing and an answer to many people's prayers. So, thank you, if you were praying. God is so faithful.

As long as he keeps it up for the rest of the day, we will be able to take him to our community group Christmas party tonight! I will be sure to post pictures of that.

But for now, here are some pictures of milestones and visitors. Because I know that's what you REALLY came here to see.

Abram's first real bath with dad. He actually slept through most of it... that is until we took him out of the tub and then he lost it. But we bundled him up and he was a happy, clean, little clam.

Friends from our community group, Isaac and Adriana who joined us for dinner one night. It was really good to see them and have them get to meet the Babram.

This is our neighbors' 6 month old, 24 pound son, Blake. His mom passed him to me to compare to Abram. I have to admit that I didn't make it very long before I had to pass him back.

Our friend, Danny.

Danny's wife, Abby. Amazingly wonderful friends who brought is chic-fil-a and hung out for awhile.

We have been lighting an advent candle every Sunday in preparation for Christmas. Quinn spent a lot of thought and time on finding the right nativity scene/statue to become part of our Christmas decor. This is the one he got. It was a good choice.

More community groupies: Newlyweds, Sean and Melissa Hutchinson.

My grandpa, Roy Shockley, flew in from Denver for a few hours to see his first great grandchild. (He flies free because my uncle is a pilot for Frontier... just thought I should explain why it was only a few hours.)

He brought a picture of his dad, my Great Grandpa Shockley holding me when I was about a month. Pretty cool comparison.

There is a picture in my baby scrapbook of my tiny hand on my Great Grandpa's huge hand. so we wanted to recreate with Abram and Roy. Abe's hand is a bit bigger than mine and Roy's is a bit smaller than his dad's. But it's still a sweet shot.

Our friend, Tiffany, brought us great food from Central Market (one of our favorite places to eat) and got to meet Abram. Her cute little 5 month old was at home "eating solids" with his dad :)

So, we are almost parents of a one month old. It feels like it's been forever, since we rarely leave the house. But hopefully being on the verge of one month, and on the verge of sleeping well, and on the verge of eating well means that we are also on the verge of ending this very long month and finally coming out of hibernation. Here's hoping!
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