Firsts

Sawyer is one month old today. I can't believe it's already been that long! He's already growing and changing so much. Here are some of his firsts:

1) His first bottle. I am something of a purist when it comes to breastfeeding and I was reluctant to introduce the bottle too soon for fear that it would cause nipple confusion (that sounds like the title of a risqué film, but I promise it's not) and make breastfeeding more difficult. But reality soon set in that if we never gave him a bottle, Eric would never be able to help with feeding him. Since Sawyer is one of those babies who wants to eat all the time, I get burned out on nursing pretty quickly, especially after a night where he's on a feeding marathon from 12 to 6 a.m. It turns out my fears were completely unfounded: Sawyer is a pro at both breast and bottle. I guess he likes food enough to get it any way he can. So the plan is for me to pump a few ounces a day so Eric can give him a bottle in the evening.

2) His first movie. When he was three weeks old we braved the theater and took him to see Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. We'll make him a sci-fi geek if it's the last thing we do! He did great and slept almost the whole time, except for once when he woke up hungry and I fed him right in my seat without having to get up. I would have felt weird about that except that it was a Wednesday and no one was sitting near us.

3) His first smile. He's smiled in his sleep ever since he was born, but he's just now starting to smile socially. When he looks at me and gives me a goofy, lopsided grin it makes my whole day worthwhile. We'll do pretty much anything to see that smile.

4) His first social outing. A group of women in my ward have a playgroup on Wednesdays and I took him this week. "Playgroup" is sort of a misnomer, since the other kids are all between 6 months and 1 year old; it's really for the moms. I like the women in my ward. Everyone is friendly and open and not at all clique-y. And it was nice to get out for a while and have some adult conversation, even if all we talked about was our babies.

5) His first bath. We gave him his first bath at a week old, right after his umbilical cord stump had fallen off. I take a bath every night to help me unwind (and also to make my Lovenox shot hurt less - I'm still taking those) and Eric brings him up to me and plunks him in. He loves it. No matter how fussy he is, he quiets right down as soon as he's in the water and screams when he's taken out. We have a little fishy on our hands.