Day Two

Hello Friends and Family,

This is Aaron. Yesterday was a busy day! After being born, naturally I wanted to be next to Mama, not in a silly baby bed. Sleeping was out of the question. Being alive and trying things with my body was what I wanted to do! Daddy slept on the big fold out chair in the hospital. Well, he didn’t sleep much either. I practiced eating. Mommy and I are a good team.

It wasn’t just the three of us. Lots of people, mostly women, came to my birthday party: doctors for Mom, doctors for me, nurses, head nurses, technicians, cleaners, medical records people, lactation specialists, admitting and discharging people. They all looked about the same to us, except one was from Bulgaria and one was from Austria. The doctor from Austria couldn't understand why I wanted to go home rather than stay in the hospital two more days. Apparently she likes it there.

Another doctor told her not to worry about us, and finally around noon Daddy took many bags blankets, pillows, essential oils, clothes, more clothes, reverse osmosis water, three kinds of crackers, juice, apples, nuts, books, notebooks and papers, Hypnobabies CDs (I was born listening to one of them), and free diapers down to Nonna's and our car. Good thing his jacket said "Sherpa."
My cousin Abe sang a Happy Birthday song to me on the telephone. Today we video chatted. I can’t wait to play with him and Benjamin. I think I’ll ask Ben to teach me to crawl. He’s very fast!

Something special was that I got to go home in the blanket Grandma Lynn took Daddy home in when he was born. Grandma brought it from Maryland along with some clothes and cute farm toys for me.

What I really didn't like was the big, black car seat. I could hardly get my chin over the buckle! Really, that should just be Abe's for a while. Mom and Dad said I cried all the way home to Nonna and Babba's. I don’t remember that.
When I got home, Morgan was very excited to meet me, and wanted to congratulate Mom a lot. I think we will be pretty good friends.

One good thing is that besides having nice, long fingers for playing the violin, I have lungs as strong as Aunt Hannah's! And that's with a chest the size of a flat orange! So I'll probably get to do whatever I want to musically.

I got to meet two new people: Babba and Aunt Hannah. Babba likes to take me outside and walk me around saying, "Hoya, Hoya, Hoya." That must be Italian. He's already bought me two premie outfits (I wasn't premie, but OK), mitts for my hands, and a little blanket with a doggie that looks like Morg. My legs stick out of the premie outfit, because I'm not short--just lean. This morning he took a special trip to get me three new binkies. Not too bad.
Aunt Hannah took some pictures of Babba giving me my first bath yesterday. He was coaching Daddy. Everyone wanted to know the true color of my hair. If you've seen Daddy's hair, you've seen mine. In fact, if you can imagine a baby Daddy, you'll know pretty much how I look!
All last night, Mama and Daddy and I played for hours and hours again! They love me so much! There’s a lot to do when everything else is quiet. If I was a little fussy, you should remember that I have a big plastic clip on my tummy that takes up almost all the room there is. That is a little awkward and can be uncomfortable. Besides that, my tummy only holds a few tablespoons, no matter how good the food.
Mama is great at feeding me, and I'm great at clearing out all the meconium.

This morning I have been resting, trying to catch up from last night. Nonna and I went for a long walk together. I was in a sling. It’s really nice in there! We picked flowers, got breakfast, and cleaned up a little from the family vacation last week. That was the very last vacation with me in the dark. What really made me come right away was that Mom and Dad hiked in Kolob Canyon the day before my birthday. I just couldn't stand it any longer! Then they went to the temple on my birthday, and I knew it was OK.

Now I’m sleeping on Babba and Nonna’s bed.

Life is beautiful. I love you.