One Month of Holden James!

Wednesday of this past week marked the one month milestone for our little Holdie boy! We are enjoying every moment of the journey and soaking it all in.

I think we’ll probably handle this year of Holden updates similar to the way we did Kamri’s… every month, we’ll post on Facebook and Instagram a new picture of him and some of the mile markers he’s hit, things we’ve learned about him, etc. At the end of the year, I’ll throw them all into one post here so we have a collection of all twelve months to look back on. In terms of how else we’re documenting his first year, I’m trying my best to take a weekly photo of him in the same white onesie on different backgrounds, next to the number blocks because we think it will be fun to watch how he grows each week. We’re also jotting down 2-3 memories/things that happened throughout the week and my vision is to put it all into a photo book at the end of the year and that’ll be home to all of our first year memories. 🙂 Here is our first week… fitting because it happened to fall on Valentine’s Day!

For now, let’s talk about little Holden’s first month on earth… complete with some newborn pictures, of course. 🙂

Holden was born weighing 9 lbs, 2 oz and measuring 21 inches long. At his first doctors’ appointment, he had dropped to 8 lbs, 13 oz, but has since gained that back and then some, clocking in at 10 lbs, 12 oz at his one month appointment this past week and now measuring 22 inches long! In the last week and a half, he outgrew his first newborn-sized clothing (which is something noteworthy in itself, as we weren’t even sure he’d fit in any at all!)… a bittersweet moment for Mom and Dad! Holden is a growing, healthy boy… something we could not be more thankful for.

One of the big questions is how we came up with his name… we don’t know very many Holdens at all, which is saying something because both Mitch and I have worked with a lot of kids! We liked that it is unique and something we hadn’t heard much of. I mean, our daughter’s name is Kamri, so you knew he wasn’t going to be something traditional. 🙂 Holden felt like a name that can grow with him and James is Mitch’s middle name and Mitch’s dad’s middle name, so we liked the idea of continuing the tradition. Also, Holden feels a little sporty in nature and if you know us, you know we love our sports. Finally, we’re huge fans of nicknames and name-shortening, so just like Kamri’s name lent itself nicely to that (Kam, K-Cup, Kamaroo, KB, etc.), we knew we wanted the same for Holden. We’ve been loving calling him Holdie.

We are learning that Holden is very much like his sister in nature… happy, patient, expressive, and perceptive. He does not cry a whole lot, only when he needs something and as soon as we figure out what it is and tend to it, he’s as happy as a clam. Sleep-wise, he does a lot of it! This kid can sleep for HOURS straight, especially in the car. He has been pretty good at night (of course, there have been a few “awake” nights here and there… he is a newborn, after all) and will often have two long sleep stints of 3-5 hours each. Not complaining there.

Holden has been sleeping in a pack and play in our room and at some point, we’ll transition him into the crib in his room. His nursery is finished and we love it, something I never thought I’d be able to honestly say. I loved putting together Kamri’s room and never believed I’d completely warm up to another nursery like I did hers. It has been so healing to create and enjoy spaces in our house for both of our kids. Someday, we’d like to share both with you… would that be something you would be interested in seeing?

In terms of what it feels like to be the parents of two kids, I think that might deserve a post of its own. We are learning more and more everyday of how we are going to walk this path, how we are going to talk, act, and engage with the world as a family of four who are not all physically together right now. For one, you’ll never see an official family photo without Kamri in it in some way. We talk about her all of the time and Holden knows that he has a big sister that loves him very much. There is no greater gift than seeing the two of them together…

Overall, this last month has been a dream come true… we keep going back to the opening line of our favorite family song… “almost heaven” is what our life currently feels like. Already, but not yet. There is good here and better to come. After all, that’s the exact nature of this world and eternity. 🙂

Holden James, you are one month old! You bring us so much joy and light and Mommy, Daddy, and Kamri love you so very much. You are growing and changing so fast and we LOVE watching it happen. We are learning so much about you, your personality, and the way you are just starting to perceive the world around you. You love looking at lights, bath time, and your pacifier. You are a champion at getting shots and remind us so much of your sister in how brave and strong you are. Speaking of strong, you’ve got some muscle on you! You are learning how to push off things with your arms and legs and getting very good at holding your head up. You have “stormy blue” eyes and dark brown hair that gets longer and thicker every week. You are very alert and attentive to what is going on around you… something we think you get from Kam. We see so much of her in you. She has taken it upon herself to teach you how to do the side eye, the scrunchy face, and guess what? You have Kamri’s funky toes too! Same foot, same toe… it was the first thing Daddy shouted across the delivery room to me when he saw you… “He has Kamri’s toe!”. You are so much like your big sister and so uniquely you all at the same time and we love that. Although you are not a fussy baby, you are not a fan of being hungry (who is?) and have a very low tolerance for a dirty or wet diaper… but you don’t love the changing process either, so… sorry, kid. You can sleep through any kind of noise (which we sometimes make on purpose to get you trained in the art of “heavy sleeping”) and LOVE riding in the car. You can go as long as five hours riding around, doing errands, etc… we’re thinking you’re going to be great on family road trips! Holden, you are a very happy baby and give us so many smiles! Every single one of them is a treat for Mommy and Daddy (the open-mouthed ones are our very favorite) and makes us laugh so hard! You make lots of noises, which is so much fun for us to hear… you can do the “firework”, “tea kettle”, “raptor”, and “old man grunt” flawlessly. Holden James, you amaze us and we are so glad that you’re ours. God designed you perfectly for our family and we cannot wait to continue to watch His story for you unfold. We love you, Holdie. We love you so much.