One Month

I can't believe one month has already come and gone. It has been a crazy month to say the least. I cannot imagine a time when Canaan was not part of our lives.

We celebrated Matthew's first Father's Day. My parents came up to visit which was fun. And Matthew got a new grill. We haven't used it much yet as we have had many rainy afternoons/evenings. But Matthew looks forward to breaking it in over the summer. I didn't get a picture of Matthew on Father's Day.

Over a week ago, our pediatrician started Canaan on some medicine for acid reflux. I hate that we are already giving her medicine, but she has not been a happy baby. There are times each day when she is screaming in pain. This is obviously not fun for anyone. We are trying to get in to see a specialist because the medicine is not solving the problems, but so far the earliest we can see a specialist is at the end of July. We are praying something will open up before then so someone can figure out the problem and make our baby more comfortable. Until then, there is little time for posting pictures (or taking them for that matter).

We took her to Target last week for 1 month pictures. Our appointment was for an hour. The photographer got a total of 6 pictures before Canaan just lost it. I thought they turned out cute, but I am biased of course. In the first picture, I think she looks like Elmer Fudd. Isn't she a cutie? We chose to purchase the second picture. I found some great coupons online and was able to get a really inexpensive package. Matthew liked this picture since it was the only one that showed her chin. Maybe her 2 month pictures will go more smoothly.

Other than her discomfort, things have been going well I guess. It is nice to be the person that is able to calm her when it is time to eat as I am the only one feeding her at this point. We are trying to introduce a bottle so that Matthew can feed her and I can get out of the house. So far that has not gone over well. We are going to keep trying. She has to take one eventually so that I can go back to work.

In her first 4 weeks, Canaan gained 2 pounds and 3 1/2 ounces. In that way her acid reflux (if that is what it is) has not been too bad. She is continuing to gain weight which is very good. Since we see her every day, it is hard to notice all the little changes, but it is obvious that she is getting bigger.

With Canaan being so fussy, I haven't taken many pictures. It seems the only time I think about it is when she is asleep. We are lucky these days to get a shower in before noon so taking pictures has fallen by the wayside. Here's to better days ahead!

The Name

I have received several questions about Canaan's name and its significance (pronounced Kaynan). We ended up deciding on her name while eating breakfast the day she was born.

Since we had such a hard time coming up with a name, Matthew wanted to look at names from the Bible. So I found a website of Bible names and printed out the list. It listed everything from people's names to names of places. While I was driving back to our house from getting our picture taken, Matthew pulled out the list and started reading through it.

Canaan was a name we both liked but we had a couple of reservations. Although we wanted to find something unique, we didn't really want to pick a name that she would always have to pronounce or spell for the rest of her life. I'm afraid that is exactly what we did for Canaan. Bless her heart! I hope she will like her name and won't be upset with us. I guess time will tell.

We have already encountered several situations where her name has been mispronounced - like at the pediatrician's office where they have called her Canon at both visits. Thankfully, the actual pediatrician got her name correct.

I really love it! I think it fits her perfectly - a beautiful name for a beautiful girl.

2 Weeks

Wow! The past two weeks have gone by so quickly yet it seems like two weeks ago was a long time ago. My parents left town last Monday and I seriously wondered if Matthew, Canaan, and I would survive without them here. It was scary to think about tackling it all on our own. It is really reassuring to have someone else in the house who has been through all this before and knows what she is doing. We, on the other hand, are new to all this. We are becoming accustomed to Canaan and her many sounds and have gotten much more comfortable with her over the past week.

Here are some recent pictures of sweet Canaan. There is so much that we want to remember from this time but know that we won't be able to remember it all. Here are some things that have been fun to discover so far.

• She really likes to have her hands up by her face and head.
• She stretches a lot and puts one hand up above her head like Superman.
• She makes many faces and wrinkles her forehead a lot.
• She doesn't have any tears when she cries.
• She almost always cries when we put her in her car seat. Once the car starts moving she generally settles down and eventually falls asleep.
• She eats often!
• She has been sleeping pretty well at night - sometimes for a stretch of 5 hours.
• She has a lot of dirty diapers. It is truly unbelievable.
• She sleeps best when she is swaddled. Matthew is the master swaddler. Every time I swaddle her, she is able to get her hands out.
• She is an extremely heavy sleeper. It is almost impossible to keep her awake, and it takes some time to wake her up.
• The bouncy seat and swing are great to have around.
• Her smile is precious.
• She is worth every moment of sleep I've lost. She is just perfect!