Yesterday, we celebrated the one month birthday of our new little boy, who, it turns out, was never very “little” at all. He was born 10 lbs 13 ounces.

Here he is is at four days old.

On my blog, I will call him “Little Brother.”

There is much to tell - from the dreadful depths of back labor to the heights of this very serious baby’s first smile. This baby LOVES to eat so my time has been limited. I also have found that with three kids, the impulse to find a routine and help the whole family (myself included) settle in emotionally has been very strong and that has been my unconscious priority in May. I do look forward to writing about the past month, though. I will not attempt to sum it all up right now. And I can’t promise you more photos, since I broke my “no kids photos” rule by posting this one photo of the baby. Instead I will promise to post every day of June. Maybe the story of this past month will all come out that way, once I get the rust off of my writing fingers.

But for now, I will tell you that on the night before I gave birth, we went out to dinner to celebrate our last night as a family of four. (I was scheduled to be induced the next morning). Over milkshakes, we decided that with our new baby our family would be wonderful plus one. A few weeks later, Hannah, my middle child, who has been having ups and downs adjusting to the baby, suggested we go out for milkshakes again to celebrate being a family of five. I had Dad pick up the milkshakes and we had them for dessert that night. All on their own, the girls decided to prepare little speeches to the baby, which Hannah called “poems.” I suggested that they could talk about negative feelings as well as positive feelings, but I was vetoed. The girls wanted to focus on the good things. This was the baby’s moment and it was very sweet.

And if that is too sweet for you, don’t despair. I promise a more complete story will emerge during my postings in June.

Thanks to all who participated in my internet blogging shower. It made my day and the gift certificate seems to be the gift that keeps on giving. We have bought about five crucial things with it so far. More Later on that.

Lots of love to you and thanks for your patience.

Life is good, especially when he sleeps well (like last night).

Also, congratulations to Cynthia, J-L, and family on the joyous birth of Jack. I wish we were real neighbors, rather than virtual neighbors, so we could have “mommy” play-dates. One of the frustrations of blogging: hitting the virtual social wall.