Happy Halloween

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From Sara, Bryan, and Sean

Three Months

Dear Sean--

This week you turned three months old. The past month has been a big one for you. You continue to grow like crazy! In fact, you're starting to outgrow your three month clothes, and I'm having to buy the six month clothes already. We can hardly keep up with you! In the past month, you've become increasingly aware of your surroundings, and you love to look around. You have also become really smiley! You smile when mommy or daddy talks to you, when we tickle you, or blow on your belly. And when I go get you in the morning for your breakfast, you greet me with a huge grin. It is so wonderful, and seeing that smile always starts my day off on the right foot.


You have become increasingly active this month. You love to kick your legs, and you are holding your head up really well! You even rolled over once (though you startled yourself doing it and haven't done it since). Everyone who meets you comments on how strong you are. Your legs are particularly strong, and you like to show off by "standing." When mommy or daddy holds you, you love to straighten your legs and force yourself into a standing position. You can actually bear your body weight when you do this, which is amazing for such a little baby. In all your standing, you've decided that the world is much more interesting from an upright position. You now get easily bored when I lay you down on a quilt for play time. You want to be sitting up or standing, looking at the world around you.


This month we have been working really hard on good sleep habits. You started sleeping through the night just after your two month birthday. I'd feed you at 10:30, then you'd go to sleep and not wake up for breakfast until 7:30. We were so happy the first time you slept through the night! Once you started sleeping through the night, we started working on helping you learn to fall asleep on your own. This involved lots of crying (on your part and mine), but after a few days, you figured it out. Now, when I put you to bed, or if you wake up at night, you soothe yourself right to sleep. We are now embarking on the next sleep challenge: learning how to sleep unswaddled. You still have a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep if you're not swaddled (even though you usually will have both arms busting out of the swaddle by morning). But you are getting better about sleeping unswaddled. Hopefully, we will have soon conquered that challenge as well.



This is also month you got your passport, and took your first airplane ride! We flew to California to visit Grandma Leslie, and while you were there, you got to meet your Great-Grandmother Helen, your Great-Aunts Sue and Joan, and Daddy's cousin Adam. You did very well on the airplane! I was very proud. I fed you as we took off to help keep your ears from hurting, and other than waking up to eat at the three-hour mark, you slept soundly and peacefully in my arms the entire way! While we were in California, you stayed on East Coast time, waking up for breakfast at 4:30 am. But you did really well, even though you were sleeping in a strange place and met lots of new people! Your great-grandmother and your aunts all loved you immediately, and you melted everyone's heart with your gorgeous smile!



Not too long after getting back from California, we packed everything up again for a trip to Ohio where Grandpa Boyd and Diana got married. While we were there you met your great-grandparents, your great-aunts and -uncles, and lots of cousins. It was a big family affair, and everyone loved getting a chance to meet you! The day after the wedding, the family threw you a baby shower, where you received all sorts of wonderful gifts! There is no doubt that you are a loved and blessed little boy!


Unfortunately, Mommy had to return to work this month, so you started daycare. I can't begin to tell you how difficult this was for me. Even though we found a wonderful daycare, leaving you there was still one of the hardest things I've ever done! On your first day, I stayed in the room without for about an hour before I was finally able to work up the courage to leave. The tears were streaming down my face before I even left the room. When I picked you up, it seemed like you'd had a bit of a rough day. But by the second day, you were just fine. Now, when I drop you off, you give me a big smile when I give you hugs and kisses. Even better than that is the huge grin you give me when I come to pick you up in the evening! The good news, though, is that soon I will be staying home with you full time! Being able to do this means so much to me, and I'm looking forward to more play time with my little man!


Sean, every day we marvel at what a wonderful little boy we have. It is so amazing to see you smile, and watch you grow. You get more and more perfect every day. I can't wait to see what the next month brings!

Love,
Mom

What's in a Name?

Dear Sean--

Several months ago, after the doctors told us that we would be having a little boy, we knew right away that we would name you Sean Thomas. Though we debated several names, this was the only one that felt right. You see, you were named after two of your Great-Grandfathers -- John Connors and Thomas Sauer.

Sean is an Irish variant of the name John, which means "God is Gracious" or "Gift of God." Your great-grandfather, John Connors, was a wonderful man. I have so many wonderful memories of him. Like the way he had a nickname for everyone (he always called me Dolly or Sara Bagara). Or how he was always whistling. When he would come visit us, at least once a day, he'd put on his hat and go for a nice long walk. And over Christmas, he was always able to see Santa's sleigh in the sky and hear reindeer pawing on the roof. He would always make us laugh with his mispronunciation of "skebetti" and "topato." In addition to all the great times we had, and the wonderful memories I have, he instilled in me, and in our family, a deep pride in our Irish heritage. So it is quite fitting that in naming you after him, we gave you an Irish variant of his name.

Thomas Sauer was Daddy's grandpa. He was an engineer who loved to tinker with old cars and play with HAM radio. He was a strict vegan, with one exception -- he LOVED ice cream! At times, he was known to eat an entire half-gallon of ice cream on one day. He liked to frequent garage sales, looking for deals on old electronics. Sometimes he'd tinker with them to fix them up, but more often than not, they just piled up. He had a workshop in his garage, and when Daddy and uncle Jeff would go visit, he always had a project going.

Sean Thomas, your name is special, just like you. You were named after two great men who were very special to Mommy and Daddy. And their spirit lives on in you.

Love,
Mommy

Daycare

Today was Sean's first day at daycare. I cried. Even though I only left him for a few hours, I wasn't even out of the room before the tears started falling.

We decided that we would start him at the daycare a few days early so that it wouldn't be such a shock to him (or me) when I returned to work and he was there all day every day. So this morning, I took him in just before his 10:30 feeding and fed him there. Then I took him to the infant room, and probably spent almost an hour there, talking to the teachers, and just getting up the courage to leave. I picked him up just after 4. They said he did really well. He didn't really nap, but the teachers said that's normal. I imagine it will take him a while to adjust and get used to the new surroundings.

He'll go back tomorrow. Hopefully I'll do better than I did today.