I’ve sadly been neglecting my family and friends these past two weeks. Not purposefully though. And of all the times when I want to communicate with you it’s been now. Being in North Carolina, removed from my family and most of my friends has been hard. I want to show off my precious baby to you all!

The first question people ask us is, “How is Reuben sleeping?” The first week and a half he was doing well; sleeping through the night accept for waking for two feedings. Recently he has changed his good habits. The past few nights he has decided to stay awake for an hour or two after a feeding. Being the parents we have let him cry himself back to sleep, but that takes a while, and when he’s crying we don’t get any sleep ourselves. We started a new strategy last night, waking him every three hours for a feeding. This puts us more in control of the schedule. It worked pretty well; we shall see how it works tonight.

Reuben is a grunter! Lately I’ve been thinking of an old HQ co-worker, Jon Ullrey and his famous response to everything, “Oh, groan!” Reuben grunts and groans when he is going to sleep, when he is waking up, when he is burping, when he is happily awake, and almost any other time that he is not sleeping.

Aunt Ruth has fallen in love with her new nephew. Ruth and Grandma Talbott dispute over who gets to hold him. (Grandma always wins though; she has seniority). I am looking forward to when Reuben can meet the rest of his aunts and uncles. I’m sure he will love Aunt Anna, Aunt Ellen, Aunt Christy, Uncle Nathan and Uncle Sam as much as I do.

Nathaniel is having fun with his new son. People tell me that the dad will get involved and enjoy their babies more after age 6 months, but Nathaniel has been playing with Reuben since day one (much to my dismay sometimes). It’s been a blessing to me to have a husband who is so involved in the life of his child, even at this young age. Nathaniel has a way of speaking to Reuben in an authoritative way, that when cranky helps settle him. He’s a great dad already and I’m sure he’s going to be a great dad throughout the years.

I’ve heard it said that you never will fully appreciate your parents until you have children of your own. I can now agree. I don’t think you can ever fully appreciate them — there’s too much sacrificed that is never known or can ever be repaid. I am so grateful for my parents and the upbringing I’ve had. The ways in which my parents have trained my younger siblings and me are so ingrained; it’s made it easier to begin parenting my child.

It’s so weird to type that, “my child.” I still feel like I’m just babysitting this cute kid! I’m finally feeling like a married woman (after 9 months), can it be that I have a child of my own?!! The early morning feedings do make it a bit more real.

There’s so much more to type, but I’ll close for now. Don’t forget to look at the new pictures that we posted last night (7-20-03). Until next time,

~ Katie Talbott