One Month Old

But it feels like Miran has always been here (and maybe, in the most profound way, he has). Well, where are we? Miran is growing like a weed -- still very small indeed, but not nearly as small as he once was. At his one-month check-up today, he weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz. (up from 6 lbs. 8 oz. just over two weeks ago), so clearly mama's milk is doing its job! Miran is exclusively breast fed and, to me, it's a wonder of nature that I could produce anything hearty enough to sustain and grow a whole other human being.

Getting enough rest is still difficult, though easier with my mother-in-law here to lend a hand. Miran has just begun to occasionally sleep for four or five hours at a time (though not always during the night), which is great.

Oh--he's waking up -- more later!

Hungry Miran Video

Miran, Aged 3 weeks, 3 days trying to munch on his Nana's shoulder.

Click here for video

Due Date

Today's Miran's official due date--bizarre to think that if things had been different he could still be nestled snugly inside me for another week or two! But he's definitely here (screaming in the other room having his diaper changed as I type)--alive, strong, kicking, looking around, being a baby. He's definitely starting to show more interest in things around him and to focus on things--faces, lights, sounds.

Well, the weather is too nice to resist . . . off we go for a family walk through the park.

A Phipps Inheritance (by Kieryn)

I'm sitting here listening to Brian Eno's Apollo album with Miran peacefully sleeping in the Amby Baby, Leana getting a much needed nap in the other room.

My own dad, Mick, listened to the same album often as I grew up and the relaxing atmosphere it creates is embedded deeply within me. This is one of the experiences I would like to pass on to Miran; I want it to chill him out too, for him to imagine being deep under the ocean while listening to the haunting reverberations of "The Secret Place" and "Matta", and fall asleep to the beautiful joyous overtones in "Ascent" as I once did so many years ago.

I know that his life will be his own and for the most part he will have interests and a personality nothing like I could expect or imagine, but there are small pieces of myself like this that I think he won't be able to escape.

I feel that this music has had such a positive effect on me, and I really hope that Miran will one day feel that too.

-Kieryn