You got your first immunization shot yesterday, right the day after you turned two months old.

You were a real princess during the whole process, calm, patient and a real lady. The doctor checked your ears, listened to your chest, checked your nose and throat, weighed and measured you, and you were a real lady. The doctor himself said most babies would have cried by now, and you are so calm letting me examine you.

Your dad is always nervous about the hygiene, germs and bacteria in doctor’s office and everywhere. I am most concerned about you, catching a cold!

Anyways, you are -thanks God- perfectly healthy and happy.

I have your vaccination card, and I need to keep it in a safe place. We all love you so so so much.

You went to your uncle Keyan’s place for his birthday for the first time. You were an angel (as usual, no surprise).

We went there on April 5th, 2013. Keyan’s bday is on April 6th.

May be I am imagining things, but I think today, for the first time, you decided and grabbed your cloth book.

You have efficient ways of communication. You rarely cry, except if you have pain, you want to (but cannot) sleep, or if you are hungry. You want us to hold you and walk, when you are sleepy. This is the one and the only way to put you to sleep, if you are wide awake. When you get half asleep, we can usually sit and rock you.

I usually hold you in my arms (in monkey position: I coined the term! I can tell you how it is, later), sing iranian songs or poems to you, then once you are sleepier, I sit in a rocking chair.

Oh god, we just adore you. To my eyes, you are the most beautiful baby, ever.

For the first time we took you to Tim Horton’s on Good Friday! March 29th, 2013.

I am still very anxious about taking you out to the public places. Your dad really wants to take you out everywhere, but I have to stop him. That is basically and mostly because your doctor said we shouldn’t take you to public places before you are two months old.

We took you to Nava’s place (I am not sure, but you two might end up becoming close friends) yestreday on March 31st. It was one of your first parties.

You also went to Safora’s place on the same day, but we went there for lunch. Safora is one of the most important people in our life. I have to dedicate a post to our story with Safora. She was a god-sent woman in our life.

And…most importantly…

Today, for the first time, when your dad took out his tongue you obviously tried to immitate him! You were doing lots of efforts to take out your tongue. You succeeded for a couple of times, and tried really hard all other times.

These days, when you want us to lift you, you hold up your arms.

God bless you; I am not sure if you are the smartest baby I have ever seen, or if that is just because I am your mom.

Smartest or dumbest, we just love you, adore you, and worship you. Your dad is just crazy about you, even though you don’t let him sleep at night, and he has to go to work the day after.

You went to a restaurant for the first time in your life. It was Darband restaurant, an Iranian restaurant at Don Mills and York Mills. You were like a princess there. Of course you were on your dad’s arm at all times. But hey, you are barely forty days old, and you managed.

I was a bit nervous; I was concerned you might get sick by being exposed to people and to the new environment. Your dad assured me that nothing would happen.

Today, I decided not to hold you in my arms every time that you cry and ask for it. I read about it on the internet, and I realized that at around your age, babies realize that they are separate from their mothers. So, each and every time when they do not see their mother, they get fearful, their mother may not come back to them. To make it worse, they have no recollection of the last time their mother came back to them. I would like to expand it a bit and say that if babies do not see a familiar face around hem, they get nervous and fearful. You seem to be fine with me, your father and your grandmother. So, I decided to stay close to you, in a way you can see, hear and feel me. But I won’t hold you in my arms at all times. It means that you will nag, or cry. But hey, it is really impossible for me to keep you there at all times.

You have no idea how we all love you. I have always loved your father. But the love that I have for you is of a different nature. If you ever decide to have a child, you will experience a feeling, which is not similar to any other feeling.

You went to your first party last night. You were a perfect lady, resting like a monkey on your father’s arm, wet your shirt, and, well….nagged a bit, but really really perfect otherwise.

Your first party was at Sahar’s place. I was much more comfortable with the idea of getting you out of the house. I, still cannot work with your car seat, which is partly because of my C section incisions (it is just the feeling, I think I should be really fine with that. Anyways, I think you had a good time. For taking you to the malls or crowded places, the doctor said we needed to wait until you are 2 months old. I agree. I think it is a good idea to take you out to those crowded places after you have got your first shots, and after the weather is a bit warmer, and the epidemic colds and flues are gone.

And…you little girl have a good appetite, and like the taste of food. Your dad takes pride in being the first person who kissed your lips! Well, he sure did kiss your lips when you were just one day old. But just three days ago, when you were barely one month old, he kissed your lips. You enjoyed it more than ever and kept on licking his lips; the reason is….he had eaten some sweets (Iranian Halvaa Ardeh) on his lips, and you were enjoying the taste. The day before yesterday, he did the trick again, this time with the Iranian ‘khoresh e gheimeh”, and …hey, you enjoyed it a lot. Again, last night in the party, Sahar had cooked the Iranian “shivid polo baghela baa mahicheh”, and your dad put his finger in broth, wet your lips with that, and…you loved it.So…your first experiences: your first tastings of foods, and your first party.

I can’t thank God enough for you. You are a perfect baby, a baby every parent would love to have. Just tell me, why were you crying and shouting when you were in your car seat, and even when I took you out of it in Sahar’s lobby? When your dad hugged you, you were totally fine and stopped crying. I still can’t explain it!!

In your earliest days, I never thought I could take care of you myself! I did.

These days, I am soooo nervous and worried. I read about all problems that babies might have on the internet, and it makes me extremely nervous. I hope my anxiety won’t get into you. I do my best to make a warm and comforting environment for you. I play lots of music, classical or Iranian ones for you, even when you are sleeping.

Oh god, you have no idea how lovely you are.

You are one month old now. Actually, you are one month and 2 days today.

I am still nervous. I am so nervous, I get an upset stomach during the day, when I am alone with you in our bedroom. I am thankful, and fearful both at the same time. I am thankful for all the great healthy and peaceful hours and minutes, but fearful about all the unexpected, unpredictable upcoming hours and minutes. This is especially if your father is not home.

You hate being cold! You scream, cry or are uncomfortable if you are cold. I wish I had known this when I was getting you clothes. All your clothes are some newborn normal cotton clothes that were available in the market, at Oosh Koosh, Carter’s or Baby’s R Us stores.

You had some episodes of tummy pain, usually in the evening hours. Actually, you are a bit uncomfortable around the evening hours. This reminds me of “Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde” novel. I am now determined to read that novel some time this year, after I am done with David Copperfield.

I always think about your teenage years. I doubt if you would be interested in being fully and warmly covered in warm clothes even in the coldest days of the year. Teenage girls love to be half naked, and show their beautiful bodies. In fact, I will be the happiest if you do not see the need to show off your body. The reason is, I will know that you have so much self-esteeme that you never feel the need to make yourself uncomfortable for the attention of the others. But hey, I am almost forty years now, and I still feel the need to show my body!! I confess, I do not have a strong self-esteeme, so, what can I expect from a normal and healthy teenage girl.

Your father and I adore you. Your father just asks you again and again, “where were you in the past forty years of my life?” On my side, I am so nervous, I can’t fully enjoy.

Hey, by the way, if you ever decide to have a child (and this would be a great decision; kids are gifts of the Lord), I can share my own experience with you. Do it when you know you are extremely patient and calm, have some time to spend for and with the baby dedicatedly, when you are financially -rather- stable, and preferrably have one person to help you. Make sure that the father of the baby is a responsible and caring man; you and the baby will need it. And, there is a checklist of 6 items you need to check:

1. If the baby is hungry. I can tell you about all signs if you are interested.

2. If the baby has a soiled diaper. This is easy to check. 🙂

3. If the baby is cold or warm. In your case, it took some time for us to discover HOW sensitive you are to the cold weather. We realized it when you were just two days old, but we couldn’t believe how bad it was up until yesterday!

4. If the baby has pain somewhere in her body (including tummy pain). Your father and I can tell you more about it.

5. Baby wants to sleep. Believe it or not, babies don’t know how to sleep. They might need help!

6.  Baby needs to be hugged. 🙂

And…you have to be extremely patient, and trust your baby, and pay close attention to the signs. Some items are easy to try. Some others are not. Again, just be patient, and pay attention to the baby.

Some photos of your one-month anniversary should be uploaded on photo.mansoori.ca. Your grandma in Iran is crazy about you, and asks for more and more photos. Don’t be surprised if you see hundreds of photos of yourself within a couple of months!

You suffered from abdominal pain for a couple of nights and days. We could console you, but we were really upset because you were in pain.

Your dad had to get back to work today, and I am not still comfortable with carrying and handling your car seat, or even driving. So, we decided to take you to the doctor yesterday and seek some advice.

You have been getting too much milk for a day. Doctor’s recommendation was for 60 to 90 cc every 3+ hours. 75 cc works best for you.

Enfamil didn’t work for you. The doctor, however, recommended Gentlease for you. We realized that Gentlease was one of Enfamil products. So, we decided not to give it to you, and keep you on your current Nestle formula.

You stopped latching after we fed you with bottle. And, you do not like breast milk, except if it is mixed with formula. 🙂

You are an angel, a real lady. Many have dropped by to see you. It is of course a tradition, but hey, because I always said I didn’t want to have a child, all friends and families (even the most distant ones) are so excited! I can’t believe.

Having a child is a unique experience, not similar to anything else. For one thing I love your dad, and I know he does love me. After you are here, though, we have been unable to find a word to describe our feelings for you. It is something beyond love. I strongly believe that it is about instincts, and it is given to us by the nature for humans and other animals to survive.

So, by all means, once you feel ready and mature enough, try having a baby. Make yourself prepared to face all challenges, all responsibilities, the deepest pain and the deepest joy you have ever experienced.

We love you, no matter how you are, or what you are. We are just wired to love you, if love is the right word.

Wow. You no longer need a support to keep your head upright. Well, of course not for a long time, but hey, this is a very great improvement. You can even turn your head when you are on your tummy! I never expected it from a 10-days old baby.

I guess we overfed you. You had abdominal pain, and a little bit of diarhea. We decided to feed you with less milk. We found the formula for the daily amount of milk for newborns. It is 150 to 200 ml per kg of their weight per day. For you for now, it is 3.5 by 200 (or by 150), so 700 ml per day. We will keep it at 60 ml per feeding.