dsc03021.JPGUnbelievable! Where did June go? For me, June is one big blur of two to three hour intervals of feeding, burping, diapering, cleaning spit-up, rocking, shushing, diapering, cuddling, rocking and shushing some more. There was a little bit of sleep mixed in there somewhere, but I don't remember doing much of that. Our sweet Tobi basically slept through the first two and a half weeks of his life and then somewhere around the middle of June he suddenly woke up. He then spent the rest of June trying so very hard to get back to sleep. Unfortunately for us all he wasn't very successful. We had a couple of difficult weeks, but it seems that Tobi has recently accepted his new life outside of the womb and is thankfully adjusting.

dsc03076.JPGLately we have been working on getting him to go longer than two hours in between feedings and he is slowly coming around. It wasn't so bad during the day, but getting up every two hours at night left me sleep deprived and not the nicest person to be around. Thankfully, Tobi has been compliant and for the most part is stretching out his feedings. In fact, the last two nights he went five hours in between feedings. I literally feel like a new person. I'm just praying he keeps it up. However, eating so often has paid off in the weight department. Tobi is really starting to fill out and the makings of a double chin and fat rolls are forming. He is changing daily and I am reminded to snuggle my little baby often because he won't be so little much longer.

As of last Friday, which coincidently was Tobi's 5 week birthday, he started rewarding us for our hard work with the most precious smiles. He seems to be a smiley little guy anyway because he almost always smiles, unintentionally of course, as he is drifting off to sleep and sometimes while he is eating, and has been doing that since we brought him home from the hospital. However, these new intentional smiles are the best! I received the very first smile as I was washing his face last Friday morning. I wasn't completely sure if it was an actual smile or just his reaction to the warm washcloth on his face. Then later that day after Andrej got home from work, Tobi decided that dad needed to be rewarded for the late nights as well and flashed him a big grin. Since then it has become quite a fun game in our house to make Tobi smile.

I am thankful that June is behind us, and not because Tobi is now sleeping better and longer at night, but because July is shaping up to be a fun month. Teta Marina arrives in 10 days and we couldn't be more excited! I keep reminding Kaiya that her aunt is coming soon, especially when she wants me to read one of her Slovak books. Marina will be much better at that than me! Then, soon after Marina arrives, the Desnoyers are rolling through town as they hit the last leg of their whirlwind road trip before heading south to settle into their new home. We are really looking forward to spending some quality time with them and finally letting Kaiya and Jackson meet.

dsc03083.JPGFinally, to round out the month we are in the process of deciding if we want to fly down to SC for a mini-vacation or have my parents and grandparents drive up here. We have a certain someone's second birthday to celebrate on July 26, so it's just a matter of deciding where the celebration will be! So far Kaiya's only request for her birthday has been a pink cake and "bah-bah-bah-booooons" (balloons). There are also a few doctor appointments, sorry Tobi, and a baby shower for a dear friend thrown in as well. July should provide some bloggin' material that hopefully involves more than feedings and lack of sleep!