The Meaning Behind The Name

Today's post is short and sweet.  A little explanation as to how and why we chose Eric's name.

We knew since we got married what we would name a daughter.  We had Caleb and had a heck of a time choosing his name and then came the time for us to have another baby.  We still had a girl's name and would have to pick our brains for a boy's name if that's what baby ended up being.

Well we got blessed with another little boy and we were back to the drawing board.  We sat and came up with a name pretty quickly.  We knew that we wanted little boy's name to mean something.  We decided to name him after both of our dads.

Eric is Ryan's dad's middle name.  His first name is Mark and as much as it is a nice name, we didn't care for it for our son so we chose his middle name.  James is for my dad.  Now the funny thing is that my dad's name was not James, in fact, his name was nowhere near James technically.  My dad's name was Santiago but he went by Jim.  Since Jim is a nickname for James, we chose James.

I hope Eric grows up being really proud of his name.  I hope he has traits of both of his grandpas.  Unfortunately he will never meet my dad, but I hope he loves the fact that he is still named after a great men who raised great kids.

To Eric James - 1 Month Letter

My Dearest Eric James,

I cannot believe that it is already time for me to write you your first monthly letter.  I feel like it was just yesterday that I was typing these out for your brother, and yet, here we are with you turning one month old already!

It has been a terribly fast month and it honestly makes me a little sad.  I love that you are here and have joined our family, but I am sad that this is our last first month with a baby.  I can't believe that we went from the hospital to one month so fast and how much has changed in just those short 30 days.

Your life on this earth started out fantastic!  We had a great labor and delivery and you came out perfect.  You looked identical to your big brother and we fell head over heals in love with you little one.  We spent a short visit in the hospital and then got to bring you home.  Your big brother did so well meeting you for the first time and hasn't stopped loving on you since.

After you came home we had a rough go.  You weren't striving like we had all hoped, you lost almost an entire pound, and we had to adjust some things.  After discussions with your doctor and lactation consultants, we got you squared away and you were back at being the perfect little boy you were in the hospital.

Over the past 30 days you have grown so much already!  You are a champion eater, just like your brother, and I call you Hungry Hippo more times then Eric throughout a day.  You are eating like clockwork every 3 hours and are definitely a heavy nighttime eater.  We aren't nursing anymore, due to complications on my end, but I know that you will be strong and smart just like Caleb is.

Sleep.  Oh goodness child I prayed that everyone was lying when they said you would be a terrible sleeper since Caleb was such a good one, and still is.  You were born in the middle of the night so I know that that usually makes it difficult for babies to determine days and nights, but we are still struggling!  You love to sleep during the day and as much as I wouldn't mind napping with you during the day and calling it good, Caleb doesn't allow that.  The first couple weeks were exhausting beyond belief but each day is getting better.  Right now you go to sleep at night around 8:30 and sleep until 6:00 waking up usually once, maybe twice in the night to eat.  I am soooo looking forward to the night that you sleep all night.  I have to keep reminding myself that you are still young and we have time to get you on a routine, but please baby boy, Mommy is tired!

This month you got your newborn photos taken, went to Mommy's work twice to meet everyone, met family and friends, slept a lot - ate more, went to lunch a million times and hung out with me and your brother every day.

Overall you are definitely not as chill of a baby as your brother was but we love you just the same.  You have blessed our family beyond belief and I can never truly explain to you how much we wanted you and how much you have changed us.  You are the puzzle piece that we were missing and now we are whole!

I love you Eric James!

Mommy


One Month Stats:
Weight: 10 pounds, 4 ounces
Height: 22 inches
Head: 15 inches
Clothes: 0-3 months
Diapers: Newborn, Huggies

**Photo Dump**