The balloon

We've had a few difficult evenings with our baby, who apparently learned about the witching hour from his 9 week old friend who came to visit (more on that soon! he also learned how to talk instead of grunt!) and decided to try it out for himself.  But two evenings ago, just as he was starting to fuss again, dad pulled a balloon down and put it in his face.  This balloon is from my work baby shower in December and it's a miracle it's even still up.  Then dad put the balloon string in his hand, and we got to watch as our baby was mesmerized by the floating thing that goes up, not down, and learned that when he pulled on the string, the big floating thing came closer.  Sorry for the poor quality of photos and video, I wasn't about to miss the experience just to adjust the lighting in the room.

Tracking, smiles, and first snow

We got our first confirmed smile on Valentine's Day, in the morning after he had finished eating.  We were both looking at him and so it was really special to us that he smiled at both of us.  Since then, we've gotten a lot more smiles, but they're so special that we don't want to look away to grab our camera.  At least not until yesterday, which was Grandma's birthday.  I finally resolved to get one on camera for the occasion, and after about 15 minutes of making ridiculous faces and noises, captured a semi-smile.

Smiling for Grandma's birthday

He smiled at Freddy immediately before I got this, but I missed it.

On weekend mornings we like to take it easy and have our breakfast in bed.  Dad caught a few photos of the ritual.

His feet will kick and he'll try to stand up sometimes.

Cuddles

Keeping both eyes open is tough!

First snow on his face!

The first time he made an expression for me while taking a photo

Busy in his gym

After our first trip to library story hour

He smiled at Freddy right before I snapped this but didn't quite catch it.

Love this

And this

1 month photos

Dad took some photos of A around his 1 month birthday.  We're not exactly a family of precision here in Bridgelandia.

Favorite time of day

Our favorite time of day is the 45ish minutes between when dad gets home and the bedtime ritual begins. Tonight A actually was asleep for it, usually he's still wide awake. Tonight dad read aloud from his book while A played the cuddlebug role. Dad's the best.

One month

A and i went for his one month appointment. He is now 22.25 inches long, in the 80th percentile for height. He weighs 9 lbs 14 oz, which is 50th percentile. His head was 14.75 inches around which is the 60th percentile. He got one shot today which he took pretty well, considering.

After he finished being weighed and before i could get his new diaper on, he managed to require a change of paper on the table.

Another exciting one month event was that he had his first major blowout. It was the first time he seemed affected by the state of his diaper; he was none too pleased.

Big day!

The fourth week

Our little man is already four weeks old!  The time is absolutely flying by.  I saw a newborn baby last Friday who looked like A did when he was born, and I realized that he has changed so much since then!  He's put on 2 pounds, is awake for longer stretches during the day, is MUCH better at eating, and has started to track things with his eyes.  My dad was holding him this morning before heading back home and I walked around him and A watched me the whole time.  It was pretty awesome.

He also woke up one day and was just too big for newborn clothes.  He's probably too big for newborn diapers as well, but we have a bunch left and I'm just trying to use them all!  It's not that I'm clinging to him being tiny and I can't let go, nope, not at all.

He's also been getting better at sleeping.  He almost always gets at least one stretch of 3 hours of sleep per night, but last night he slept for almost 6 hours.  His progress doesn't seem to be linear, but more of a peaks and valleys pattern, but it's a general positive trend.

He's now met all of his grandparents and he has been cuddled and loved like all babies should be.  He loves it when grandparents visit!  Unfortunately most of the ones from Grandma and Grandpa's visit are on Grandma's camera, so we didn't have many, but we had fun exploring Boulder and Louisville. Grandpa Steve was here for the weekend and we enjoyed the 70's weather with a hike.

Anyway, some more photos!

Getting their snuggle on

Grandpa's first look

Too tired to fully greet grandpa first thing in the morning...must take after his mom

First hike in the ergo baby

Red Rocks loop

Sunshine canyon

Family photo

SO stoked about the hike

Dad leaves for work before we wake up sometimes.  Before we wake up for the third time, I guess we should say

Skiing, hanging out, and a visit from Grandma and Grandpa!

We went to Copper Mountain for a couple of days.  A hung out with mom while dad skied with his cousin who had driven out from Illinois.  We enjoyed the fresh mountain air and had warm weather while we were there.  Not ideal for skiing, but great for A and mom to take short walks to a cafe.  We met dad at the base one day after he finished skiing.

While dad was skiing, A did a lot of tummy time.  He kind of loves tummy time.  Sometimes he gets going picking his head up and turning it from side to side, while others he is just content to lay there like a wet rag.  This was a productive time, and I tried to catch the magic head turn on video, but failed.  Photos are cute, anyway.

The other day when dad got home from skiing, A was having a rough time of it.  Nobody can soothe him like dad can, so mom handed him over immediately!  Fun was had by all.

Sometimes it escalates and dad has to pull out the magic tricks.  One is skin to skin.

The other is the middle of the night daddy reset.  Honestly, A has improved so much in his eating this week, so might not need this much anymore, so I'm glad I captured this photo when I did.  For some reason in the middle of the night he had a really hard time getting coordinated enough to eat, and hands would flail everywhere, backs would arch, and open mouths just wouldn't be forthcoming.  So B would take him and calm him down (I seem to make him frantic at those points) and this is their shadow as B talked to him about the fundamentals of eating.

When we got back from skiing, Nans needed to reassess her feelings about this addition to the family.  So far A doesn't seem to really notice her, though he has touched her fur inadvertently a few times. She definitely doesn't *like* him, but doesn't seem to dislike him, either.  B was holding him one evening and Nans was on his lap.  When he went to get up, he realized A had been kicking Nanaa the whole time, and she just sat there patiently, taking it.  This is very unlike her.  She makes special exceptions for tiny humans.

The first day mom and A were totally alone together he decided to have an epic meltdown.  He had to be "happiest baby on the blocked."  Seriously recommend that book or DVD for anyone with an infant.  He was happy as can be in less than 5 minutes.

Grandma and Grandpa arrived Saturday morning!  They have been loving on A ever since arriving. He loves them right back.

Yesterday was our first outing as a family.  We went and had brunch in Boulder.  Halfway through, A decided he needed to see what was going on.  Dad is quickly mastering the art of one-handed eating.

Our son is growing so quickly!  We went to a breastfeeding club at the hospital last Friday together and on the hospital scale he weighed in at 8 lbs, 1.8 oz, almost a pound over his birth weight!  We were quite pleased.  He makes the cutest faces when he's done eating, complete with gestures.  Here's a recent favorite.