The Worst Chore

I don't mind changing diapers. Even poopy diapers. No, it isn't the most fun chore ever, but ever since Nicholas stopped peeing on us at about 2 weeks of age, it really isn't a big deal. But there is one baby-related chore I really hate.

Cutting fingernails.

They are so tiny and Nicholas doesn't stay still enough for me to easily get at them. Yes, I've even drawn blood a couple times. And his nails grow so incredibly fast! I feel like I'm constantly cutting or filing his nails, and yet he keeps waking up with scratches on his face. This morning he woke up looking like he was in a bar fight last night. Luckily most of the scratches were superficial and have already faded, but a couple broke the skin. I'm almost desperate enough to put him back in the infant mittens at night, at least until he outgrows this phase of clawing at his face while falling asleep and waking up.

Nicholas' Busy Day

Nicholas had quite the active and exhausting day. So exhausting in fact that he put himself to sleep (and deep sleep at that) twice today in loud places and is in bed for the night already (knock on wood). He was awake all through church, looking at all the people and then the stained glass windows. He was so good that we made it until after the homily in the main part of church before going up to the cry room. And even then he was pretty good because of the change of scenery. We then went over to fellowship, where he proceeded to fall asleep in Joe's arms when we gave him a pacifier.

After some fun play time and another little cat nap in the afternoon, Joe discovered on facebook that some friends of mine from camp were on their way to the state fair, which is less than two miles from our apartment, so off we went to meet them at the fair. And it was great fun! Here is the fair in pictures:

Looking at the cows:

From Nicholas - Month 4

So much to see, but really Nicholas was most interested in chewing on the Baby Bjorn! But he was quiet and didn't need a pacifier, so I won't complain.

From Nicholas - Month 4

After all the excitement and stimulation, Nicholas was so zonked that all it took was putting him in the stroller and closing both shades so he couldn't see out and the next time I looked, he was out. And our child who usually can't stay asleep if you walk through a room or dare to open the fridge slept through music blaring from speakers and fair rides.

From Nicholas - Month 4

But after a nap, he woke up as we were leaving the fair and bestowed smiles on our friends and their sweetheart of a daughter as they said goodbye.

From Nicholas - Month 4

All in all, a wonderfully fun day, but I didn't get the work done that I needed to, so I'm off to work for a couple hours now even though I think Nicholas has the right idea with bedtime.

The Battle of Baby Einstein

Before Nicholas was born (that is, when he was still Peanut), Sarah and I discussed whether we would allow him to watch television as a baby. There are several schools of thought on the question. On one side is the Baby Einstein company, which markets DVDs for infants and toddlers to watch, usually hand puppets and baby toys with a soundtrack of Mozart or Beethoven tunes. The theory is that listening to quality music and watching these "educational" videos will help your child's development (or else!). We know that at a minimum they keep children calm, from having seen them with our friends' children. And, frankly, the videos are mesmerizing. It's hard not to get sucked in. Which leads me to the other side, which includes researchers who have recently argued that these kinds of programs either provide absolutely no benefit, or that they hinder children's language development. Plus, as I said, the programs are mesmerizing. I watch them and zone out. I'm not sure I want Nicholas's growing brain to do that for very long.

But sometimes it's tempting. Now that Nicholas is three months old, he spends quite a bit of time awake. Sometimes too much, as we've detailed at other points. But even when it's fine for him to be up and doing things, it's created quite the dilemma for us. As it turns out, we're just not that entertaining. To be sure, we can make it a little while--half an hour or forty minutes playing with him, showing him toys, singing to/with him, pacing around the apartment. Eventually, though, Nicholas just gets bored. The only thing that will calm him down, it seems, is sitting in front of the television for a few minutes.

We figured this out by accident, when I was pacing with him one evening several weeks ago, and stopped in front of the TV for a few moments to check in on a baseball game. Nicholas immediately stopped crying, and sat enraptured. Walking through Target yesterday afternoon with Nicholas in a stroller, I noticed he was craning his neck to look at the big-screen TVs as we walked past them.

And so we find ourselves in a parenting conundrum. Do we let him watch TV in order to gain some peace and quiet for ourselves (and maybe even time to take care of chores or making dinner)? Or do we stick to our ideals and our prenatal commitment not to let him watch television as a baby, even if it's hard and makes more work for us? I think just from writing this that we'd probably prefer the latter, but that the former will make an appearance every now and again.

Going Swimming

We haven't been able to take Nicholas in a pool this summer, partly because we can't find swimming diapers that are small enough and partly because we avoid having him in the sun whenever possible. However, he loves the water at bathtime, so we decided to let him "swim" in the bathtub tonight. It can't be called a bath because we didn't use any soap, but I put on a swimsuit and he and I played in the tub. He kicked his legs around and splashed, getting more adventurous in his movements as time wore on.

From Nicholas - Month 4

This is the only picture we have that is decent to post, but I swear he got happier and more comfortable in the water after a few minutes.

More Changes

Having a baby means new definitions. Today's entry is "living dangerously."

Well, okay, it's me, I don't know if I ever had a definition, but I do now.

It's when you get to the grocery store with your three-month-old, and you realize that you don't have a pacifier, because you took out the one that stayed in the carseat to clean it, and never replaced it.

Momma's Boy

Just in the past week or two Nicholas has turned into a momma's boy, only willing to be comforted by me when he gets really upset. This started while we were on vacation and we theorized that it was linked to feeling overwhelmed by all the new sights and people and wanting something familiar and comfortable. But he is still doing it.

Back when Nicholas was only really smiling for Joe and I was feeling left out we kept saying that he didn't like Joe better, he just liked us differently. I was insecure and didn't know if I believed it, but it now seems to be true. He has decided that Daddy is fun but Mommy is comfort.

And on the one hand it is sort of nice to have him react that way, to be able to fix things no one else can, but on the other hand I don't want to encourage this because then I will always have to be the one to deal with him when he is upset. And so right now he is fighting Joe on sleeping and I am having to resist really hard not to go to him. If he keeps this up for much longer I probably will. We let him win way too often, I think.

Update: Joe brought him over and I set him on my lap and he immediately calmed down. He is now sitting here quite content while I write this. Hmmmm, I don't think I like this, but I'm not sure how to fix it.

Staying at Home

When we first went back to work 2 months ago I was so excited to get out of the house. I felt guilty about how liberating it felt, but I would count down the hours in the morning until Joe got home and then rush out of the house towards sweet freedom. And I marvelled at stay-at-home mothers. I'm just too selfish, I thought. But recently I've found myself resisting leaving in the afternoons or coming home early and just in general wanting to be home with Nicholas rather than seeing it as something to flee from.

And, okay, a little bit of the change may be because the work I'm doing right now is frustrating, but I think mostly it is a sign of how much easier life with Nicholas has become. It happened so gradually that I didn't really notice, but sometime between 4 weeks and 3 months the mix of trying and enjoyable shifted from predominately the former to disproportionately the latter. I remember saying to people in the first few weeks that I didn't know how anyone ever had a second child. Now I know--things get much better and those first few weeks fade into a hazy nightmare. Or maybe that's just me.

Getting a Big Head

Since it's often hard to tell in pictures just how much Nicholas is growing, here's a series of pictures that illustrate it quite clearly. When we put his Orioles hat on the other day, it finally mostly fit.

June 14:

From Nicholas - Month 1

August 2:

From Nicholas - Month 3

August 24:

From Nicholas - Month 3

3-month update

As we knew it would, time has started going more quickly. I feel like I just wrote Nicholas' 2-month update, and here he is a big 3-month old already. He hasn't changed as much in this past month as in the previous 2 and looking back at his 2-month update, it still pretty accurately describes him. But here are a few things that are new this month:

• We won't have official stats this month (no doctor's visit--yay!), but according to our scale Nicholas now weighs in at over 15 pounds! He is getting so heavy in his carseat that I'm contemplating beginning to leave it in the car when he is awake and carry him up and down the stairs without it.
• He "talks" much more frequently and more expressively than he did a month ago. He obviously can't form words at all, but sometimes based on his tones and inflections it seems like he is having a real conversation with you. I wonder if he has thoughts he is trying to express or just playing with making sounds.
• He has learned to grab things, rather than just bat at them with closed fists. He sometimes still has trouble getting the fine motor skills involved just right, but is generally getting pretty adept at it.
• He has reached the age where he wants to put everything in his mouth. I think this is why he worked so hard to learn to grab his toys--because then he can pull them to his mouth. He also tries to jam his entire fist into his mouth to chew on it. Just in the past couple days he has started realizing that if he unclenches his fist he can actually get fingers in. Unfortunately, he hasn't yet figured out that the thumb will work better than other fingers and so sometimes gags himself by sticking his index and middle fingers too far back.
• He now basically has complete control of his head and can sit up with support. And since he loves so much to be able to see what is going on, sitting up against a soft chair or one of the chair-pillows is his new favorite position. We also discovered that in this position it is much easier for him to play independently since he can actually see and reach toys (an impossibility on his back unless on his playmat).
• He desperately wants to be able to move. When he wants to go somewhere he kicks his little legs so vigorously that he would be sprinting if he had the ability to stand up.
• He seems to have forgotten how to do some things he knew how to do a couple months ago, like rolling over and scooting forward on his tummy. Since at the time it was waaaay early for those skills and they are things he is just supposed to be figuring out in the next month or so, I'm assuming that those early incidences were some sort of fluke or reflex or something and that he'll learn them for real soon.

Things are about to get pretty crazy here as the schoolyear starts. Although we've been working for the past two months, the introduction of workshops, seminars, and meetings both eliminates our flexibility of timing and dramatically cuts into our work time. Looking at my schedule for the next couple weeks, I'm not sure how I'm going to get these chapters revised unless I start working during Nicholas' first nighttime sleep shift. Now that he is sleeping more, I guess it is about time I stop going to bed when he does, right? Just when we started to feel like we had things under control, there is something new to adapt to. I guess that is the definition of parenting, though, right?

This picture is from a few days ago, but it can serve as his 3-month photo:

From Louisville-Cincinnati Trip, Aug. 2009

Home Sweet Crib

Before we left on our trip many people commented that it was the perfect time to travel with Nicholas because babies this age can sleep anywhere. Well, in yet another example of Nicholas being more aware of his surroundings than people give him credit for, after only sleeping in 2-hour segments for 5 of the 6 nights we were gone, he slept for 10 1/2 straight hours last night.

Yes, 10 1/2 hours!!! From 8:30-7:00. I think someone missed his own bed.

I fully expect him to go back to his "normal" of 3-4 hour segments at night. Although if he does this another night or two I might stop automatically waking up every couple hours and feeling like I have to check to make sure he is still breathing. And then I could get more than 4 straight hours of sleep for the first time in 3 months.

Seriously--10 1/2 hours!

Shifting Standards of Danger

This blog post seems too rich not to share. It's from a historian's blog that I frequent, and reveals some of the most, um, interesting marketing techniques used by companies in the 1950s. And by companies, I mean the ones who sell cigarettes and soda. For instance, she uncovered a print ad in which 7UP explains why it has "the youngest customers in the business," and accompanies the text with a drawing of a 9-month-old drinking 7UP from a glass bottle.

Needless to say, these kinds of ads would not go over well in today's Babies 'R' Us.

Travelling

From Louisville-Cincinnati Trip, Aug. 2009

Nicholas did a great job on the actual travelling from point A to point B, but was overwhelmed by the number of different people and places involved in our trip. We drove around 1700 miles and crossed state lines 8 times and I think Nicholas was awake for a grand total of less than 2 hours in the car. We stopped at a rest area each way to feed him and give him some awake time, trying to keep the daytime car sleep feeling like naps. The rest areas in WV and OH are great for this because they have picnic tables spread across grass, giving me some semi-privacy to feed him, and lots of trees and such to show him as we walk around. And on the longer drive out we also stopped for a few hours at an aunt and uncle's house, which gave Nicholas a long awake spell.

But every time he woke up we were in another new place with a host of new people. We learned that in these situations Nicholas has two gears: charming and meltdown. He can work a crowd with his grins and laughter (and seems to really enjoy the attention for awhile), but he hits a point where he gets overwhelmed and needs to regroup, which was often only accomplished when he cried himself to sleep after screaming inconsolably. This meant he was something of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on this trip, either angelic or a nightmare.

There are pictures of the trip (along with captions that hopefully work as a narration) here, but even I was unable to document even a fraction of the people Nicholas met. He met all four of my grandparents, 4 great aunts and uncles on one side and I think 15 on the other side, a host of my cousins (whatever that relationship is to him--I always get confused), some of my cousins' kids, and a bunch of my college friends and their husbands and kids.

Despite the fact that he had more (and more extreme) meltdowns than normal and had a lot more trouble sleeping at night (back to getting up every 2 hours or so), I think Nicholas actually enjoyed the trip and we think it was good for him to be forced to stretch his comfort zone some. He is so used to spending all his time in our living room with one of the two of us and everything centered around his needs, but on this trip he had to adapt to more noise while napping (which he did better with, although still not nearly as well as the other kids we were with) and new people and places.

He also really enjoyed watching the older kids (7 months, 2, and 4) and playing with their toys. Watching him playing with one of my roommates' daughter's toys convinced us we need to get him some more toys. The toys were a little beyond him, but that actually seems like the perfect time to buy them, to challenge him and give him time to grow into them before he grows out of them. As much as he loves the animals on his playmat, he has been playing with them every day for the past 2 months, so we should probably mix things up some.

All in all, we had a lot of fun and like always I miss everyone like crazy now, but for the first time I am actually also glad to be home. I wish we could live closer to them and see them more often, but our crazy marathon trips and staying as guests in other people's houses don't work as well now.

Bawlmer

We are back! We got in at 1am last night (see below, under "insane"), and are using today to do laundry, grocery shop, and make sure things are generally cleaned up.

Sometime later today, and over the next few days, we will post photos and lots of stories from our trip.

On the Road with Nicholas

Some of our readers (I can only assume the ones who don't know us personally) may still harbor delusions that Sarah and I retain even a shred of our sanity.  Please allow me to correct the record with the following factoid.

When we left Baltimore yesterday morning to drive to Louisville, the clock in the car read 3:04.   Yes, we decided to get on the road at 3am.

In a strange way, it made sense.  We had meant to leave right after one of Nicholas's feedings during the night, so that we could get a few hours under our belts before he thought it was daytime.  We packed up the car on Sunday afternoon/evening so that we could leave early -- we figured sometime like 4:30 or 5:00.  But at about 2 am, Sarah and I were both awake with to-do (and shoulda-done) lists in our heads for the trip.  Sarah said she felt good enough to drive, I was too tired to question her.  So we finished loading the car and put Nicholas in his car seat.  As I was buckling him in, he woke up and gave me a little smile, and then got a look on his face that said two things: 1. Where are we going in the middle of the night?!?! and 2. My parents have spent 12 weeks trying to get me to sleep at night ... have they lost their minds?!?!

With everything packed up, and Nicholas still looking completely puzzled, off we went, into the darkness of the Maryland mountains in the predawn hours.  Near the city Nicholas was awake because of the street lights, but he soon enough fell back asleep.  It was a little hairy for a few minutes when it was particularly dark and there weren't enough other vehicles on the road to help us navigate, but all in all it worked out fine.

It actually worked out perfectly for Nicholas.  He slept until 7 or so, so we stopped at a McDonald's, got a little bite to eat, and fed him and let him be awake.  Towards mid-morning, we stopped at a rest area in West Virginia, where we could walk around a little and give him some awake time.  And of course we got to rest from driving.  And we stopped about 3 hours short of Louisville to see one of Sarah's aunts, who was very anxious to meet Nicholas (and is a regular blog reader ... hi Aunt Peggy!).

So now we're in Louisville, where Nicholas has met four of his great-grandparents, and will be meeting a yet-to-be-determined number of great-aunts, great-uncles, and cousins.  And so far he seems to be taking things well.  He was up frequently overnight, with the new bed and unfamiliar surroundings, but he's had a great day today.  Here's hoping he has a few more in him!

Me too!

We need to get Nicholas some more playmates. He is amazingly engaged with older children, and seems to thrive on their level of activity. We went to church this morning, and decided to take him to the cry room (or the "Growing-in-Faith Room," as our church terms it). He's been getting progressively fussier each week at church as he naps a little less, and just gets bored when he has to sit there and no one (alas!) is paying any attention to him.

We were the first ones in the room, so he was fine for the first few minutes. Then a little girl and her father came in, and he was captivated. He followed her across the room as she went to get a book to read with her dad, and just watched her. Nicholas also enjoyed watching a not-very-well-behaved little boy (maybe 2 or 3 years old) who would run across the length of the room. At one point, the boy was climbing along the kneelers in one of the rows, and Nicholas started flailing in my arms, stiffening his legs, to the point where I told him (in a stage whisper), "You can't walk yet!" The boy's mother heard me and chuckled.

As a final note (and I'm not sure how this is even possible), Sarah is even more excited now about our upcoming weekend in Cincinnati with her college roommate's kids (4, 2, 7 months). Can't wait to see how Nicholas interacts with them.

Time with the Grandparents

We often get together with my parents for dinner, when Nicholas isn't up for much playtime, so last weekend we decided to spend the afternoon together. And of course Nicholas slept for the first three hours of their visit. But after dinner, he enjoyed visiting with his grandparents and Uncle Andrew ... and Mommy the paparazza got these shots.

Here Nicholas is playing "horsey" with Grandpa:

From Nicholas - Month 3

Uncle Andrew tried to sell Nicholas on a pair of shoes:

From Nicholas - Month 3

And here he is looking so grown up with Grandma:

From Nicholas - Month 3

While we were putting this up, we posted other new pictures to this gallery.

The Pace of Progress

Sarah and I were talking this evening, and she mentioned with some dismay that Nicholas hasn't learned how to do anything new in the last week. Not really, I replied, because he's starting to grab his toys (a phenomenon that has already begun to lose its charm since he grabbed my glasses for the first time this afternoon).

However, by and large the advent of new skills has slowed dramatically. At the beginning, it seemed like every day, and sometimes multiple times a day, Nicholas came up with something we'd never seen before. Actually, we occasionally noticed that even before he was born. But now he's eleven weeks old, and so changes seem more gradual, perhaps on a weekly rather than a daily level. He's making a lot more sounds (the intentional kind), and he's grabbing things, and he's getting much better at holding his head up. He still can't sit up unless someone or something supports him, but his muscles are a lot stronger.

It's a little sad, in a way, because it was fun to watch him develop skills so rapidly and, seemingly, effortlessly. On the other hand, it's a little odd to be nostalgic already, but we can't help but feel just how much he's changed since he was born, that he'll never be that way again, and that he won't really be this way for all that long.

Quote of the Day

Sarah: "What I can't figure out is how he looks like you and yet is so adorable!"

Thank you, honey. I love you too.

Feelin' a Little Blue

Nicholas's uncles are not going to be happy: it turns out he very much likes the blue chairs in our living room, so Uncle Peter and Uncle Andrew may never get their hands on them.

From Nicholas - Month 3

And, as you can see, he's looking very grown up and big. Though that's only close up. Here's what the scene looks like from afar:

From Nicholas - Month 3

We've also posted a few more photos from the last few days here.

My Amazing Boys

I had a great time at the beach with Allison earlier this week. We had been planning to go sometime this summer and realized on Monday that if we didn't go this week it probably wouldn't happen. And so we left Wednesday morning for Rehoboth Beach, DE. (For me, this was spontaneous, and actually made it more fun--it felt like I was playing hooky or something.) It was a really quick trip (gone from home for 28 hours, at Rehoboth for 21) and I would have loved a few more hours of lying in the sun reading or playing in the waves with Al, but it was a great break. It was the first time I had been away from Nicholas for more than 4 hours, and I felt guilty about wanting to get away, but I knew it would be good for me to have some "me" time.

I love Joe and Nicholas and am pretty aware of how wonderful they are, but going away for a day was a good reminder. I am lucky to have a husband who is both so competent and involved that I can leave without worry or even a list of instructions, as well as so amazing that when he saw it was raining on the shore on Thursday morning, called and suggested Allison and I go see a movie before coming back. And coming home to a little boy whose face lights up in a brilliant smile when he sees me is absolutely heartwarming. And it didn't hurt that when I got home Nicholas ate and then immediately fell deeply asleep into a 4-hour long nap, allowing me to get some schoolwork done to ease my conscience about the trip.

It was good to get away, but it is also good to be home. I'm very lucky.

Unpredictability

We like to plan. A lot. We love planning far in advance, creating schedules, being organized, etc. I think one of the most frustrating things about having a baby (for us at least) is the inability to plan.

On a daily basis it is often things like when he'll nap and for how long. If he is asleep, knowing if he'll be up in 10 minutes or 3 hours completely changes decisions we make on whether I should pump and go somewhere or wait to feed him, whether or not to run errands, to make dinner, to start schoolwork, etc. And I obsess over these decisions and what the "right" thing is to do.

In the longer time frame, I'm currently frustrated by how much more quickly he is growing than we expected and wishing I could know if this was going to continue. In the last few weeks we've bought 6-month outfits and Grandma Alice sent a bunch of really cute ones to complete his wardrobe since he had outgrown the stuff he had. And when we switched him over about 3 weeks ago the 6-month outfits were too big. Now they fit perfectly. Which has me worried that we only have a few more weeks before they are too small. When I put him in one of the brand new sleepers last night he could already barely stretch his legs out all the way. Grrr! If we had known he was going to grow this quickly, we should have jumped straight to the 9-month size. And now I'm contemplating whether we just skip 9 month stuff and buy 12-month things when he outgrows these. But I'm afraid that is a recipe for him to stop growing so quickly and so be in clothes that are too big for months on end.

I know, I have such a rough life. Believe me, I know we're incredibly lucky with him and all our complaints are minor. But for someone so used to planning everything and being in control, this can be aggravating.

Daddy's Little Buddy

Mommy's going to be jealous (envious?) when she gets home. Nicholas and I had quite the fun day, and, save for a little fussiness right before bed, was very well behaved.

Okay, he also was a little fussy this morning, but he fell asleep in the car within two minutes when I decided we'd go out and run errands (the go-to way to trick Nicholas into taking a nap he needs but refuses to take). Then he slept for nearly 3 hours! It meant that he was awake most of the afternoon, but the long morning nap meant that I got some much-needed work done.

And we went for a walk after dinner in the Baby Bjorn (thanks again, Michelle!), and had a great time. He didn't cry once. And because he's getting big enough and strong enough, I put him in facing out, so that he could see everything that was going by, which he seemed to greatly enjoy.

Now, he did get a little fussy just before bedtime, but that was partly my fault. As I mentioned this morning, it's the first time Sarah's been away this long, so we're just guessing on how much milk he takes at each feeding, and I'm trying to match that to the little ziplocked packages that Sarah has been saving up. And I was a little off on how much he needed to fall asleep, so that what I thought would put him out just made him wake up and want more. Oh well. He's asleep now, and since I'm on 2am duty tonight, I really shouldn't be blogging.

All in all, though, a fun day, and we'll hope that tomorrow is just as good.

The Mysteries of Motherhood

Sarah left this morning for a well-deserved overnight trip to the beach with a friend, her first trip away from Nicholas for more than a few hours. That means that I'm in charge here at the Casa de Peanut. So far so good -- only one brief trip to the mall to induce a nap (for Nicholas, not Daddy), and he's still sleeping! When he wakes up he'll be hungry, so I should make this snappy.

Now, I consider myself a pretty involved father. I change lots of diapers, I do one feeding a day from a bottle, and I'm super cognizant of time, so I keep pretty good track of Nicholas's schedule. Even so, with Sarah gone, I feel like I'm flying without a net, so to speak, just a little bit. It may just be because I literally don't have my safety net (i.e., Sarah), but it also seems like there are certain things I just don't understand about their relationship and how they work. One thing I know for sure that I don't know is how the mid-night feedings work, since Sarah (blessedly) lets me sleep through those. On the other hand, I've also noticed that he acts differently when he's with each of us, so I'm sure there are some things about my relationship with him that Sarah finds mystifying.

Anyway, I guess this is a long way of saying that you might see a post tomorrow afternoon from Sarah in which she describes finding Nicholas and me on the couch in our underwear, sitting in a puddle of our own drool, with a West Wing DVD or baseball game on the TV. Actually, that last part sounds nice.

More photos!

It's time for another round of photos in the Peanut Gallery -- click here for the latest, including some very cute videos.

We have playtime on the floor and in his chair, and Nicholas is starting to demonstrate some real strength in holding his head up while on his tummy. Today we had a visit from Uncle Matt, who helped give Nicholas a bath, which brought out some of his first bathtime smiles ever (Nicholas, not Matt. Actually, we have no direct knowledge of whether Matt has ever smiled in the bath. Anyhoo, next topic.)

And those are just the things we remember posting photos of!

Perchance to Sleep

Nicholas is, by all accounts, very much his father's son. The number of times each day when I recognize a look (usually a sourpuss, not the stuff that gets posted in our photo albums) is growing as Nicholas does. And he shares my feelings about sleep: it may be necessary, but do I hafta?

He has, however, developed some very cute coping mechanisms, including what I would call the "woe is me" face.

From Nicholas - Month 3

As you can see, he's figured out that, if it's light out, he can block some of it out by putting his arm over his eyes. For one thing, it's hilarious to see it. And I actually think it's quite impressive. If you think about it, to do that requires a whole myriad of neurological and motor skills to accomplish. He recognizes the problem, understands that he needs to block out light, and knows that he can use his arm to shade himself and block out the light.

But of course, it still takes him several hours to fall asleep at night, starting from the time he starts yawning and looking glassy-eyed until we can reliably walk away from the crib. And it seems like he's down for the night now, so I should end this entry and get some sleep myself.

Statistics

As an addendum to yesterday's posts on the blog's statistics, I poked around the website of the site counter and discovered that the stats could be made viewable by the public. So you can now find a link down on the sidebar (or here) and view everything. I'm especially fond of the map, but then I've always liked maps.

EDIT: I hadn't realized that the full stats reveal everyone's IP address, which is not cool. So the link now connects to a summary view of the stats. And that means no map! Sorry, but we want to both be transparent and not reveal our friends' identities, all at the same time.