We just got back from the pediatrician, where we learned that Nicholas has his mother's pain threshold. He had to get one shot, and some blood work done (all routine). He cried each time, but then almost immediately went back to sleep. In fact, he started to fall asleep even as the nurse was still drawing blood from his heel. Go Nicholas.
In other news, we got his vital statistics for one month old. He is still 21½ inches long (50th percentile), but weighed in at 11 lbs. (75th percentile). All of those 2-hour-long feedings in the middle of the night are having an effect!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Expanding Horizons
In the past week or so Nicholas has become much more aware of what is going on around him and much more expressive of those things he likes. He has started smiling and occassionally doing something that resembles laughing. His smiles are most frequent when Joe is entertaining him with silly voices or songs. Who would have thought that Joe would be the sillier parent?
He has also started interacting with toys, showing an interest in them that extends beyond following them with his eyes. We brought out the playmat with hanging toys and he is fascinated by them. At the beginning of each play session he accidentally hits them while he is flailing around in excitement, but often by the end he seems to be consciously aiming for them. You can practically see the synapses firing as he plays. It is amazing to watch!
The other day he was also captivated when I read to him, the first time he seemed to really pay attention. And while I wasn't reading age-appropriate books, I switched from historiography to Berenstain Bears and Curious George. Since he is still too young to follow, I figure there is no reason to torture myself by reading books with one sentence per page.
He has been awake and alert most of the afternoon, which was fun, but he was starting to get fussier and we decided it was time to encourage a nap and since putting him in his bed wasn't working, he is now in the swing and after about 10 minutes of looking around his eyes are closed. And I am feeling the best I have felt all day, so I can't decide whether to try to nap or work while he sleeps.
He has also started interacting with toys, showing an interest in them that extends beyond following them with his eyes. We brought out the playmat with hanging toys and he is fascinated by them. At the beginning of each play session he accidentally hits them while he is flailing around in excitement, but often by the end he seems to be consciously aiming for them. You can practically see the synapses firing as he plays. It is amazing to watch!
The other day he was also captivated when I read to him, the first time he seemed to really pay attention. And while I wasn't reading age-appropriate books, I switched from historiography to Berenstain Bears and Curious George. Since he is still too young to follow, I figure there is no reason to torture myself by reading books with one sentence per page.
He has been awake and alert most of the afternoon, which was fun, but he was starting to get fussier and we decided it was time to encourage a nap and since putting him in his bed wasn't working, he is now in the swing and after about 10 minutes of looking around his eyes are closed. And I am feeling the best I have felt all day, so I can't decide whether to try to nap or work while he sleeps.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Bonus Points for ... well, Nothing
This afternoon I was reminded just how easy the father has it in parenting. While I was eating my lunch, I read a blog entry on the New York Times website about the "petty humiliations of motherhood." In this case, the entry recounts several stories of mothers being confronted in public about their parenting skills, decisions they made, pretty much anything. The stories are actually rather horrifying, especially because most of them occur in the context of conversations with other women (which goes unexplored in the piece), which means that at least some of them were probably mothers themselves.
Anyway, the point is that later this afternoon I took Nicholas out to run some errands. Him, me, a stroller, and a big-box store. And probably because I had just read this piece, I felt like I noticed (more than usual) that I get a lot of credit simply for noticing that I have a child. People seem to stop me and ask how old he is, what his name is, to tell me how cute he is. It's nice, in a way, and I do like to show him off (he is cute, after all). But I did notice that it seemed I could do no wrong.
When I got home, I related the story to Sarah. She hadn't read the article, and yet her first reaction was that people never seem to stop her to see the baby, to compliment. Lightning bolt. Fortunately, she hasn't had anyone critique her that I know of—and I pity whoever attempts to tell my wife she's not a good mother.
In any event, I've added this to my list of reasons why dads have it easy—to go right alongside everything else about my life these days.
Anyway, the point is that later this afternoon I took Nicholas out to run some errands. Him, me, a stroller, and a big-box store. And probably because I had just read this piece, I felt like I noticed (more than usual) that I get a lot of credit simply for noticing that I have a child. People seem to stop me and ask how old he is, what his name is, to tell me how cute he is. It's nice, in a way, and I do like to show him off (he is cute, after all). But I did notice that it seemed I could do no wrong.
When I got home, I related the story to Sarah. She hadn't read the article, and yet her first reaction was that people never seem to stop her to see the baby, to compliment. Lightning bolt. Fortunately, she hasn't had anyone critique her that I know of—and I pity whoever attempts to tell my wife she's not a good mother.
In any event, I've added this to my list of reasons why dads have it easy—to go right alongside everything else about my life these days.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Getting so Big!
Nicholas is getting so big! We've had to start retiring some clothes that he has outgrown. The outfit we brought him home from the hospital in now has 3/4 length sleeves and he can't stretch his legs out all the way. The interesting thing is that it is still baggy because Nicholas is so much longer and leaner than most babies.
Photographic evidence of how much bigger (and older!) he looks: compare the below picture (taken June 5th) with the ones in the previous post (taken June 24th).
Photographic evidence of how much bigger (and older!) he looks: compare the below picture (taken June 5th) with the ones in the previous post (taken June 24th).
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| From Nicholas - Month 1 |
So Expressive
Yesterday I was trying to take a new "Peanut" picture for the sidebar, but since Nicholas was in constant motion I just kept clicking in hopes of getting something decent. Here is my favorite one:
But when I was looking through the rest of them, I couldn't help laughing out loud at some of them. So, for your entertainment, here are some of the funny outtakes:
Muscle Man
I Want YOU
Mommy, what do you think you're doing?
Oh, so much fun!
Primadonna
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| From Nicholas - Month 1 |
But when I was looking through the rest of them, I couldn't help laughing out loud at some of them. So, for your entertainment, here are some of the funny outtakes:
Muscle Man
 |
| From Nicholas - Month 1 |
I Want YOU
 |
| From Nicholas - Month 1 |
Mommy, what do you think you're doing?
 |
| From Nicholas - Month 1 |
Oh, so much fun!
 |
| From Nicholas - Month 1 |
Primadonna
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| From Nicholas - Month 1 |
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Return to Normal . . . Sort of
We decided 4 weeks was long enough to just tread water, and try and make it through each day. So today we tried to institute what we hope will be the beginning of a new routine. Joe went into school for a few hours in the morning, and I went to the public library this afternoon. I only did two hours of work, but it was a very important re-introduction to my dissertation.
In other news, we got the Civic back today. It isn't quite the same car it was six weeks ago, but it is still great to have it back.
Both driving the Civic and working were in many ways easy to reacclimate to, like riding a bike, and yet it just felt so weird, like jumping back in time.
In other news, we got the Civic back today. It isn't quite the same car it was six weeks ago, but it is still great to have it back.
Both driving the Civic and working were in many ways easy to reacclimate to, like riding a bike, and yet it just felt so weird, like jumping back in time.
Rebellion against Tummy Time
Nicholas has never been a huge fan of tummy time, but recently his tolerance for it has gone from around 5 minutes to around 10 seconds. Last night he let me know what he really thinks of tummy time. I put him on his tummy, he got mad, and flipped himself to the right onto his back. I flipped him back onto his tummy, he flipped himself to the left onto his back. I flipped him back onto his tummy, and he immediately flipped himself to the right onto his back. All of this took place in less than a minute, but since that is one of the main skills tummy time is supposed to develop, I'm not going to worry that he didn't get in the 10-20 minutes the doctors recommend. Did I mention that he is both incredibly strong and stubborn?
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