Three Months Old!

Hi there! Oliver is now just over three months (15 weeks) old. He's still hugging the upper percentiles for weight at 15 lbs, 6 oz. last weekend. He's still a fussy gus, but he sleeps very well at night. He just doesn't like to sleep during the day much. I started work in mid-August at the Court of Appeals, and Perry is staying home with Oliver until November. As expected, Perry is out-housewifing me. When I came home from my first day at work, he'd picked blackberries, baked them into a pie, cleaned the house, and did three loads of laundry (those of you who have babies or have met Oliver will know this is a feat of superhuman proportions). Other days have been more challenging, he assures me. Anyway, when Perry goes back to work in November, Ollie will start going to Green Tree Early Childhood Center three days a week. Green Tree is in the building across the street from my building, so I'm looking forward to seeing him a couple times a day and spending less time with the breast pump (ugh).

Last weekend, we took Oliver on his first flight! We traveled to Spokane, so he could meet more of Perry's family. Ollie did quite well on this trip. He was only a little bit fussy on the way there, but slept on the descent and until we got him installed in the car. He proved quite adaptable (which, if you know him, might surprise you), and slept well at night in a "travel bed" (box) on the floor. He was not more fussy than usual during the day, either. And after crying non-stop from Perry's mom's house to the airport, he slept the whole way home!

Let's see ... other news ... he talks and hollers and can get so loud it messes with your inner ear. He grabs things. He's gnawing on fingers and pretty much anything else and drooling so much we fear he might be an early teether. And oh! I discovered that what I'd assumed was the "Joseph dimple" on his right cheek is actually Perry's dimple!

That's all. You can see lots more pictures, if you like, here.

Phew! 8 Weeks Old!

Oliver slept all night last night!! Look how proud he is!

7 weeks

hello there,

oliver is now 7 weeks old ... and still pretty fussy. the pediatrician recommended putting him on medication for reflux to alleviate problems with frequent, copious spit-up and extreme fussiness during feedings. i'm not sure yet whether it's working or not -- he's not spitting up as much as often, certainly, but the fussiness on feeding persists. since it's mainly in the afternoon and evening, it may just be his time to fuss. evidently, babies all over the world get fussy at that time of day. anyway, though evenings are hard to get through, oliver has recently rewarded our patience by smiling at us and cooing. it's pretty wonderful and operates to almost erase our memory of the previous night's hollering. oliver also just met his uncle branden and aunt felicity -- i have no documentary proof of this meeting, as b and f aren't baby people and successfully warded off oliver's attempts to get into their arms, but it was a nice visit anyway. we hope to see them again when oliver's too big to scare them away. oliver spent a lot of last week in his uncle larry's and aunt gail's arms. larry and gail lured us over with food and rest and we're very grateful for both! i even left oliver with them to go to lunch!

approaching 6 weeks

hello ... so, not unexpectedly, the blog has gotten away from me. oliver is doing great -- getting bigger all the time and doing new stuff daily. he likes to stick his tongue out when we do, and i believe he's starting to smile real smiles. it looks like he'll have the joseph dimple! that feature isn't on display in this photo, but this one is far more representative of his usual state over the last couple weeks. one baby sleep expert says that babies reach their peak of fussiness at about 6 weeks, so we're keeping our fingers crossed for an easier time in the near future.

this is a pretty good baby

not much time for in depth reporting these days, but oliver is doing great! he gets fussy at night, but perry is the ultimate baby-soother, so he can usually be calmed down without too much trouble (as long as we can get a burp out of him). he eats all the time, and would in fact like to eat right now. more later...

easier picture website

hi there! all is well at home with ollie. we've had some challenging nights, but they're manageable and there have also been a couple great nights with just enough sleep for everyone. ollie is looking great, with fat little cheeks and appendages. he mainly sleeps and eats, which I suppose is no surprise for anyone who knows anything about newborns. but he has periods of "quiet wakefulness" where he looks around with shifty eyes and makes faces. he makes one face that looks just like my dad when he's figuring something out. if i can capture it with a camera, i'll put it up here, but each look is so fleeting it would almost have to be by accident.

anyway, speaking of pictures, we've been putting pictures up here: http://picasaweb.google.com/joseph.jenn. it seems to be easier to access than the shutterfly site and less intent on selling you things (though i believe you can still buy prints if you're so inclined). for those of you without the inclination to click the link, here's a photo you'd find there.

oliver at home: first week

greetings! this is day 3 at home, and we've had a lovely, quiet day with opportunities for rest and even sleep while our little guy slept off his milk-drunk stupor. of course, if the pattern holds, all of that will change in the next couple minutes, when oliver enters the fussy hours of about 11pm to about 5am. there he goes. more later.