Happy Halloween! (and 8 week picture)

Malcolm turned 8 weeks on Wednesday. There is starting to be less difference week-to-week now, though he continues to grow, and we'll get his official weight on Monday (2 month appointment and - oh no! - shots! I'm hoping the shots in conjunction with Daylight Savings time falling back the day before don't wreak too much havoc on our sleep...). He was almost 11 pounds on Tuesday at the mom's group, though. That's, like, 57% more baby than 8 weeks ago!

This week he's been working more on head control, and more on smiles (he likes to smile at Mommy after eating sometimes, usually in the middle of the night when she would rather he actually be sleepy and not social. He also gives very good smiles on his changing mat, and randomly while enjoying his mobile or looking at his parents), and more on noticing things around him and tracking with his eyes. Also on unexplained yelling and getting worse at napping. Silly boy, doesn't he know that in 30 years he'll kill for a good 2 hour nap?

Here he is wearing a halloween outfit we were given. Boo! Too cute! Unfortunately it (and my shirt, and the couch...) got majorly spit up upon later in the day, but we have a couple of alternate options for Halloween itself. I'll post a picture of him in his official costume later. I'm hoping he'll put up with being dressed up for a little photo session, even though we're obviously not taking him trick-or-treating... (He doesn't do candy yet, and also I'm avoiding dairy for 10 days to see if it improves either his temperament or his poops - doesn't seem to be doing much, so I'll restart cheese, then yogurt, then milk starting in a couple of days - but for now most candy is verboten to me...).

"Ho hum, the bear again..."

"Whoa, there's a new toy in my Pack'n'play! Can I hit it with random flailing?"

Smile!

Hmm, blogger's picture sizing is still wonky, apologies if these are huge!

7 weeks!

Week 7 was much like week 6 - plenty of crankiness and discussion of the finer points of baby's poop (who knew it could become such a mainstay of conversation...). But we're finding that, when he's in a good mood, he's become more interested in looking around at things in close view, like the toys on his playmat, or Mommy or Daddy making funny faces. His random arm flailings sometimes hit the playmat toys and make them move, but I don't think he's got cause and effect down yet.

And at 7 weeks he hasn't really noticed the bear in the picture yet :).

(apologies for the huge in-blog picture, it seems that something has changed about how Blogger scales things)

He's wearing the same blue suit, with the addition of some supercute babylegs and red socks. Even Andy, who is anti-baby-fashion, admits that the babylegs are functional because they don't get in the way of diaper changes the way pants do. And I'm maintaining a long sleeves and legs dressing rule, now that it's colder out and we're keeping the house a bit cooler. I may have to splurge on a couple more pairs.

I'll do another post later showing some tummy time adventures. Right now I'm going to try to do a couple of rows of BSJ before he wakes up!

6 weeks - height of crankiness?

I read in some book or webpage that 6 weeks (or 6-8, but I'm hoping for 6) is the height of crankiness and crying. Let's hope so! We think we have the 6-week growth spurt going on here - lots of eating and fussing. Hence I have not much time to post this (I think... maybe he'll sleep longer than expected!)

6 week picture: (not sure what kind of sign he's making with his right hand!)

Representative crank:
No knitting update today - I'm hoping to get to a knitting meetup this afternoon, but I am reluctant to disturb baby's sleep, so I'm going to be late.

Oh, OK, one more picture. We met my work friends and their babies yesterday - here's Malcolm catnapping in his buddy's fancy cradle swing. Doesn't he look angelic? He was supposed to be wearing the same blue suit as in the bear/chair pictures yesterday, but soon after we arrived he had a major poop-blowout and I had to go to the backup outfit... (luckily some soaking rescued the blue suit and it will feature in future weeks's pictures)

Farmers' Market

Mr. M. actually gave us decent sleep last night (two 3.25 hour chunks, yeah!), so we had energy on this beautiful fall morning to make an expedition to the farmer's market. Not that it takes a lot of energy - it's only a mile and a half away (but we drove, yes, the idea of being over a mile from home with baby waking up hungry is just not appealing yet) - but we haven't been in months and wanted to get there before it closes for the seaon.

We decided that a crisp fall day deserves baby knitwear!


Aunt Carolyn's hand-spun, hand-dyed, fall leaves-inspired sweater...


And his Mommy-made coming-home-hat (and into the carseat for the ride to the market!)


Moments later - "Mom, Dad, I hate getting buckled in the carseat!"

"Oh, that's better". Sucking really calms him down. We avoided giving him the pacifier for his first 4 weeks, but he really does seem to enjoy it, to combat the "not the carseat!" screams (he will go to sleep once the car is moving) and sometimes to zone out and be zen with before sleeping.

At the market, while Daddy gets green beans for minestrone. We are making soup today completely out of CSA and farmers' market veggies (well, not counting the canned beans and tomatoes).

"Oh no, not a giant leek!"

Rainbow surprise

I thought I'd do a quick knitting update while Mr. Malcolm is still sleeping... exactly 6 weeks ago I started a Baby Surprise Jacket out of beautiful Koigu multicolored sock yarn (Rav link). I'm at the point where the pattern's author, Elizabeth Zimmermann, says "Work will start to look very odd, indeed, but trust me, and PRESS ON". It certainly doesn't look much like a sweater yet:


Until you flip it over (so the working stitches are on the bottom), fold up one sleeve...


And then the other....and it starts to look cardiganish (baby's head goes at the top)! I need to find some wee buttons and hope that the garter stitch will have enough stretch to make it wearable for a decent amount of time... though first I have to finish the thing... OK, he's still sleeping, maybe I can get another row in!

Next up will be a special holiday something made from worsted yarn from a local dyer. Who I actually met at knitting group last week (and dang, didn't make it to group this week due to the aforementioned cranky fussy sleepiness, and me forgetting it is Thursday!). My knitting goals for the rest of the year are not high, just this jacket and a couple of Christmas gifts. But yikes, it's mid-October already! Only 2.5 knitting months til Christmas!

5 weeks (and counting)

Well, that post about the beach never materialized, did it? Maybe I'll post some recap pics later...

But for now, Malcolm is 5 weeks old! Yes, he's been out of the womb for more than a month! At his last (unofficial, in a Moms' group) weighing, he was 9.5 pounds, which is almost 2.5 pounds over his birthweight, and 3 pounds heavier than when he left the hospital.

Our days sometimes have routine: eat, "play" (i.e. walk around the house and look at lights; do "tummy time" on the playmat; sit in the bouncy chair and observe the world; be held and observe the world), nap; lather, rinse, repeat. If we have an outing, I try to encourage him to eat before we leave since he will then zonk out in the carseat (once the initial "how dare you put me in the carseat" yelling festival is over). The carseat docks onto the stroller for neighborhood walks; I have several baby carriers (Ergo, pouch, sling) but haven't loved any of them yet, and feel like they'll be easier when he's a bit older and has better head control.

Sometimes (often?) this routine goes to pot, and he doesn't play, or doesn't sleep. He always eats, though :). Right now he's asleep, swaddled, on the playmat - play was cut short by a bout of cranky fussy sleepiness.

And here he is. We're going to try to have him wear this blue suit for the next few weeks or until he outgrows it. Er, not wear it continuously, just for the pictures! It's still a bit big on him now.

I think we'll caption this "Mom, please, not another picture with the bear!"

And here's a portrait at 5 weeks, mid-"play" session in his crib. I think he was thinking about getting cranky here, too. He's definitely skeptical about something... :D

4 weeks!

Well, at least we're keeping up with the weekly postings... so far! And wow, the weeks are going fast!

I will attempt a longer, more picture-filled post about our beach time this past weekend (two of the most gorgeous days at the Oregon coast that I've ever seen) later this week. For now, here is Mr. Malcolm at 4 weeks old. And turning 1 month in 2 days!


His eyes, of course, are not actually demonic red. They are blue (started out super dark, and have been steadily lightening), with a gold circle around the pupil (he gets this from his mommy). But isn't it nice how his red eyes match his socks? And heh, as I type this we are watching the Red Sox (losing to LA at the moment, d'oh!).

There's such a difference from his 1 week picture! Weird to think he is 4x as old as he was there (not counting in-womb time, of course). Oh, to answer the comments from last week - Wendy, I will send you an email, we can do a weekend gtg :). And Carolyn, the bear's name is Bo, and I think I've had him since high school.

Grandma left yesterday, so today was my first day alone with Malcolm (for the 9 hours Andy is at work, anyway). We took a walk with him in the sling/pouch thing (which is hurting my shoulder, so I'm probably not doing it right), and went to our "girls' lunch" with my coworkers and their babies. That was enough activity for the day!

Oops, someone is fussing... more later in the week (she says, but doesn't promise...)