One Month Old

Liam had his one month checkup on the 1st. He was 9 pounds, 10 ounces (55%) and 21 inches long (45%). His head remains at a normal size (15 inches-- or 50th percentile). Everything checked out fine, and we have no concerns.

Liam is starting to find his "voice." Occasionally I will hear "ooh" and "ahh" instead of just cries, hiccups, and grunts. He's also trying a lot to pick up his head and move it around. He seems to have had an unusually strong neck since his first week after birth. He does not like to be cold-- we've been putting him to bed with a hat and making sure to bundle him up in a swaddler nice and tight. We never had this problem with Charlie-- since he was born in the spring and did not like to have his arms wrapped up tight.

Some nights with Liam are easy (last night he woke up only once to feed), and some nights are frustrating (the night before he woke up every hour and a half). He seems to be eating a lot this week, and we're having to supplement his diet with formula to keep him happy. I guess this explains the large weight gain over the past two weeks (about a pound and a half).

Since I wrote last, we enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family. Charlie was excited about turkey, but then would not eat it when it was served. We think he was expecting deli turkey and not the smoked bird we got from Jim Dandy's.

It was beautiful, but John and I agree that we have now decided that we prefer roasted turkey for Thanksgiving. Beth and I added to our Black Friday shopping tradition this year with a trip to the UC football game, where the Bearcats remained undefeated. I had lots of fun shooting some photos of touchdowns with my camera. You can see a selection here: "http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrobenalt/sets/72157622889071286/" Unfortunately for John, Liam decided that was a day he would be Mr. Fussy Pants for 12 hours straight.

We started using Grandma Bovier's advent calendar (a Christmas tree with ornaments for each day of December) with Charlie last night. We hung a rocking horse on the tree in a spot that he chose. This morning when he woke up, he told me he was going to go downstairs and do another "horse rocking chair". I also started last night to encourage him to stop using the pacifier to sleep at night by Christmas time. At bedtime he started to hand it over to me, but then decided he needed it. We'll see how it goes over the coming weeks. We're still not forcing the potty training, either-- but Charlie voluntarily asks to use the potty occasionally, and when he does he is rewarded with Diego pants (Easy-Ups).