one month

Yesterday was your one month birthday! Wow. You have grown and developed so much. Every day when Daddy comes home from work he proclaims that you have gotten even cuter. This last month has gone by quickly and yet it all feels like an adapted routine in a way, so much so that we cannot imagine life without you. Here are some observances and your current characteristics displayed this month:

physical: you are a snotty boy...your nose is constantly full of boogers that are mostly dried up and we have to put in saline drops to try to loosen them and get you to sneeze them out or use the aspirator. The doctor says this is very normal in the first 8 weeks of life. It makes you have difficulties breathing, mostly when you are eating since you must breathe solely through your nose, and causes some funny noises to emerge (see below). Your hair is still quite blond and growing, growing most rapidly in the back which makes it appear like you have a mullet and Daddy likes to tease you. Your eyes are wide open to the world, big and blue. Your hands and feet are still relatively large for the rest of your body and you constantly move them around...very active. You still like your hands to remain in fists and you have "baby lint" in them constantly. Your head has gotten much bigger and also your gut, but your legs are still skinny. Your neck strength is increasing and when on your belly you can lift your head briefly and turn it to both sides.

You have acid reflux - most babies do because of their underdeveloped sphincter muscle. It makes you burp loudly, sometimes wet burps and also gives you hiccups. Sometimes you can tell it is literally coming up your esophagus because you cough and it sounds like your throat is burning...poor guy. You don't spit up too much but I think you do more than we realize because I have seen you spit up and swallow it right away - that's when you make that face of sticking your tongue out or the wrinkled up nose look. Again, the doctors say not to worry unless he isn't gaining weight. I tried eliminating cow's milk from my diet, since that has been determined to be one of the causes in some, but it didn't seem to help.

noises: you have many audible expressions, made through your constantly clogged nose - you snort when worked up, so we call you "Erkle." You also have a Snork-like sound which Daddy imitates. You have a singular tone cry which is more like an expression of "Hey!" that you use when you want attention, or to be attended to, like picked up or fed. You stretch a lot and make cute sounds like the murmurs one makes when they are trying to get comfortable.

expressions: there are so many...see the photos. Our favorites are the "Lauer" face - a serious expression with your lips pursed and chin out, the "Magoo" face which you don't do as much now but I see it in the middle of the night still, which is when your eyes are closed and you stretch and elongate your neck, the "O" face, which is when your mouth makes a little "o" and usually proceeds expressions of hunger, and you are starting to smile! It happens mostly in the morning when you are well rested.

personality: well you are getting used to getting what you want and when you don't, you showcase your temper, which I am told is a trait that infant Eddie III had...beware. You get fussy when hungry or tired, and we call you "fussles" or "fussy bussy." We soothe you mostly by the nipple, walking with you, bouncing you (you like the exercise ball the most) or simply by holding you close to our chest and rubbing your back. You don't like to be changed or to be bathed or to get dressed at all, often screaming, although it is getting better and I swear as of two days ago you started smiling at me on the changing table. When you are alert you move your legs and arms a ton, and can follow an object with your eyes but often you stare at nothingness - the wall, out the window, the arm of the chair, etc...sometimes you are in a calm, focused state and stare at things (this you get from your mother).

books we've read: Yertle the Turtle, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Where the Wild Things Are, Grimm's Fairy Tales and the first three chapters of Ovid's Metamorphoses. I have also read to you excerpts from Sports Illustrated and various culinary books.

toys we play with: well you can't really play or grab yet but we show you and you can follow with your eyes the Pooh rattle, our first gift given to us by Grandma Bonnie way back in Dec. 2007 when we announced our pregnancy, and the little monkey from Scotty and Chrissy.

songs we sing: Old McDonald, Wheels on the Bus, Zippity do dah, Scarborough Fair, Ciao Mama (an Italian Song by Jovanotti) and Daddy sings numerous tunes which he doesn't know the words to...hopefully Grandma Bonnie can help fill in the gaps when she visits.