7 weeks

This week Miles has started smiling at an increasing frequency.  It's still hard to catch though.  In part that's due to the fact that Lucas got an iPhone and I got a new case for my iPhone (and gave him my old one).  My old case was black and it got lost in my black bag and on our black couch a LOT.  So, I decided to get a new patterned case and don't you know it, Miles loves looking at it.  As a result, he gets distracted by it when I attempt to take pictures of his smile.  Eventually, I promise, a good picture of his smile will be posted.  As soon as I catch it.

Miles has also started feeding less frequently at night.  That means I get to sleep for up to three and a half hours at a time!  This doesn't sound like much to the typical person who may get 6 or 8 hours at a stretch, but to me, it's heaven!  I wake up more refreshed and ready for the day.

My best friend Emilie and her husband Jon and their daughter Abby came down from Massachusetts this week for a short visit.  It was so nice to see them all and Abby, who is nearly 3 years old, loved "baby Miles."  She covered him with kisses and held him a few times.  I'm sure Emilie and Jon will be hearing about "baby Miles" for a long time.

Here is your weekly dose of Miles pictures:

That phone case is so mesmerizing

More milk please

Yawn!

5am yawn!

The best shot at catching that smile

Dudes sleeping

My best friend Emilie's daughter Abby and "baby Miles"

Post breastfeeding drunken stupor

That really is an interesting phone case you have there

Attempting to Smile

Miles has started to smile but it's elusive.  The following are all attempts to capture his smile - all to no avail. But the resulting faces are still pretty great.

When my mother was in town for the first few weeks after Miles was born we attempted to go to a Red Sox/Orioles game.  We chose a midweek game in the early afternoon with the hopes that it would be low key enough that we could bring a two week old and still enjoy the game.  We miscalculated.  We got seats in the upper deck, in the second row, in the sun.  To avoid sun exposure we started seat hopping higher up in the upper deck under the overhang.  Much to our dismay, the day we chose to go to the game was also the day that many of the city schools took a field trip to the park.  The result was that we were surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of school children who screamed at every hit and chanted "Let's go O's" at all other times.  The noise was deafening.  And my postpartum hormone surges and my mothering instinct kicked in.  I started crying and told my mother and Lucas we had to leave.  We made it through 3/4 of an inning - I felt so guilty.

I don't want having a baby to upend our lives in a way that makes it so we don't leave the house.  With that in mind, I'm thinking of attempting another midweek, early afternoon game.  But this time we'd be on the club level with the old folk.  Because, don't you know it, the only game that fits the bill is a summer camp field trip day!  Here's what we got to protect little Miles' ears:

And here are the other few random pictures from the last few days:

Look at that little foot!

Pictures!

Will you get tired of pictures of Miles?  I don't seem to get tired of taking them.  I may not be able to keep up this pace of picture taking when I go back to work!

Moby wrapped right up!

So small in his moses basket

Rhino guy

Lost my pacifier!

Aaaaah... got it back!

He's a little bean burrito - all wrapped up and sleeping

One Month

Miles had his one month pediatrician visit today.  His weight was only 8lbs 14oz so obviously my home scale and the office scale are not synced up.  Still, I'm very happy with his weight.  He's also 22 inches in length now - up from 20.5 inches at birth.  He's growing!

At the visit he got his second hepatitis B vaccination.  He did really well, calmed down right away after his shot.  We talked with our pediatrician about sleep - she suggests that we encourage self soothing as much as possible.  Dr. Sears - the pediatrician most known for attachment parenting - discourages self soothing and encourages rocking or walking a baby to sleep and cosleeping for the duration of breastfeeding or longer.  I'm kind of confused now about which method we'll follow.  I guess this is the classic debate about sleep issues and children.

Here are more pictures of Miles!

Fuss Bug

Newborns are supposed to get especially fussy starting around 2 weeks.  Their fussiness increases up until around 6 weeks and resolves usually by 3 or 4 months.  Miles has the fuss bug!  Sometimes his crying and yelling is so intense it inexplicably becomes hilarious and we both stand there and laugh at him.  What could a baby be so upset about?  He's full, dry, comfortable and near as we can tell, no one is poking him with anything.  Although he screams like someone is twisting his small toe off, it only lasts for five minutes when we institute the professional fussiness reduction protocol!  The PFRP consists of straitjacket style wrapping, intensive shushing so loud the neighbors probably think we hate our baby, a ridiculous bounce-walk, shoving a pacifier in his mouth and the vocal stylings of Neko Case and the Decemberists.  It's a pretty great protocol as protocols go.  We're just hoping that the screaming doesn't extend much beyond five minutes or we may not be able to continue laughing.

We have a 1 month pediatric appointment on Monday and I'm very excited to find out what the little guy weighs.  He's definitely growing and changing.  He feels heavier as I hold him, his hair seems thicker and his acne rivals that of a hormonal teenager.  And I still think he's the cutest thing in the world.

Here are his most recent pictures: