Because Babies Are S'posed to Eat Their Toes!

Apparently, it's the greatest thing ever! And, of course, Dexter laughed himself into hiccups again. It seems he just can NOT laugh without getting the hiccups. I hope he grows out of that before it becomes a deterrent to laughter in the future.

Dexter's First Christmas

Dexter's first Christmas was a huge success! And to think it's only half over! (Tootsie and Pop are due for a visit in a few days and are bringing their Christmas loot along.)

So far, he's gotten a fun hammer (that makes noise, of course) a teether toy that plays "a farm tune" (you know the one), two books, a very busy elephant, some duplo legos, a "Baby's First Christmas" ornament, lots of great stuff. He must have had a very big day, because he had 3 naps and 3 bottles in less than 6 hours. So I guess it's fair to say that Dexter enjoyed his first Christmas very much.

(His parents got a lot of great stuff, too. Many are Dexter-related - framed photos, teether necklace, etc., which is just fine with us.)



Waiting for Santa on Christmas eve and enjoying the booty on Christmas Day. (Sadly, only 2 of those gifts are for Dexter, since this is the pile of stuff we were giving.) And, although Santa certainly came to visit a very good baby Dexter, he pretty much just stopped by to say "hi," since he's already spent a small fortune on Dexter this year, and Dexter has plenty of other people to spoil him for now.


Nap #1.


All of the loot at Aunt Mary's house, making friends with cousin Tybee.


Opening presents! Dexter happily hung out in that swing pretty much the whole time. It's good to visit people who have babies (and baby stuff!)


Nap #2.


Nap #3 - snuggling with Grandma.


Grandma and Granddad, hard at work.

Also, I can finally take this opportunity to show off part of his present for Grandma & Granddad. I couldn't post it earlier, because sometimes they read the blog, and I didn't want to spoil the surprise. Shocker - we arranged for a photo of all three grandkids. Dennis's sister, Mary, found a frame that said, "The Grands. " They were happy to get it. But the photo shoot was... interesting, to say the least. Dexter was uncharacteristically grouchy that morning (Saturday, December 20), and his cousin Tybee was so sleepy he barely opened his eyes the whole time. (Livia was a very patient big sister/cousin and an excellent smiler the whole time.) We managed to get some good shots anyway. I'm still not sure if it was because of or in spite of the not-so-cooperative babies.


This one pretty much sums up how the morning went.



I believe this is the one that ended up in the frame. Note Dexter's keen martial arts skills already in development.



Going, going... down. (Apparently all Tybee needed to get his eyes open was a head-butt from Dexter.)

Dexter is 11 Weeks Old!

I know I just posted some pictures yesterday, but here are his "official" 11 week photos. I figured we needed to get something between 2 months and 3 months, as he'll surely still change a bit in the next 15 days. As you can see, he is now taller than that teddy bear but not quite as tall as Demonjello.

He's still sporting that Ed Grimley hairstyle that was so prominent in yesterday's photos. Not sure when we'll grow out of that one, but for now, I think it's cute.






And, just for fun, some videos from tonight.

Some video from the photo shoot:




A little rendition of "If you're happy and you know it..." Is there anything we won't do to get this kid to smile? And, of course, he was much more smiley before we grabbed the camera. We'll have to do some drills and work on that some. :)


And some more, as poor Dex gets quite tired of all of this videotaping.

Some new pictures

Seems like it's been a long time since I updated, so I thought I'd give up some cute pictures we took this morning. He was quite the ham for a few minutes - a rarity, since he's still not quite sure he trusts that camera.




And I guess it's pretty exhausting being such a ham. :)



Here are a few videos from the last month or so. As you can see, he still doesn't do much besides smile and laugh. But BOY does he smile and laugh!

Here, we catch Dexter interacting with his good friend - the baby who lives in the mirror. Actually, he laughed hysterically at this the first time, and we tried and tried to get it on tape. So far, this is the best we've gotten. (The video is 7 minutes long, but only the first 2 minutes or so are entertaining. Editing was too much effort.)


And here's a minute or two of him enjoying the hell out of his bouncy seat. He's only 2 months old, and his feet are already hanging off the end. Still, we have no immediate plans to retire the bouncy seat.


Here, Dennis is teaching Dex the fine art of rolling over. He hasn't quite caught on, but we keep trying.


And here's just a little bit of everyday fun with Dad. Sadly, I stopped the video just a few seconds too soon, but I think you can see where it was headed.



Here, we let him lick a clementine. He doesn't seem to be a big fan, but it's (probably) not quite as good as if we'd let him taste a lemon.


Honestly, he really does enjoy his baths. Not really all "OMG I am sooo excited!" but he does seem to enjoy them and is upset when they're over. Also notice how scrunched he is in this tub, especially compared to his first bath 7 weeks ago.


Finally, more fun with Dad. It's another long one, but there are a few really good smiles in there.

Dexter's 2 Month Checkup

Dexter excelled (again) at his checkup today. He weighs 12 pounds, 13 ounces (67th %ile) and is 24.25" long (85th %ile). His head circumference is 15.75" (44th %ile).

He got 2 immunizations. The Rotavirus vaccine is oral, and he took the whole thing without any fuss at all. The other (DTaP) was an actual shot. He screamed for about 5 seconds and that was that. I was very proud and relieved.

I'm also hoping that the immunizations don't impact his super-amazing sleep schedule! He's now slept through the night for SIX nights in a row!
Tuesday 02 Dec: 9:30 PM - 5:15AM (7.5 hours)
Wednesday 03 Dec: 10:00PM - 7:00AM (9 hours)
Thursday 04 Dec: 11:00PM - 6:00AM (7 hours)
Friday 05 Dec: 10:30 PM - 6:30AM (8 hours)
Saturday 06 Dec: 10:30PM - 8:30AM (10 hours)
Sunday 07 Dec: 9:30PM - 4:30AM (7 hours)

In other news, it turns out that the baby in the mirror is camera-shy! Ever since Dexter laughed himself into hiccups at that adorable baby, we've been trying to catch it on video. Alas, all we have is about 20 cumulative minutes of footage (over several days) of Dexter's parents acting like goofballs trying to get him to laugh at the baby in the mirror. Thus, no video updates yet. If we have anything exciting to show, rest assured you'll see it here first.

2 Nights in a Row!

That's right. Dexter the Great slept through the night again, this time twice in a row! Tuesday night, he slept from 9:30 PM until 5:30 AM. When he woke us up at 5:30, Dennis sat up in alarm and said, "Did you feed him at 1:00?!" I said I hadn't. He had slept through. Awesome. He went right back to sleep and stayed that way until I woke him up at 9:30.

I thought perhaps he was just extra tired from his big day visiting Santa, but sure enough, he slept through again on Wednesday night, this time from 10:00 PM until 7:00 AM. NINE hours. Again, he went back to sleep shortly after that feeding and slept until 10:00 AM.

I really hope this is a trend. Of course, this is all swaddled sleep, but I'm not too worried about that just yet.

In other exciting news, we've introduced Dexter to the baby in the mirror. Yesterday, he laughed SO hard at that baby that he gave himself the hiccups. Twice. We're hoping to capture this excitement on video tonight, so let's hope he performs.

Finally, Dexter is two months old today! He's definitely growing up. And out. His thighs are officially bigger than my wrists. I think we may soon have a very chunky monkey on our hands.


(I know what you're thinking - that's not a lot of clothes for December 4. But there's no need to call DCFS, I promise. Rest assured that we are staying inside our warm house all day and will add many layers if we do go outside for any reason. Besides, what's a growth picture if his cute little thighs and feet are all covered up?!)

Dexter Meets Santa Claus

Dexter got his traditional photo with Santa this afternoon. Since it was afternoon, he was not at his most smiley, but we did at least manage to get one with his eyes open.

It's tough to tell since he is covering his top with his hands, but this is the same dinosaur outfit that nearly swallowed him on his way home from the hospital. It fits him perfectly now. (We're estimating his current weight at 12 or 12.5 pounds. We'll get an official update on December 8.)

Anyway, Santa could look a bit more merry, but I think Dexter looks great.

Dexter's First Thanksgiving

Dexter spent his first Thanksgiving with the extended Gobert/Nulk clan at a rented house just outside of Memphis, TN. He was the life of the party and may have spent a good 90% of the weekend in someone's arms, even for many of his naps.

He was generous with his smiles, but not so much with his poops. He enjoyed learning a new game ("Get Pop"), which we sortof captured on video. (We got a round of the game, but we didn't capture the true joy that often accompanied this bit of fun.)

Pictures to follow shortly.

Dexter Smiled at Me!

At ME! Not at the ceiling fan. Or at some goofy song I was singing. He just smiled because he saw me looking at him. Man, that was awesome.

I'm also giving him credit for his first laughs. Again, it could be that he technically laughed days ago, but today he made several happy noises while smiling, and it wasn't just cooing. As with so many other things, he's been camera-shy with the laughing, but it's a wonderfully goofy laugh that goes perfectly with his goofy, crooked smile.

A laugh at 7.5 weeks. Dexter Cooley, boy genius.

Dexter's New Friend

On Saturday, Dexter got his first visit from a peer - sweet baby Shelby! Shelby's Mom (Kelly) used to work with Dennis. The six of us got together for a quick house tour and dinner (which Kelly and her husband Raul were kind enough to pick up and then wouldn't take money from us for it!). I'd love to say the 4 adults talked about fine things like art and politics, but I have to admit that most of the discussion was about poop and baby milestones.

Shelby is about 6 weeks older than Dexter, but they are roughly the same size. (It's tough to tell in the bad picture I got. But they're wearing the same size clothes and diapers. Kelly - is your picture better? If so, please send it along and I'll switch it out.)

Anyway, Shelby is a beautiful baby, with the most gorgeous brown eyes! Dexter is already winning with the ladies.

Dexter's Big Day (and Night!)

Well, yesterday was a big day for Dexter. We went to visit Dad at his office and met most of the members of the Sigma Aldrich chapter of the Dexter Cooley Fan Club. Dexter was pretty good, although mostly sleepy. He didn't really show off his big smile for anyone, so we'll have to go back sometime when his smile is a little more forthcoming.

After that, we went to Perficient, where, sadly, most of the office was out at client sites. He did get in an OK visit with a few people, though, except he was NOT on his best behavior, mostly being hungry, then eating, then having a giant blowout poop. He did smile for Avichal, though, after all of that was over. (Post-meal and post-poop is usually his happiest time these days.)

THEN we went to pick up food at the weekly co-op pickup. He pretty much slept through that. He was a champ in the car the whole time, which was quite a relief. Last time we went to the co-op, I had to pull over 3 times to soothe and change him.

Apparently it was an absolutely exhausting day, because... Dexter slept through the night! Granted, we're defining "through the night" pretty loosely (9:15 PM - 4:15 AM). Still, he went 8 hours between feedings and slept for 7 hours straight! If we'd been a bit smarter and managed to start that 8 hours at 11:00 PM, everyone would call it "through the night."

Of course, this does not mean that his Mom and Dad slept that long. I woke up panicked at 2:30 AM (having retired at about 11:00) wondering why I was waking myself up instead of being awakened. But sure enough, he was still breathing. I checked on him again twice more before he woke up for real at 4:15, when he got a diaper change and took a bottle before quickly falling back asleep at about 4:50 (and he slept until about 8:30). Easily his best night yet.

I tried to make today as tiring as possible so he would get a long sleep again, but I'm not sure it's going to work. He fell asleep halfway through his bedtime bottle, so he may not make it very long.

Here's a clip of our favorite new game ("Nose/Chin/Ears"), which is what we did for most of the day to wear him out. (Well, this and tummy time, which is absolutely exhausting, let me tell you.)



(Yeah. I know that 2 minutes of "Nose/Chin/Ears" is way too much for most people. But how could I possibly edit out any of those beautiful smiles?!)

Dexter is 6 Weeks Old!

He has officially outgrown his "newborn" diapers (and some of his smaller onesies and sleepers). On the upside, he's smiling more and just starting to vocalize a little bit - right on schedule. He's up to 4 ounces of formula every 3-4 hours (mostly - he's been known to go as little as 2 or as many as 6).

We're beginning to try to establish a bedtime routine (8pm bath, then bottle, books, bed). As I write this, it's only night 2, but it seems to be going well so far. It'd be great if he can get into a routine.

We did get some 6 week pictures. As always, click to see them larger.

I managed to catch him mid-sneeze.

Apparently this is one of his favorite poses.

Dexter Rolled Over!

Sunday, November 9, at 5:52 p.m., Dexter successfully rolled from his tummy onto his back! He is 5 weeks and one day old.

Did it take him a few minutes? Yes.
Did he repeat his feat when challenged? No.
Was it an accident? Almost definitely.
Did it wear him out? Oh yeah. He was sound asleep 15 minutes later.
How long until he does it for real? Who knows.

But tonight, during tummy time, he definitely switched from being face-down to face-up without any assistance. He is physically capable of this feat.

What can I say? The boy is a genius. :)

Dexter's One Month Checkup

It was no surprise to learn this morning that Dexter is a very healthy baby. Yay!

Apparently compensating (or maybe overcompensating) for his initial weight gain issues, Dexter weighed in today at 10 pounds even (a considerable rise from 8 pounds, 9.6 ounces just 2 weeks ago). He is 22 inches long (up from 21.5 or 20.5, depnding on whether you believe the hospital or the pediatrician) and has a 15 cm head (up from 13.5 at birth).

Everything else is looking good, too, except we apparently aren't giving (er, forcing him into) enough tummy time. Poor kid - we'll be rectifying that directly. I guess this is the part where he starts to hate us.

Dexter is One Month Old!

Dexter is a whole month old! Where did that month go, and how do I get it back? (Also note his "I voted" sticker. He didn't really vote, but I let him use my sticker. Also makes me wish I'd sprung for that "Obama baby" onesie I'd debated about for ages.)



He's grown a big ol' belly.


He can hold his head up (however briefly and unsteadily).


He got his first visit from Tootsie!


But most days, he still just hangs out with his Mom.

Dexter's First Halloween

Well, we didn't actually take him anywhere, of course, but we did manage to get some cute pictures.

Dexter as a black cat:



Dexter as a firefighter (with Dad, of course):

(Get it? In that third picture, there's a fire!)

Dexter as a burrito (note fancy-colored condiments):