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.)
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.
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.
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?!)
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.
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.
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 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.
