Two Months!

Calvin had his two-month visit to the pediatrician yesterday. I have to say, the administration of shots was not quite as traumatizing as I'd feared - primarily because he was easily distracted pretty quickly, so we only had to endure about 30 seconds of crying and screaming.

The worst part, though, was definitely the moment right after the nurse administered that first shot - he was cooing and smiling and flirting, and then the needle went into his chubby little thigh. There was another second of flirting - and then a moment when you could see the pain register on his little face - and then a red-faced scream the likes of which we hadn't seen since he was first born. Poor little man!

As I said, though, we managed to get him calmed down pretty quickly, and he doesn't seem to be having any reactions after the fact... apparently some babies are extra fussy for 24 hours afterwards. Given that he was being extra fussy for the 48 hours prior to the appointment, though, we probably wouldn't have known the difference.

As for his two month vital stats:
Length: 23.75 inches, 75th percentile
Weight: 11 pounds 9 ounces, 50th percentile
Head circumference: 39.6 centimeters, 50th percentile

Happy two months, Calvin!

Random Thoughts

It's amazing watching Calvin take everything in - as his little eyes focus on new and different objects, I can't even imagine what it is like to experience all these things for the first time.

I find myself wondering what it will be like for him when he starts becoming more self-aware. My first thought was that he might be surprised not to have glasses - after all, the two big people he sees every day both have plastic lenses over their eyes, why shouldn't he?

But then it occurred to me that there's no reason he should necessarily identify with us - after all, we are many, many times larger than he is, and there's someone else here who's just his size.

So now I think he's going to be surprised when he doesn't turn out to be orange and furry.

Calvin at 1 Day Old

So a very clever photography studio, Bella Baby, entered into an agreement with Prentice to have roving photographers take photos of newborns. And then suckers like me and Marc purchase photo packages - in our case, a package that allows us to reproduce said photos in any way we see fit. Woo! Full set at Snapfish.

Monstro Hands!

Obligatory Family Portrait

Four Weeks Old

The time, it flies. It feels both incredibly recent and incredibly long ago that we were in the hospital preparing to induce labor.

Of course, the good news is, he gets a one-month birthday on Saturday. Had he been born a day later, we'd have been forced to forgo it.

Anyway, recently got around to uploading a bunch of shots from, well, four weeks ago, among others. As before, go to Snapfish for more.

That's what I get for thinking

So I had just settled back into bed after the 4am feeding. Over the monitor, I could hear Calvin quietly cooing to himself, and I was contentedly sandwiched in between a deeply breathing husband and a happily purring cat as I drifted back to sleep. Life is good, I thought.

And then, of course, within 30 seconds, Marc started snoring, Calvin started crying, and Floyd started poking me in the face with his paw. At least I had the presence of mind to be amused at my own audacity, and to recognize that this is what I should expect for the foreseeable future (like, say, 18 years... at least).

Language

When we were married, it took quite a while to get used to using the words "husband" and "wife" (and, before that, "fiance"). Why does it seem that "Mom" and "Dad" do not require the same transition period?...

The First Two Weeks

It's such a cliche... and yet, don't some cliches exist for a reason? It is extraordinary how much he has changed in 14 short days, and how much we change with him. I don't have the mental capacity to write much more now (really, Calvin? eating every three hours? man, babies have it good), but a few photos are below... these and others are also online at Snapfish.