Gerry: One Month Old

He found his voice tonight!

Gerry is one month old!   Actually, he's 5 weeks old today, which brings me to a good point: what do we say when someone asks how old he is...one month?  5 weeks?  I'd hate to be that mom who's like, "My kid is 72 months old!"  instead of "I have a six year old", you know?  But, I digress.  Anyway...

Gerry is officially one month old, and it's been a quick month.  We had a doctor's appointment this afternoon, and little man is tipping the scales at 10 lbs. 2.5oz. and 21 3/4 inches long.  He did great throughout the appointment and even handled his HepB shot like a champ, only crying for a second before occupying himself with his bottle.  His doctor mentioned that he has a slight case of strabismus which, of course, has me slightly worried.  Strabismus, in laymen's terms, is being cross-eyed.  I'd never noticed it in Gerry before, but his doctor explained that when light was shone in Gerry's eyes it was pretty centered in one pupil and slightly off-center in the other.  When he showed me what to look for, I noticed it but it doesn't seem too bad.  The doctor said that it's not something to worry about until he's closer to six months old, but that we can keep an eye on it.  So for now we wait.  And I refuse to stress about it.  Honestly, if the doctor hadn't mentioned it I never would have noticed it or been aware of it.  He's perfect to me anyway.

Doctor's visit aside, here's a little rundown of what Gerry's been up to the last four weeks.

Hey Girl

He's smiling at people...sporadically.  Still lots of sleepy smiles or smiles when he just stares off into space (my mom says he's smiling at his angels, and I find that hugely comforting to think), but he does smile often when Scott or I talk to him.  And, of course, he smiles like crazy at Bailey.  I'm happy to report that she still loves him to pieces.

Gerry has also discovered his voice.  He still surprises himself a lot of the time, but he's been making spontaneous noises a lot lately, and he's got the sweetest little voice.

Still not sleeping through the night, but we weren't expecting that anyway.  He normally wakes up to eat around 1:30 am and then again around 5am.  Luckily, he's pretty good about eating and then going right back to sleep, so it's not much of a hassle to get up with him...and we really can't complain about only getting up twice during the night, either!  During the day, he's a pretty good napper, and is just about on the same schedule as the daycare kids.  His long naps are usually from about 6am to around 9am or so, and then again from about 2pm to around 5:30pm.  And then he takes a few more shorter naps throughout the day.  He's a good sleeper.  ;-)

He loves to be snuggled up

Other than that, there's not too much to report on the Gerry front.  He's doing great and we all love him to pieces...especially Bailey.  We found her laying on the floor next to him again this morning.  At 5:30am.  I have no idea how long she'd been in there or if she was awake the whole time, but she was definitely there.  Thank God she likes him and doesn't have any immediate plans to harm him, because she totally could have smothered him in his sleep and Scott and I would have been none the wiser.  In fact, I brought this point up to Scott this morning and he mentioned that maybe it's time to move him into his crib.  I'm not quite ready for that yet, but we can definitely move him into a pack and play or something.  The sad thing is that we have a perfectly beautiful cradle right next to our bed, but he can't won't use it.  Gerry still loves to be swaddled, but he likes his arms to be semi-free.  However, any time he makes the slightest movement the cradle rocks, his startle reflex kicks into high gear, and then he's good and awake.  And hard to get back to sleep because it scares him and then he freaks out.

That reminds me.  Gerry loves to be snuggled up, whether it be in a blanket, a towel or in someone's arms.  He relaxes that way and is instantly "chill".  Bath time has also greatly improved!  I think he actually really enjoys it now.  He prefers the water nice and warm, and just kind of stares at me while I bathe him.  He hates being naked and/or cold, though, so he usually cries when I take him out.  But as soon as I've got him wrapped up in a towel he quiets down and stares or smiles while I lotion him up and get him dressed.

Cinderelly, Cinderelly?

Bailey is doing great, too!  I feel like she gets a little bit funnier, a little bit smarter, and just a teeny bit more exasperating every day.  She's reasoning with us a lot more lately, which is driving both Scott and myself crazy.  Last night, she kept asking for "one more show" before bed.  No big deal, right?  Except that she kept changing her mind about what show she wanted to watch.  Then she needed more milk...except the milk was too cold, so we needed to heat it up.  After that, she wanted to "help mommy"...with what, I don't know and I don't think she does, either.  I'll give her credit...she did prolong her bedtime by more than an hour when all was said and done so, clearly, she's better at negotiation than we are.