How the Sixth Month Went

Dear Zachary,

Wow, I can't believe we've had you for half a year! If we had purchased and paid for you using PayPal, we would now no longer be able to return you. Which is good, because that thought gets a little too tempting when it's 4:30 in the morning and you're up for the fourth time. Oh wait, we didn't pay for you with PayPal, so that's irrelevant. Is it wrong to joke about wanting to return a baby? I hope not, but in case it is, let me reassure you that we would never do so. You are getting to be such a little personality; we can no longer imagine what our lives would be like without you.

We recently started checking out new churches in hopes of finding more new parent community, and one of the churches we visited has an awesome nursery where we can leave you for all of service. I'd gotten so used to having you with us all the time that it almost felt weird to worship and listen to a sermon without bouncing you on our laps or walking you around the back of the sanctuary. It was like Ricky Bobby in Talladega Nights: "I'm not sure what to do with my hands."

It's funny how quickly you've insinuated yourself into our lives and changed how we think about everything. We never used to pay attention to whether churches had good kids' programs, but now it's at the top of our list of must-haves. I used to vaguely kind of try to buy organic produce, but now I've got the dirty dozen infographic saved on my phone in preparation for when you start solids. I used to daydream about what costumes I could sew for myself, but now I make plans for all the fun cosplay I can do with you before you're too old to think that dressing up with Mommy is cool. As Jonathan Coulton sang, you ruined everything in the nicest way. I never used to think that song was so great, but now I understand.

love,
Mommy

Likes:

• Rolling over. You've been able to roll for a couple months now, but you used to only do so in the morning when you were feeling especially happy and energetic (and nobody was watching). Now, you do so within about five seconds every time we set you down.
• According to your babysitter at school, the number three and classical piano music. We are so blessed that the lady who watches you is committed to making your school experience as rich as possible; she sings to you and has you listen to all sorts of different composers and instruments, and she reports back to me about what your favorites are. 
• Grabbing yourself down there. It was only a matter of time, I was told by other mamas of boys. Well, it's happened, and bath time and diaper changing time are now exploration time as well. 
• Cold teethers. We got some teething rings for you that can be refrigerated, and you love chomping down on them. Once they come to room temperature, though, they are much less interesting. 

Warm teether discarded in favor of toes. 

Dislikes:

• Sleeping on your tummy. This is a problem, since as soon as we put you in your crib, you flip over. It's really too bad you don't listen to reason, because I've explained to you several times that if you don't like sleeping on your tummy, maybe you shouldn't flip over when I put you down. Anyway, this has made sleep training much more difficult. 
• Speaking of sleep training, sleep training. You are not a fan of waiting until the three hour mark to eat at night, you are not a fan of sleeping in your own crib instead of snuggled up next to mommy, you are not a fan of being put down awake, and you are not a fan of timed checks. I'm sorry, son, but it needs to happen. Sleep is too beautiful and necessary of a thing for us to put off teaching you about it any longer. Also your mommy is about to fall over from exhaustion.
• Having things put on you. This includes diapers and clothes. You were never really a fan of putting clothes on post-bath, but diaper changes used to be okay. Well, no longer. Ever since you developed the ability to scoot around by arching your back and pushing with your legs, you've been practicing this move by scooting away when we try to put on your diaper and clothes. As your 嫲嫲 likes to say, you need to move to somewhere in Africa where it's acceptable to wander around naked. 

Your favorite time of day: post-bath, pre-pajama.

New this month: 

• Arching your back and scooting around. As mentioned above, this is a new mode of transportation for you. We can no longer put you down and expect to find you in the same place. Just a sneak preview of when you start crawling, I guess. Sigh, I guess I should start baby proofing the house... 

Check out that neck strength! I can fit my arm under you with room to spare when you do this. 

This is a common occurrence these days: you have scooted all the way off of the blanket, then you see something worth investigating, like the octopus doorstop, so you flip to your side and start nomming away.

One time you scooted off your blanket and traveled in a U and ended up like this.

• Your first cold. Sad milestone, but milestone nonetheless. Thankfully it was a fairly minor cold that manifested as two days of sneezing, congestion, and runny nose. Still, it was miserable for all concerned: you, because it was hard to eat when stuffed up, and us, because we had to listen to your sad snuffling. 
• Noticing and attempting to interact with your big brother. You didn't use to pay any particular attention to Walnut, but now you actively track him when he walks by, and if he's close enough, you'll reach out your hand and try to grab his fur. Just last week, when he walked up to sniff you, you actually gave him a huge smile! 

• Seeing something you want and going for it, aka the beginnings of object permanence. In the last couple of days, you've suddenly noticed that Daddy uses an orange fish-thing to water you during bath time, and when he put it down in the water, you deliberately sat up and tried to grab it. You got upset when we tried to sit you back (because we didn't want you to face plant into the the water and drown!) and kept trying to struggle toward the fish. When we took you out of the bath, you cried until we gave you the fish to chew on. Now, the first thing you do when you get into the bath tub is try to find the fish. I'm slightly proud, but slightly annoyed, because now bath time is an ordeal. 



I can no longer take lobster comparison pictures with you lying nicely next to it. You see it there beside you, decide it's worth investigating, and then roll over to try tasting it. 

• Having preferences. Based on amount of smiling and time spent actually paying attention to the book, you seem to like the Pajama Time book the most of all the Sandra Boynton books, which is ironic since you 1) hate putting on pajamas, and 2) hate bedtime. But you really like the "Jamma jamma jamma jamma P! J!" chant. 

How the Fifth Month Went

Dear Zachary,

I tried to think of something clever to say about your being five months old, but I'm coming up empty. It's hard to think of clever witticisms when you're still not letting me get much sleep at night. To make up for that, though, you've gotten more fun during the day. From learning to use your hands, to being able to sit in your high chair and watch me wash dishes/prep food, it's rewarding to see you learn to interact with your world.

Now that we've settled into the routine of going to school three times a week, I'm rediscovering how much I love having conversations with people who can respond more or less intelligently teaching. You love it too, because it means you get to be at school, where there is no shortage of people willing to coo over you. You are so liberal with your smiles, it *almost* makes me wish you showed some kind of preference for me. But since you don't, I'll continue being happy that I can hand you off to strangers without any signs of anxiety on your part.

The flip side of this school thing is that on the days we don't go to school...The. Days. Drag. On. Forever. It gets really tempting to just read endless BuzzFeed articles (A List of Some Number of Things About Disney Princesses!) and pin countless cookie recipes (there's no way I'm ever giving enough tests to justify baking that many cookies!) on my phone while you chew on your blanket, but I'm trying to remind myself that these days need to be treasured. The bonus of working with high schoolers is knowing that I'm getting a preview of what you'll be like in the future; soon you'll be spending twelve hours a day at school (I'm assuming you'll have sports practice/debate club/robotics team/some other extracurricular activity) instead of twelve hours giggling and napping with me, and the whole world tells me I'll miss these slow, leisurely (mostly slow) days. So I'm making an effort to put my phone away and follow the words of a wise man who died before he could spend any time with his child:

Wherever you are, be all there. -- Jim Elliot

It's a grace to be able to hang out with you all day on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Love,
Mommy

Likes:

• Grabbing. Last month I was worried because you weren't grabbing things yet, even though the developmental milestones book said you should be. Well, I'm not worried anymore. You're grabbing the links on your activity gym, the O-ball, the taggie and shark I made for you, various rattles, my hair, my shirt, my face, Walnut's hair, everything! And then sticking them in your mouth, if possible. It makes me feel ridiculously gratified that you like the toys I made for you, although really, you like anything with little bits to suck on. 

• Somewhat related to the above: putting your arms around my neck when being held and pinching. The former is sweet and endearing, the latter, not so much. 
• Splashing during bath time.  We used to be so proud of you sitting quietly in the bath tub, but now you love kicking the water out. Your right foot is especially active -- Daddy jokes that you'll have a buffer right leg because seriously, it never stops moving. It's like somebody told your right leg that you were riding a bicycle and then forgot to tell it to stop. 
• Being tickled around your neck. We were also starting to think you weren't ticklish, but then your 公公 discovered the sweet spot that makes you giggle up a storm. 

• Being tossed in the air. Leave it to Daddy to dare to send you fake flying and set off a fit of giggles. There's no way I would've dared to do it without seeing him do it first. 

• Doing crunches. Poor little guy, you want so badly to sit up and see what's going on, but your core can't quite do it yet. Still, one must admire your persistence in trying to sit up. You especially like doing it in the bath, except then you can't hold the position for very long, so you tip over to the side and start gnawing on the side of the tub. 

• Rolling over, but only when nobody's looking. Every morning, I think to myself, maybe this is the morning I'll catch you rolling on video so that we can show grandparents. And every morning, I wait and wait, you lie there on your back and smile and show no signs of going anywhere, so I decide to step out and get some tea or breakfast. And inevitably, when I come back into the room, there you are in tummy time. You little devious thing, you. 

Dislikes:

• Cars that honk unnecessarily, cars with pumped up sound systems, excited middle schoolers, barking dogs, sirens, and flocks of geese overhead. Okay, maybe those are more my dislikes than yours, but seriously, nothing gets me more irrationally angry than noisy things that wake you up when you take your daily car nap. I go to all the trouble of driving you around until you fall asleep, only to have my efforts foiled by people who don't stop to consider that there might be a baby sleeping somewhere nearby (Just to be clear, I'm kidding about that, because really, how would they know). 
• Sleeping in new places. We took you on your first church retreat, and you absolutely refused to sleep in an unfamiliar environment. I ended lying on the floor, nursing you for hours those two nights in order to get you to stay asleep. And then when we came back you were all thrown off, and to be honest, you still haven't recovered. 

You also hated having to take pictures with the speaker's daughter.

New this month: 

• As mentioned above, you went on your first retreat. Aside from the sleeping thing, you did fabulously, being quiet during the plenary sessions, bouncing happily during the small group times, and mostly cooperating during meal times. You especially loved all the people fawning over you; mom and dad especially loved all the people willing to give them a break by holding you. 
• Your 爺爺, 嫲嫲 and 姑姐 came to visit from Philly. As with retreat, you love new people to smile at and play with, and we are glad to hand you over to give our arms a break. 
• They brought you a bunch of new clothes, and you're already almost too long for a couple of those 6-9 month onesies. How is that possible. 
• You raked in the red envelopes for your first Chinese New Year. We are so grateful for the people who love you so much already!

Happy Year of the Ram/Sheep/Goat!

How the Fourth Month Went

Dear Zachary,

Oh, you little troll, you! Last month, I was all smug thinking that we had this parenting thing figured out. You were starting to sleep longer and longer stretches (up to eight hours!) at night. You were happy playing by yourself, you were pooping regularly, and eating like a champ. Well, shortly after writing last month's post, you did an about-face and decided to teach your parents that there's no putting you in a box; you refuse to be so easily deciphered!

In true overachiever style, you decided to start your four month sleep regression a month early, going back to waking every couple of hours at night. Now, a good night is when you sleep for more than three hours in a row. You also started pooping less regularly, leading us to be on edge in fear of poosplosions every third day or so. And then there's the eating -- gone are the days of gaining half a pound a week (probably a good thing, to give our arm muscles time to catch up) -- these days you're too distracted by every little thing to get a good meal in during the day; consequently you need to make up the calories at night. I never thought a baby could get more alert than you, but leave it to you to defy expectations in every way! Thankfully, you still play by yourself. At least there's that, or else I would've gone crazy this month.

And yet. And yet. Every day I find myself loving you more and more, you adorable little boy, you. Even though it's because of you that I'm perpetually tired, hungry, thirsty, and sore, it's worth it seeing you grow and change. When you greet me with that little grin, when you laugh in delight at my silly songs, there's nothing like that feeling of heart-swelling love.

Sometimes when I'm bored while nursing you, I look back at photos of when you were just born. How utterly different you look already -- like a little boy and not a newborn! People keep telling me how mature you look, that you look older than four months, and it makes me both proud and sad. Even though I kind of can't wait until you outgrow this sleep regression, I'm going to miss it when you're not a little baby anymore. When I (prematurely, I'm sure) think about you being old enough to go to school (and give me time to myself!) and run around and get hurt and have teenage angst, I just squeeze your little warm body tighter and understand, just a little, why more experienced parents say to enjoy this time because it flies so fast. I think I'm finally starting to get this loving-your-child-so-much-it-hurts thing, and it is awful and wonderful and lovely and beautiful. Being your parent is an ongoing lesson in how deep the Father's love for us, because I can't even fathom how He could give His only son, to make wretches like us His treasure. Thank you for helping me to learn that, baby guy.

love,
Mommy

Likes:

• Laughing hysterically when we make silly noises at you. It started with exaggerated clapping after bath time, and now we find ourselves doing crazier and crazier things in hopes of hearing that infectious laugh of yours. 
• Not staying put, but not rolling either. You know how to roll. I know you do. You do it once a day, just to get our hopes up of catching it on video, but I think you know that rolling results in unasked for tummy time, so you don't do it any more often than that. Instead, you move around by planting your feet, lifting your butt, and then scotching over a few inches when you bring it back down. In that way, you've managed to move off your blanket and almost headbutt the heater while we weren't looking. 
• Diaper-free time. Every night, right before bath time, we let you air out your nether regions, and that's when you go crazy with the kicking (and peeing). You are just destroying our supply of chux pads, but it's hard to deny you that freedom when you obviously enjoy it so much. 
• Winning others over. We like speculating on what Myers-Briggs letters you might have (we're pretty sure you're an E) and what strengths you might've inherited from your parents -- and we're beginning to think you got your daddy's WOO. You know how to turn on the charm and even do this cute crooked smile and quick head-duck like you're shy about meeting people, except that you are totally fine with strangers holding you. You have conquered hearts at church, and now at Mommy's school. Which is good, because you have to go to school and be cared for by strangers three days a week. 

Dislikes: 

• Things touching your head and hands. Hats, lotion application, face washing, hand washing, putting on clothes, and nail-clipping are all anathema. Unfortunately, only the first item is optional. Because of your super sharp daggers, you've managed to inflict two injuries on yourself, leading people to question whether Walnut is attacking you. What a classic little brother move -- getting your big brother in trouble over something you did yourself!
• Eating when there are interesting things going on elsewhere. It's been really hard getting you to focus long enough to get a good meal these days. Why eat when Daddy or Walnut are walking by? Or when there's sunlight streaming through that window? Or when there's your hand to suck on? Or when the chair is red? 

New this month:

• You celebrated your first Christmas! That already seems like ages ago, doesn't it? You got quite a haul of clothes, which is good, because...
• You have graduated to 3-6 month clothing for onesies and footed jammies. 0-3 month jackets and pants and other separates still fit you, because you're basically just long and skinny. 3-6 month separates look ridiculously wide on you, but the length of onesies is right, since you take after Mommy in being all torso.  
• As mentioned previously, you started going to "daycare" at Mommy's school three days a week. General opinion is that you are a very likable, personable baby...except when it's time to nap. So far you have not succeeded in napping at school, despite their going out and specially acquiring a Pack-N-Play for you. 
• Seeing as how you like her books so much, Mommy finally caved and used all her Amazon points to buy the rest of Sandra Boynton's books for your library. Thankfully, her books are enjoyable for both babies and adults, which is good, since these are the books we'll probably be reading fifty times over. 
• Previously, you were just sucking on your fists; now, you are actually sucking on your thumb! 

• We tried unswaddling you and transitioning to the Baby Merlin Magic Sleepsuit, but that was a disaster. You kept waking yourself up with your startle reflex, but gosh darn it if you don't look adorably like the Michelin man in that marshmallow suit. 
• Baby playdates! We've had a lot of hangouts with friends who also have babies, mostly a lot older than you. But just recently, Mommy's friend has been bringing her just-six-weeks-younger-than-you baby over once a week and while it's really more of a mommy adult-conversation-date, you little guys have obligingly lain on blankets next to each other and stared and gurgled. It's pretty great!

Dad Thoughts, the Poop Special Edition

WARNING: Poop, and probably TMI about baby feces, but also a PSA for people who are yet to be parents (picture included; caveat emptor)

There's not a whole lot about babies in textbooks when you study biology in high school or college. Most of what you learn in these textbooks about the human body pertains to mature human systems. As parents, we learned that at a certain point (around 2.5-3 months), babies will only poop once every 3-5 days, some even up to 21 days. Their bodies are learning to be more efficient with the nutrients and energy from breastmilk. We thought it was constipation, but it's completely normal. Sound unhealthy? It may be for adults, but not for babies.

Great, you think, less poopy diapers to change, but the flip side is that an anxiety forms within the parents after day 3 of no poop. The fear of an explosion of poo (known as a poosplosion) is enough to make anyone tremble. On the third day, you start to modify your plans for going out since being out in a restaurant or other public place would be the worst. By the fourth day, you don't even want to leave the house. Well the poosplosion finally happened on day 5, and lucky for us, it happened at home, in the middle of the day, on a weekend, when I was home to help. Three days later, we weren't so lucky. We had a poosplosion that exploded all the way up to his armpit. That onesie went into the trash and the only way to clean off Z was to take a shower with him to rub off all the poo.

Why the shower? Because the consistency of poosplosion poo starts to be more of a chunky peanut butter substance instead of the previously seedy mustard poo. Which is terrible because it is so hard to wipe off.

This is what a poosplosion looks like. Note how it runs up the back of the diaper (not pictured: the poo-covered baby.)

Regardless, I love Z so much. And it's fun to talk about poop.


Some Q&A:
Q: Was this what you expected it to be like in terms of dealing with poop? 
A: I never knew poo could be this sticky but there's nothing like a clean, happy baby after the event. Our pediatrician did give us a flyer that listed different kinds, colors and textures of baby poop, but nothing can really prepare you for poosplosions.

Q: Should I be scared of babies now and their potential poosplosions?
A: No, chances are you won't be holding the baby when a poosplosion happens. If anything, you should give props to all parents who are willing to roll up their sleeves each day and get their hands dirty.

Q: Is there a diaper brand you like to use? 
A: Pampers all the way. They even have a rewards program for loyalty to their brand.

Q: Does your appetite get affected by the poop?
A: No, and I still like peanut butter.

Q: Will Z look back on this entry and be embarrassed?
A: You know it.

Who would've guessed that such nastiness could come out of such a cute butt?

How the Third Month Went

Dear Zachary,

Congratulations, baby guy, you've made it through the fourth trimester!

This month has been full of developments that have, thankfully, made my life easier. Whereas you used to want to be held all the time, and would only sleep for a couple hours at night before wanting to eat again, you have now graduated to being able to spend up to twenty minutes happily kicking it up by yourself on your activity mat, and sleeping 4-5 hours for one stretch during the night! This is huge, as twenty minutes is practically an eternity (it seems) where I can actually wash dishes, put laundry into the machine, and clean the litter box. And now that you're better at sleeping at night, I feel like a normal human being most days. Maybe I've gotten a little too used to that, though, as last week when you had a couple days of growth spurt, I was almost offended at having to wake up every other hour again...

Last month I wrote about how it was starting to sink in that you are really a permanent part of our family. Well, this month I'm starting to realize how much I like you being in our family, nay, how fiercely I love having you in my life. When they say that having a baby changes you, they're right; I never used to get what the big deal was with motherhood, but when I read two motherhood-centric books this month -- Amy Tan's The Valley of Amazement and Lois Leveen's Juliet's Nurse -- I was surprised by how strongly I identified with the mothers depicted, and how heartbroken I felt as I empathized with these fictional characters' losses. For all that I sometimes wish I had more time to myself, I can't even imagine what it would be like to have you taken away, baby guy. Sometimes when you're sleeping especially well (six hours and not a peep?!), I panic and have to check on you to make sure you haven't died of SIDS or anything crazy like that. When I went shopping last weekend for a couple of hours on my own (the longest I've been away from you!), I missed holding your little warm body, kissing your cheeks, and smelling your head. For someone who's fairly unsentimental, this is a new experience.

I've always inwardly sneered (okay, outwardly, too) at the Christmas song "Mary Did You Know?" for being ultra cheesy, but this Christmas, I find myself being less disdainful and more touched by it. Maybe it's just the new cover by Pentatonix, but I've a sneaking suspicion that it's actually my grinchy T heart growing three sizes (one size per month you've been alive?) bigger, but I just don't know how Mary did it, short of supernatural empowerment by the Holy Spirit. When I cuddle you and think about Mary giving up her baby to death on the cross, when I delight in your laughter and think about God sending His son to earth in the form of a tiny baby, I'm floored all over again by the Christmas story. What an incredible thing to have God with us, to have a high priest in Jesus who knows what the whole human experience is like. Maybe it's selfish of me not to want peace on earth and all men to have goodwill toward each other, but to be honest, my wish this Christmas is for you to grow up to know the Savior personally, to be able to experience the joy of Emmanuel.

love,
Mommy

Likes:

• Reading books. This makes me so incredibly happy! In the last month, you've come to really enjoy reading together. You get extra grinny and babble up a storm when I read to you. Your favorites, based on amount of noise made, are the Sandra Boynton board books, although Goodnight Moon is also up there. 

• Song time. You are most likely to laugh when I sing you songs that have hand motions (which I make up a lot of the time). Favorites: The Wheels on the Bus, Little Bunny Foo Foo, The Wise Man and the Foolish Man.
• Looking at yourself in the mirror. You little narcissist, you! Tummy time becomes much more bearable when you get to see yourself in the little hand mirror. 
• Bouncing. You love kicking your legs, and you love kicking off of things even more. Helping you bounce is a surefire way to get you to stop crying. 

Happy early Christmas!
Daddy got you a jumper so that you could hopefully burn off some of that excess energy.

Dislikes:

• Putting down drowsy but awake. We've been working on sleep training the last couple of weeks and you are seriously pissed off every time your head touches the bassinet. It doesn't matter how close you were to nodding off, there is no such thing as shush-patting you to sleep. 
• Your swing. You slept in it for a month or so, then started associating it with that awful time of day when Mommy and Daddy left you alone in the dark, so now even though we've transitioned you to sleeping in the bassinet, you still arch your back and cry when we put you in the swing for "amusement."

Other Notes:

• You now laugh regularly. Not a lot, but at least a few times a day, just enough that it makes us do ridiculous things in hopes of getting a laugh. Congratulations, you have learned how effective behavioral conditioning is on an intermittent reinforcement schedule. 

• People regularly comment on how mature and alert you are for only being three months old. As you continue to nap poorly during the day, the latter adjective becomes more and more likely to evoke hysterical laughter from your parents. If only you would be a little less alert!
• You discovered your hands a few weeks ago and have been enjoying their unique flavor ever since. It was seriously difficult trying to get pictures of you this month without your fists jammed into your mouth. This is only a small selection:

• We took you to 婆婆 and 公公's house for the first time for Thanksgiving, where you finally met your last two uncles, Fenxi and Gummy. Nobody was particularly impressed or interested. 

• At least your big brother Walnut has gotten more used to you! He no longer leaves the room when you start crying (sometimes he'll even come whine at me when you start crying in another room, as if to say "Excuse me, but did you notice he's crying again? Aren't you going to do something about it?"), and he'll even come hang out when you're in my lap. 

• You rolled over from tummy to back for the first time this morning! Unfortunately, we have been unable to get you to do it again. You're probably regretting rolling over in the first place, as it means that you keep getting extra tummy time as we try for a repeat. 
• Since it's your first Christmas, Mommy tried so hard to get some good pictures for a Christmas card. Looking up ideas on Pinterest + no actual understanding of how to use the manual settings on the DSLR = ridiculous pictures of you looking like a creepy, otherworldly baby. 

I SEE YOU WHEN YOU'RE SLEEPING. I KNOW WHEN YOU'RE AWAKE. 

Okay, let's not finish on that note. Here's one showing you having entirely too much fun being naked and surrounded with shiny lights:

Joyful joyful!

Dad's Thoughts, Vol. 2

Al Capone once said, "You can go a long way with a smile. You can go a lot farther with a smile and a gun."  

Eleven weeks in the books with Zachary and this baby guy really has come a long way. In the context of this quote, the smile has made a world of difference. I am experiencing my son in new ways every day and the simple fact that he can at least produce a smile makes me feel more connected to him and Cindy. Going back to the quote, Zach's "gun" will be each successive milestone.

Some highlights since I last wrote, besides the smile:

• Eating at some of our favorite food places. We didn't think that we'd be able to take you to some of our favorite eateries so early in your life. I thought it'd be at least 5-6 months before we could take you anywhere. Then we decided to bust out the Ergobaby for me to carry you to church at 7 weeks since you were already 12 pounds (you big eater). 

We went to 85C Bakery the day after Thanksgiving and you were so good!

• Having you practice standing and jumping. You have way too much energy. I can hold you under your armpits and you can bend your knees and bounce up and down on your own. Sometimes, I'll help you get some air after bending your knees. 

Helping you stand so that we can compare you to your friend Caden.

• Seeing you grow like a beast. Statistically you somehow manage to be above the 95th percentile for head circumference and height. And everyday you get heavier than my bowling ball. 

Multitasking: feeding you and scratching your big brother at the same time.

• Seeing you release gas. It's more rewarding to burp you because I know that it relieves a nuisance in your esophagus and somehow it gets louder every week. Your burps are louder than your Auntie Ashley's. 
• Sock patrol. Someone is always on duty when we go out to make sure you don't lose a sock. You love kicking which means you also love to loosen those socks from your feet. Lost sock count: 0 so far...

These footed sleepers are really supposed to be pajamas, but sometimes we take you out in them during the day because that way, there's no chance of you losing a sock.