3 Months Old

Last Wednesday (July 11) Gus turned three months old. While I'm training myself to focus more on his due date (as I said last time), it's also hard not to consider the changes that occur at three months. I remember from the birthing class Jamie and I took before Wyatt was born that three months is supposed to mark some sort of awakening in infants, where they truly become aware of their surroundings. And with Wyatt, I distinctly remember that happening. It was like a switch had flipped.

Sure enough, on Tuesday night I looked at Gus and he looked at me, and there just seemed to be this glimmer that wasn't there before. And he reached out and touched my beard a number of times (a memorable milestone with Wyatt).

Needless to say, we're all making good progress. Gus is nursing almost exclusively now and continuing to gain weight just fine (he's up to 7.5 pounds at last weigh-in). I still give him a bottle first thing in the morning, so Jamie can sleep in a little and so he can get vitamin drops. We're all generally getting about as much sleep as can be expected -- Jamie's up with him once overnight and then I get up at around 5:30 to feed him and get ready for work. The hardest thing is going to bed at a decent hour, though I tend to nod off on the couch at around 10:00 no matter what.

I think Wyatt's getting used to Gus being here and the idea that he isn't leaving. But the baby isn't exactly a source of much entertainment for him, nor a good playmate. But he's relatively happy doing his own thing when Jamie has to tend to Gus.

Very thankfully, my parents were here for the past two weeks, which gave Jamie and Gus enough time to work out breastfeeding. She and "the boys" had their first solo days last Thursday and Friday and they went smoothly. But I'm definitely going to have to make more of an effort to leave work on time -- I know how much I eagerly awaited Jamie's return from work when I was home with Wyatt. And that was with just one, her usually arriving by 4:15.

I'll keep you posted, but I'd say we're officially settled in.

Independence Day

Today is Gus' official due date.

That's really important for us, because up until now, it just didn't feel like he was supposed to be here. There was certainly no denying his presence, but it was hard not to look at him and think that he wouldn't "normally" be going through everything he was experiencing -- from eating to seeing (as much as he has) to breathing.

But now it feels like he's had a head start on all of those things, though it was just practice. Starting today, everything counts. "They" say that, developmentally, you should go by preemies' due dates. Meaning that even though he's almost three months old, he's still got that new baby smell. And we're not going to expect him to roll over any time soon. Though if you pitted him against any July 4th newborns, I guarantee he'd kick their butts on the Apgar. Bring it on, estimated 365,000 babies born today!