Anyway, let’s be honest, most of Sprocket’s awake time is spent eating. Dude likes his food. Or milk or whatever it is that comes out of boobs. Some of it is also spent crying. The awake time I like best though is the quiet alert. His eyes go all wide open and he’s full of curiosity and smiles and paying attention to everything around him. Oh, and batting a ball that hangs from his overpriced activity mat. Or staring at the octopus.

He also likes looking in the mirror. Vain little boy.

Today, I decided we would do something that entertained me!

Back when he was a much easier to care for inside the tummy baby, Mike’s mom gave us a bag of clothes she’d saved from when Mike and his brother Tim were babies, and I decided we were going to try on the ones that fit.

First up, girly romper! It’s white, with gathers and pearly buttons! Totally manly! (Also, note the plush blanket with lamb applique – also used by Mike as a baby.)

What’s that on the bib? Why, an embroidered worm of course!

And the back – more gathers!

Mike had super long eyelashes as a baby too – pretty sure everyone thought he was a little girl in this romper, but it’s still pretty cute. Too cold for February wear though. Also, Mike was a pudgier, shorter baby than Derek, so I’m sure it fit him a lot better.

Next up, a terrycloth onesie. I actually think this onesie is super adorable and retro, and I will be pairing it with jeans sometime in the near future. Oh, and the blanket he’s lying on is the reverse side of the blue one.

Derek, however, was not so stoked on it. OH WELL! IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT, LEARN TO DRESS YOURSELF!

Sadly, these were the only pieces that fit him right now, but there are some super sweet 70s pieces in there when he’s a little bigger. Not much else going on around here – this is how I entertain myself, folks!

While we were in the UK, Mike worked on the last Harry Potter, which was exciting because it was sort of a dream of his. AND even better, we just found out today that Harry Potter 7 Part 2 is up for an Oscar for visual effects!

Here is the dragon that Mike spent most of his time on. For the sake of full disclosure, something like this is a huge team effort – Mike mostly worked on the chains and the dragon’s muscles and wings.

SO PROUD OF MY GUY!!

Blech to this week. I hate this week. What a horrid week it was. I spent my 30th birthday nursing a cold. How pathetic is that? Mike has also been fighting a cold, and now our sweet little baby is now getting snuffly (don’t worry, grandmas – I’m monitoring his temperature and symptoms and will have him into a doctor ASAP if he spikes a fever or has troubles breathing). Also, it was super cold here this week and we actually got snow and it was miserable outside and all around terrible. Blech to this week. I am scheduling a make-up birthday for sometime in June.

On the plus side, 4 o’clock baby seems to be going away, which is amazing as it is supposed to peak at 6 weeks and he just turned 6 weeks old on Friday. I have some theories on why this is:

1. I started swaddling him for naps like we do for bed and being pretty vigilant about making sure he goes down for a couple of proper naps per day. Before, I was just letting him crash when he crashed (usually in my arms after nursing) and putting him in his bassinet. He’d generally wake up within 40 minutes – not enough sleep for a little boy!

2. I’ve cut caffeine out of my diet. I’m not convinced this has anything to do with it, but it was an easy one for me to cut, so I decided to give it a try. If 4 O’Clock Baby is still mostly gone in another week or so, I might slowly start reintroducing it and see what happens.

3. We’ve started supplementing his evening feed with formula. Even though I’m on drugs to help make more milk, and I’m nursing on demand, and even pumping for a few minutes after each feed to try to stimulate more milk production (when I’m able), I still don’t seem to be able to keep his belly full at night. So we’ve started giving him 2-3 ounces after his last feed before bed, and he settles right down to sleep after and sleeps for 4-5 hours (instead of 2-3) and everyone is happier and better rested. I’ve cried my tears on this one – I really, really wanted him to be an exclusively breastfed baby – but the difference with just a few ounces of formula at night is so huge that it would be stupid of me to refuse to give it to him just for the sake of saying he’s exclusively breastfed. I figure even getting 90% breast milk in his belly is better than 0%, and even if he was all formula fed, getting quality formula from a loving parent as needed is hardly the worst thing to ever happen to a baby. I really have made a solid effort on the breastfeeding front, so I am just going to continue to feed him boob milk all day and night with the supplements for the evening feeds and let it go. I can only do what I am physically capable of doing. Anyway, everyone is getting more sleep (including baby D), and I think that might be helping his mood.

4. This stupid cold meant I was spending more time in bed and on the couch, which means little Derek got a lot of holding and cuddling this week. That makes it sound like he spent the other weeks lying naked on the kitchen floor with only a discarded beer can for company and affection, which is totally not true. Before cold, he was spending probably 75% of his awake hours being cuddled, fed, played with, etc. (and only 25% shivering on the floor with Senor Kokanee Can). With stupid awful head cold, it’s now more like 95%. I probably spent 3ish hours of each day laying in bed cuddling/nursing baby D and reading or playing on my iPad. My house looks terrible, but I did read a lot while nursing, and my Words With Friends scores have never been better. Priorities people.

5. The Bath! I really, really, really wanted to sit in a warm bath and let the moisture help with my congestion earlier this week, but the baby was awake, and I couldn’t just leave him, so I brought him into the tub with me. He LOVED it. Now whenever he gets a bit cranky, we get in the tub together, and he’s instantly happier. Highly recommend trying it if you have a colicky baby.

6. You know how they have adjusted ages for premature babies when they’re looking at milestones and whatnot? Derek was technically a week late, but more like 11 days late based on an early scan we had, and I have a theory that he’s actually a bit ahead on some stuff because of it. I don’t mean for that to sound as douchey and “My kid is so amazing and way ahead of lesser brats” as it does, but he does seem to be hitting his growth spurts and other developmental stuff a week or so earlier than books and whatnot suggest, so I think his 4 O’Clock Babyness may have peaked at 5 weeks instead of 6. At least, I am telling myself this.

This was a very rambly post and probably boring for the non-parents (actually, boring for the parents too, who am I kidding). Hopefully colds will be done and we can do some fun stuff again next week!

Derek is helping me celebrate early by being cute and non-screamy.

In the late afternoons after his early afternoon nap (he sleeps a lot, people), I strap on the baby wrap and pop him in and walk. Sometimes I walk around the house cleaning and folding laundry and doing other chores. Other times I walk to the grocery store and grab veggies for dinner or walk to Tim Hortons and grab a tea. Whenever we’re out and people ask about him, they inevitably comment on what a sweet, quite baby he is. I nod cheerily and say, “oh yes, he’s a pretty content little guy” or something like that.

Internet, I am lying to all of those nice people. I mean, he usually is a super chill little guy, but he turns into a completely different baby at 4pm. Mike and I call this baby “4 O’Clock Baby”.

Four O’Clock Baby is kind of a dick. I mean, you can call it colic, or the witching hour, or the period of purple crying, but for a little while every day, he is just not a happy camper. He can have a full belly and a clean bum, but still cry his little heart out, and the only reliable way I’ve found to keep him calm and happy in the late afternoons is to walk around with him in the wrap

We’re coping though. He spends a while in the wrap, and then conks out. If I try to put him in his bed, he wakes up and turns back into 4 o’clock baby. If I leave him in the wrap, he wakes up an hour or two later and is all smiles and sunshine again. Everything I’ve read seems to indicate that he’ll grow out of this by the 3-4 month range, which is fine. We’re managing – he’s not nearly as fussy as some babies I’ve read about in my googling, but he does make getting dinner ready a challenge.

Basically, I need ideas of things that I can do most of the prep work to make beforehand, are relatively healthy, and that I can cook while holding baby D either in my arms or the wrap. The last one rules out basically anything on the stove – I’m way to scared that I’ll accidentally spill hot water on him or that he’ll get splattered with hot oil from a stir fry or something. Yeah, yeah, I know I could put him down and cook dinner, but he’s mostly happy in the wrap, and I’d rather have shitty dinner and a happy baby, so the letting him cry business isn’t gonna happen.

Those criteria leave me with:

• lasagna
• other baked pastas
• salad with chicken breast
• Shepherd’s Pie
• beef dip
• crockpot chili
• crockpot stew
• crockpot pulled pork
• crockpot roast
• baked salmon with microwave rice and veggies

I’m getting a little tired of these though, internet – anyone have any new and exciting dinner ideas for us for the next few months? We’re especially interested in healthy stuff!

I don’t know if I told you about One-Eyed Ted, Internet, but now is as good a time as any. Almost 60 years ago, when my uncle was born, my grandfather bought him a teddy bear. My uncle has literally had this teddy bear his entire life – it’s moved houses and countries with him for decades and decades. So you can imagine how touched I was when Uncle Andy passed on One-Eyed Ted to baby Derek. It’s a very sweet gift, and I’ve decided to use it as a marker for Derek’s growth.

Here they are the day after we got home from the hospital

And here they are today on Derek’s one month birthday

Derek mostly looks the same. He’s a bit bigger now (up to 4.46 kg at his doctor visit today!!), but most of the changes I’ve noticed in him this month have been developmental.

He smiles socially:

He also makes other silly faces:

He can roll over and is also getting a very strong neck, which he needs to be able to look at his one true love, Annoying Early 90s Style Cell Phone Toy. It’s loud and has flashing lights and a mirror, and he LOVES it. He’s not reaching for toys yet, but I imagine very soon his curiousity will get the best of him and he’ll have to investigate Annoying Early 90s Style Cell Phone Toy in greater, louder detail. God help my sanity then..

Happy One Month Birthday, Baby Derek!

Hurray for supportive husbands/fathers!

He looks terrified. Don’t worry, little guy. Airline food isn’t THAT bad…

Anyway, before we put them away, we spent a few minutes disinfecting the toys and boardbooks, and replacing batteries in the toys. (Have you ever listened to “The Farmer In the Dell on a toy whose batteries are close to dead? It’s strangely satanic sounding). Since we were wiping down every page in the boardbooks, we gave them a read as we went. (Yeah, that’s right, Mike and I read 40 books in one night. We’re amazing literary scholars or something.)

Halfway through, Mike came across this gem:

You’re awfully forward, Nubby Pup. Shouldn’t you buy me a drink and pretend to care about the things I like for 3 or 4 dates first, Nubby Pup? I’m not really comfortable with the speed you’re taking our relationship, plus I’m a married woman.

If Derek gets a girl teen pregnant in 15 years, I’m totally blaming this book.