Linus at One Month

I hope you like pictures of babies, because you’re about to see an awful lot of them. If you thought Yen took a lot of photos before, you wouldn’t believe how often the shutter clicks now. But can you blame him with such a beautiful model always at the ready?

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Yesterday marked Linus’s one month “birthday.” Which is to say, Yen and I managed to keep him alive and thriving for a whole month. That isn’t really a surprise, though. He’s such a good baby that he practically tells us what to do to take care of him.

Linus’s hobbies primarily include eating and sleeping. And sleeping, and sleeping some more. Then napping, followed by snoozing. He’s definitely a little sleep lord. Here he is napping on our bed. He looks awfully pleased with himself.

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Occasionally he gets himself into some odd positions when we sleeps. Or rather, we put him in some rather odd positions, and he chooses to stay there.

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I can’t remember who bought this little monkey outfit for him. If you’re reading this, please raise your hand so I can properly thank you. We simply love it and are very sad that he’s about to outgrow it. In fact, about a third of the “newborn”-sized clothes are about to go into the closet. Today he is 9lbs 4oz. The claim is that he he’s only gained a half inch in length, but I don’t buy it. He was probably scrunched up when the nurse measured.

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One of the best developments this week has been real smiles. He can’t always control them, and sometimes we see him struggling to make it happen. But they’re there, and they’re intentional. And so terribly sweet. Nothing makes your day like earning one of these.

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We are diligently putting him down for tummy time a couple of times each day. Some days (like today) he really doesn’t seem to mind it. Some days it lasts about thirty seconds before he announces that it’s been fun, but he needs a flip. His neck has been quite strong since birth, but he’s really working the baby push-ups now. I can’t wait until he rolls over.

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We’re still going on regular outings. Yen has declared that we must leave the house once a day, even if it’s just to walk around the neighborhood. Pictured below was a day when we actually made it to the coast and walked around a bit on the rocks. Linus won’t remember it, of course. He was asleep the whole time. And don’t worry: every time we’re out, Yen is very careful to make sure his skin is protected from the sun. He wears his little hat, but Yen also keeps him in the shade. We are all over caring for his skin.

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Later that same day, we stopped off at Long Hill. This part of the trip was a little less successful. About five minutes in, he woke up and was very, very hungry. I sat on a bench under a Japanese Umbrella Tree for a while and fed him, but eventually the mosquitoes got to be too much, and I called Yen and Mom back, and insisted they bring me to the car. We sat there quite happily while they finished wandering around. Next time we’ll wake him up for a change and a feeding between outings, I think. This is all taking some learning.

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Are you missing the non-Linus photos on this blog? Here are a few to keep you happy.

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In case you’re curious, by the way, we had him tested and it turns out he doesn’t have von Willebrands, as I do. He’s a healthy little guy in every possible way.

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Now that swimming pool season is coming to an end, we’re starting to spend more time sitting on our patio, enjoying the evening air.

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I mentioned earlier that I’m looking forward to when he can roll over. Once that happens, we won’t need to wrap him up for sleep (maybe – my understanding is some little guys like it for quite a while). But for now, here’s the little burrito all ready for bed. Or is he a spring roll? That would explain why Yen is so good at swaddling.

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While I’m still out on maternity leave, we get to relax and sleep in as much as Linus allows. Usually he and I get up around 7:30 and have a little breakfast together downstairs. Once we’re both finished, we go back upstairs and wake Yen together.

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Linus’s umbilical cord stub finally came off late last week, which meant he finally got to have a real bath! He wasn’t terribly impressed. He liked the warm water pouring over him, but quickly got cold and wasn’t pleased. Yen tried to keep him warm with a little skin-on-skin time.

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One last outing before Grandma Terri had to head home – this time to Old North Bridge.

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And here’s the two of them having a little quality time together before she heads home.

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Another awesome monkey outfit, this one from Tan’s dad. How cute is this monkey butt?!

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Linus has become very vocal in the last week. He makes the cutest little cooing sounds, mostly at Yen and at the toys that hang above his play mat. Here was a rare time when he “talked” to me. My job is to be the milk truck, I think. Milk trucks don’t talk.

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Here you go: a sleep montage.

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This is one of my favorites. Who sleeps like that?!

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Here he’s getting ready for his centerfold shoot, I think. Playbaby.

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More tummy time! See? He likes it!

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Are you wondering, “Does she wear the same shirt every day?” Pretty much. I have a couple that I rotate between, but this one happens to be easiest for lifting up to nurse. I’ll buy a bunch of real nursing shirts before I go back to work. But for now, Baby doesn’t care what I’m wearing.

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And speaking of nursing, I finally tried pumping a little, and Yen was able to try out the bottle. I was pretty dismayed by how quickly he ate it given how long it took me to pump it. I will need to get a pretty big stock ready when I return to work.

Also, I don’t remember why Yen isn’t wearing a shirt here. I probably made him take it off so I could look at his chest. You know me.

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