Calvin has a friend

It's a yellow giraffe. Bryan calls him Mortimer, I've nicknamed him Morty. Calvin smiles at him and holds on to him and sucks on his face and ears as a pacifier. It's very cute.

Morty sleeps with Calvin, and coo's at him before and after naps.

Morty went with Calvin to the doctor's office a month ago when he got his first round of vaccinations. Here Calvin is using Morty as a pacifier.
While waiting in the doctor's office lobby, Calvin heard another baby cry (for the first time ever) and he started to cry too. It was so cute. He had no reason to cry other than because the other baby was. Morty was strong for Calvin and didn't cry at all.
When Calvin and Morty wake up from a nap, they often get to watch their mobile. Calvin LOVES his mobile.


And the morning after Calvin's first full night of sleep, he and Morty decided to compose a little music on his piano.

Woo Hoo!

He slept the whole night last night, from about 8:30pm to 6am!!! He may not sleep through the night again for a while, but at least now we know he can! Amazing. :)

Mother's Day and other recent events

For my first Mother's Day, Calvin and Bryan took me out to lunch at a brewery down the road. It was awesome! We haven't ventured out much since Calvin was born, other than for walks around the neighborhood and for occasional trips to the doctor. This was only the second time I'd been out to eat in the last 3 months, so it was a real treat. :)

After lunch, Deuce and Pedro joined me at the dog park for some ball chasing, swimming, and a little hiking (it's a big dog park!)


Starting this past week, Bryan and I switched roles - I returned to work and Bryan started his 10 days of paternity leave. We are both very happy about this change. I was getting a little bit of cabin fever and really missed seeing people, I even looked forward to actually doing work! I am sad to leave Calvin every day, and I really feel like I'm missing out, but knowing he is at home with Bryan really makes it a lot easier. And they have so much fun together!
Other exciting news: Calvin sleeps! He now only wakes up once in the night to eat, typically around 1am or 2am. He likes to get up early, though: 6am. But after a meal and playtime, he takes a 2-3 hour nap with no problem. Good kid.
It is still very much spring here in Colorado. It has snowed several times in the last few weeks even though we're all pretty much ready for it to stop snowing and get on with summer. Here are some pics from the inch or two we got last Wednesday (May 12th) .
With the cold weather, Calvin got the opportunity to wear his super-cool rocket sweatshirt. This may have been the only time he will wear it - he's growing so fast that he's growing out of clothes meant for his age (he's 3 months old today and already some of his 3-6 month clothes are too small). It's crazy how fast babies grow!

Stats, Nicknames, Playtime Video, and Other Updates

Guess what Calvin's doing?
Calvin's 2-month doc appointment (at 10 weeks because we're a little behind) was by far his least favorite doctor's appointment so far. He got several vaccinations, most of which were via gigantic needle in the leg. Not fun. He also got his latest round of weight and length measurements: 13 lbs 4 oz, 23 3/4 inches. This puts him at 75th % in length and head diameter and 90th % in weight for his age.

Which brings me to my next topic. Calvin has many nicknames around here:
Giant Monster Baby
Squirty-face (which is probably a derivative of Squirt, and which is very appropriate given that he spits up a lot)
Kiddo-flake (not sure what that means, but he gets called that a lot)
Little Man (when he's being very serious, like while burping)
Buddy

For Calvin's 2nd month birthday we got him a prescription for previcid to reduce his reflux. This is just what he wanted - now we don't have to spend so much time keeping him upright in our arms or in a swing or calming him while he screams in pain and instead we have a lot more time for play! Below is a video of him playing. He's still working on his coordination, hasn't quite worked out how to move his arms and legs to exactly where he wants them to go. But he has mastered random flailing and kicking that hits strategically-placed toys - great fun!


He also gets a lot more time on his belly - good for development, but less exciting for videos. He doesn't have nearly as much fun on his tummy and is constantly rolling himself back onto his back unless we prop him on his belly with a mini-boppy pillow. But he's getting good at holding himself up and occassionally does a few push-ups while he's on his tummy.


An update on his bellybutton hernia (which you can see poking up under his onesie in the first video) - doesn't seem to be getting bigger, but also not necessarily getting smaller. But it's only been a few weeks and it could take months to heal. Bryan and I see some improvement, the doctor wasn't convinced, so if there is improvement it's minor.

And sleep, our current obsession, is getting better. Every once in a while he'll have a 6-hour stretch between meals. Unfortunately that tends to start at about 7:30pm, so we don't get the full benefit of longer-duration sleep. More typically he'll do a couple of 4 or 5 hour cycles in the night, which is still improvement and very encouraging! Books we've been using to help us figure all this sleep stuff out, both of which came highly recommended by friends: The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems (or something like that) and Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. We haven't been following them exactly, but have gotten a lot of good advice from them and feel they have helped a lot.

That's all the news for now.