Twelve Months!!

Eleven Months

-- Robert is still wearing 12 month clothes. Everyone says he looks as if he's thinned out.

-- He has 8 teeth now and doesn't drool at all anymore! He's also cut way back on the biting. He still does it occasionally, but it's nothing like it was. He is biting other things a lot though. Toys, shoes, books, furniture..... nothing is safe.

-- He was doing well with eating and sleeping, but then got sick and Daddy was gone for two weeks, so he's right back where we started. To say I'm frustrated with his sleeping and eating would be an understatement. He was doing so well on the sleep front. I would put him down drowsy and he'd curl right up and go to sleep. There was very little crying and he was sleeping through 'til morning or only waking once most nights. Now we're back to waking at least 2 or 3 times and screaming bloody murder, scrambling to stand up when I lay him down.

-- I don't think he ate more than a few bites of solid food every day while Chris was gone to Rome. He also wasn't nursing very well. He's doing a little better now, but still not great. He really wants nothing to do with the highchair. He gets very angry when he's confined and as soon as I put him in it he stands up.

-- Robert loves to be outside. He knows the word now and looks at the door when we say it. He throws a fit when we let the dogs outside and he doesn't get to go. If I happen to be holding him and open an exterior door, I had better be ready to go outside and play for a long time or else I'll have an angry baby on my hands.

-- He's started playing shy. If someone's talking to him while I'm holding him, he lays his head on my shoulder and peeks out at them. It's sooo cute.

-- He loves to play peek-a-boo. For a while he would take my shirt while nursing and cover his face with it. When I asked "Where's Robert?", he'd pull it down and get a huge grin on his face and do it over and over. That will be one of my favorite nursing memories for sure.

-- Robert will finally sit still for a short book. If you read it fast. He likes Brown Bear, Brown Bear and one called Bunny and Me that Grandma and Grandpa gave Clara when she was a baby. It was one of Clara's favorites too. He points at things on the pages and tries to kiss the bunny.

-- I think he's saying quite a few words that I'm not recognizing. I do think I've heard dog (dah), book (buh), this (dis) and he finally says mama every once in a while. His most favorite word though is no. I hear "nah nah nah" constantly. I think he's been saying pumpkin also. He says it almost every time we walk past the pumpkins on the porch.

-- Still no interest in walking. I'm wondering if he'll even be walking by his birthday. He seems so frustrated right now and I really think learning to walk will relieve some of that frustration, but he's just not having it.

-- I think Robert is very independent and that's where a lot of his frustration lies right now. His inability to tell me what he wants to do or where he wants to go or what he wants to eat is difficult for him so I just keep hoping he'll do better as he gets a little older. I guess I'm partly to blame for having absolutely no clue what he wants a good deal of the time. Good thing he's cute.

Ten Months

-- Robert is around 20 pounds now and was 29.5" at his well visit a couple of weeks ago. He's wearing 12 month clothes and 4.5 shoes.

--He's up to 7 teeth now and the drooling has slowed significantly this month! Thank goodness because he's decided that bibs are for nerds and he usually yanks them right off.

-- He can stand for a few seconds at a time and balances very well when he does. As soon as he realizes he's not holding onto something though, he plops right down. He's not at all interested in walking. When we try to help him he just lifts his legs in the air.

-- I think he's gotten somewhat better about biting but he's still doing it way too often for my liking.

-- His eating has been much better this month too. He's finally finishing a full jar of food at most meals. I've been offering him more and more real food but not much is actually getting in his mouth. He's more interested in smashing it and throwing it on the floor. He is still doing well on the soy formula and gets one, sometimes two bottles a day.

--I was hoping that I would be reporting about his miraculous sleep improvement on this post, but it hasn't stayed that way. He slept through until morning for four nights in a row, doing 10.5, 11.5, 9 and then 8 hours. Then he started waking again, though not as bad as before. He started getting sick and so his sleep has been out of whack since. Hopefully it will be easier to get it back on track when he's all better and not so congested.

-- This next one is going to make most people gasp, but the beginning of the month brought Robert's first time to stay with a babysitter. The funny thing is I'm not scared to leave him or anything; it's just never been convenient and I new he would be a difficult child. Becky kept him for a few hours on the 1st. Before that, I had only left him in bible class and a few times with Chris while I ran to the store. And as I suspected, he didn't do very well. He wasn't terrible, (so she says) but he wouldn't take a bottle and wouldn't nap. I figured he'd fall asleep on the way home, but he didn't. I couldn't get him down for a nap when we got home either. That stinker was awake from 6:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. when he finally went down for a nap.

-- Robert doesn't really have a favorite toy yet. He just loves to pull everything out of Clara's play kitchen and hear it crash on the floor. He also loves to pull up on and bang on Clara's easel. Other than that, he just loves to go around finding things to put in his mouth.

-- He's great at giving high fives. He loves peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake. The only thing that draws his attention on the television is The Laurie Berkner Band dvd. He's glued to the tv when it's on.

-- He is so cute at bath time. When I start running the water, he comes over to the tub and starts banging on the inside. While he's standing there, I take his clothes off. If he's wearing shorts, he actually lifts one leg at a time and steps out of them for me and when I take his shirt off, he lifts his arms in the air without me even having to ask. The boy wants to get the show on the road.

-- There weren't too many exciting things that happened this month. He had bronchitis at the end of August and started getting sick right at ten months. He started going to the nursery while I'm at ladies bible class and that's about it.

Nine Months

-- Robert hasn't seen too many changes in the last month. He's mostly in 12 month clothes but I'm still squeezing him into a couple of my favorite 9 month outfits.

-- At 9 months he has 5 teeth and tooth number 6 should be here any day now.

-- It would seem Robert has a sensitivity to milk. He started getting a mid-morning bottle a couple of weeks ago and he started throwing up and having terrible diapers around the same time. I wasn't sure if it was a food at first since he's still being introduced to new things. I decided to try a soy based formula instead and he's doing much better. It took him a few days to get used to the taste but he's taking the soy formula pretty well now.

-- He still doesn't like to eat very much. Several days this week he has refused to eat at every meal. Most days he eats well at least once. And by well, I mean about 4 ounces. The rest of the time I get maybe three or four bites in him. I think part of the problem is that he hates to be confined in his highchair. He does enjoy self feeding though. The only problem is very little actually makes it in his mouth. I've noticed he also seems to eat better when Clara is at school and not around to distract him.

-- His favorite things are taking a bath, chasing the vacuum and the dishwasher. He hears the dishes clang and comes crawling over, fast as lightening. I hurry and get as much out as I can and then slam it shut seconds before he gets to it. He doesn't like that one bit.

-- I think he's saying several words and I'm just not catching them yet. I'm pretty sure I've heard "duh" (duck), "deda" (Clara), and "hi". Notice what's missing from that list? Yep, no mama yet. I better make it before Zoe and Max.

-- This boy is rough. He scratches, pulls hair and bites constantly. I have no idea how to curb this. I'm constantly trying to teach him to be gentle and he gets a little thump on the head when he bites, but that's not working. He's enjoying rough-housing with Clara now too.

-- I finally moved him up to the bigger carseat. He's hating being in the car right now. I don't blame him with this heat. We have to fight to get him buckled every time.

--Still no change in sleeping habits. Sometimes he gets a good 1 hour nap, sometimes 20 minutes. I'm usually up 2-3 times during the night but it typically doesn't take too long to get him back down.

-- This month's highlights included a visit from Bia and Myrt Myrt, a first taste of ice cream and cheesecake, first visits to storytime at the library and Clara starting preschool.

Eight Months

-- Robert is wearing some 9 month clothes still and can wear some 12 month stuff. He's in a size 4 shoe.

-- He still has his little curl on the side of his head and his hair is slowly starting to get a little longer. He has random strands that are a couple of inches longer than the rest in several spots.

-- Robert just got two more teeth this past week. They aren't the front teeth though. They're the ones on either side of the front top teeth. That puts his tooth count at 4.

-- He is pulling up on everything and has just started hanging on with one hand. He started pulling up in his crib a few days after he started crawling. Oh, and he started crawling the day after he turned 7 months. He prefers to crawl on one knee and one foot and he's fast now.

-- He clapped for the first time on July 2nd over at Glenn and Becky's house.

-- His favorite song is "Drive my car" by The Laurie Berkner Band. I discovered this one night driving home from VBS when he was crying. It came on and he immediately stopped. I figured it was just coincidence, but when it was over the crying ensued. Put it back on and he stopped. I've listened to this song a few times this past month when I've gotten desperate.

-- He is eating solids much better now. I've given him small chunks of banana, squash, beans and kolache bread and he also eats cheerios and puffs. The rest is mostly pureed still. Chris gave him a mushroom and he loved it. Blech! He's also had watermelon and the drinkable baby yogurt and loves them both. He takes a bottle with yogurt, breastmilk or formula really well now. He doesn't quite have his pincher grasp down yet so I have to help him get things in his mouth. I think he'll love eating so much more when he can get the food in himself.

-- First word: dada. I nurse the child at my breast, change nearly every diaper and wake with him every single night for 8 months and this is the thanks I get. I'm kidding; it was pretty sweet when Daddy came over to him while getting ready for work one day this week. He was smiling up at him and I told him to say dada and he did. Now he says it all day. It's about the only sound he makes. I don't foresee "mama" happening anytime soon.

-- We're working on our sleep. I've decided that right now my goal is to not bring him to bed during the night and we've had three successful nights in a row! Woohoo! I'm exhausted, but I think he's improving. I was up 2 times the first 2 nights and 3 times last night, but the amount of time I'm up with him is getting shorter. The first night I was up for 2 hours trying to get him back down that second time. Last night it was 20 minutes the first time, less than 10 the second and 45 minutes the third time. I'm paying more attention now that I'm not nursing him in bed and he is doing a full feeding each time so I do think he's still hungry. I may try a bottle of formula during the night to see if he'll go longer. I've turned off the baby monitor so I can't hear him until it's a full cry and I've also decided not to let him cry it out. (The reason for wanting him out of the bed is simply so I can get up before him and get ready. Clara starts preschool a couple of days a week next month so I need a little time in the mornings before the kids wake.)

-- He's still in his infant car seat mainly because he falls asleep frequently and I can just pull him out and bring him inside. Like right now for example; he's sleeping in the entryway. I'm not looking forward to when he has to move up to the bigger car seat.

-- I'm not sure what to think about his napping. I almost think he doesn't need a morning nap most days (at least not a long one). He will get fussy but he never sleeps more than 15-30 minutes and wakes happy and seems to be rested. It's impossible to get him down in his crib for that nap. It's either the car or my arms. He then goes down pretty easily in his crib for an afternoon nap. His afternoon naps are usually only 1-1.5 hours at the most. He has napped a little longer these last few days since we're on "boot the baby out of bed bootcamp."

-- Robert made it through bible class without crying last week! I was worried it was never going to happen but he finally did it. He prefers the nursery worker with long blonde hair like his mama's. This past week I was wearing a ponytail and they all scrambled to find a ponytail holder for her when he started fussing. Too funny. Hey, ya do what ya gotta do sometimes.

-- Highlights of the month include his first parade, saw (and loved) his first fireworks, went to two VBS's, his third roadtrip and got to meet his cousin Cooper.

Seven Months

-- Robert is soooo close to crawling. He's very frustrated right now and wants to crawl very badly. He gets on his hands and knees and can scoot backwards. As of Saturday, he can go from lying on his tummy to sitting.

-- He started waving hi right around 6 months. He uses his whole arm.

-- He also loves to give kisses. He stays very still and waits for you to kiss him and then he leans in for a kiss with his mouth opened. Needless to say, they're some of the slobberiest (albeit sweetest) kisses you'll find anywhere.

-- His curl is getting long. It is out of control in this humidity, but boy is it cute! It's the first thing most people notice. Daddy mentioned cutting it off last week but don't worry, I set him straight.

-- Still not sure what color his eyes are going to be. They look brown, but when he's in bright light you can tell that they're brown in the middle and blue on the outside.

-- The boy loves the water. I wish they made a mobile bathtub so I could just drag him along in water all day. We'd both be much happier.

-- He's loving the outdoors. He didn't much like taking walks until this week. Now we make it all the way around the neighborhood instead of only half a block.

-- He's outgrown most of his baby gear :( I can't put him in the bouncy seat or swing anymore and I've moved him out of the baby tub. I'm still using his infant car seat though because he falls asleep in it pretty frequently.

-- Speaking of sleep, he's still a big stinker. The only good naps he gets are ones where he falls asleep in his car seat. He'll sleep for an hour or two. If I put him down in his crib, he may sleep for 15 minutes tops and then he's wide awake. It is so frustrating. I spend the better part of my day trying to get the little booger down for naps.

-- Night time is better, but not great. He's getting 5-6 hours some nights before waking, but it's hit or miss. He did 8 hours one night last week. I still need to work on getting him back in his crib instead of bringing him to bed, but I'm just exhausted. He's going down around 8-8:30 and wakes between 6-6:30.

-- The boy doesn't like Sunday school. Actually, that's putting it mildly. He pretty much loathes being in class. He did great the first week and since then he screams the entire time. I know part of it is teething but he's also having some separation anxiety. Mama doesn't know how to deal with this; Clara never went through it. I don't particularly care if he cries the whole time. It's not going to kill him. I just hate that the nursery workers have to deal with him and I don't want him upsetting the other kids.

-- He's a Mama's boy for sure. He doesn't like for me to get too far away. If I go towards him and pass him by, he comes un-glued. He will play by himself and with Clara for quite a while, but when he's done he is done and I had better pick him up.

-- He's not thrilled about eating solids. He tolerates it sometimes, but most of the time I get a few bites in him before he completely loses it. He will eat a few bites of green beans, peas and avocado, but then he gags and throws up his whole meal every single time. He also hates oatmeal. He likes sweet potatoes, carrots, applesauce, bananas, peaches and squash ok. By that I mean he doesn't throw up. He usually eats 2 ounces (or less) and occasionally 3 if he's really hungry. He's had Gerber puffs and cheerios and doesn't just love them either. He just fusses the whole time he's in his high chair.

-- I love the little guy, but boy is he a lot of work!

Six Months

-- Robert is wearing 6-9 month clothes and size 3 shoes, but is starting to outgrow some of his things.

-- He is sitting very well now for long periods of time and rarely falls over anymore. He's not crawling yet and I can't tell if he's close or not. He pivots around, but doesn't get up on his knees very well.

-- He is eating rice cereal and seems to like it alright. I moved right on past the other grains and gave him avocado. He wasn't very fond of it.

-- Since starting solids, he's not nursing quite as much during the day. He still has not had formula and really won't take a bottle. I can't tell if he's just playing or if he really doesn't know how to suck from a bottle nipple.

-- His sleeping is terrible! It's been really bad lately. I think the 2-3 weeks of being sick and congested totally messed him up. That and the teething. He goes down between 7:30 and 8:00 and is typically awake by 11:30-12:30, sometimes sooner. I get him back down once and then he's awake an hour or so later. I try to get him back in his crib, but after an hour or so of that nonsense, I'm just done and bring him to bed. He then wakes at least every hour to nurse. We're about to have to get serious around here with the sleep thing. I'm just really not looking forward to it. He'd wake up at 6:00 for the day if I let him, but I can usually get him to go back to sleep until around 7:00 or so.

-- Naps are still hit or miss. Sometimes he only sleeps for 15-20 minutes in his crib and other times I get 1.5 hours out of him. I don't know what to do about the little guy's naps.

-- He is finally happy in his carseat the majority of the time. Still loves his sling and the stroller is hit or miss. He loves his swing on the swingset and falls asleep in it almost every time we put him in it. He doesn't quite have the jeep figured out; he mainly goes backwards in it. Still loves the jumperoo most of the time.

-- His favorite toy right now is the sorting blocks. He can sit and put the blocks into the bucket by himself. His favorite part is dumping them though.

-- His drooling is out of control.

-- Robert got his first tooth on Saturday and he went to his Sunday school class for the first time on Sunday. He almost made it all the way through. He got fussy and had to be picked up when the cheerios came out close to the end and he wasn't getting any.

-- This month Robert was sick with bronchitis and pink eye, had a visit from Grandma and Grandpa and went on his first real vacation. He also was dedicated at church.

-- He's getting impossible to hold. He tries to climb your torso and it's incredibly annoying. He also has a long reach and has gotten a handful of food from our plates on several occasions. He's ready for some self-feeding.

Five Months

--Robert weighs in at about 16.5 pounds this month. He's in 6-9 month clothes, size 3 shoes and size 3 diapers.

-- His eyes are looking more and more brown and he has an adorable curl on the side of his head that refuses to be tamed.

--He loves bathtime and can soak me with all of the splashing he does. He's now trying to sit up in his bathtub, so I'm afraid bathtime will be frustrating until he's sitting on his own.

-- He is still exclusively breastfed and we plan to introduce solids at 6 months. He's starting to grab at our food and drinks while we're eating.

-- He found his feet the day we left for Pecos. He's not nearly as interested in them as Clara was hers at this age, but he does enjoy them for a few minutes at a time and has been known to take a nibble while in his sling.

-- He is no longer swaddled and still has trouble staying asleep because of his startle reflex waking him up. He only sleeps a few hours at night before waking and then spends most of the rest of the night in bed with me. He wakes around 7:00 and is smiling and happy.

-- Naps are erratic, but that's my fault. It's hard to schedule 2 naps when we've got places to go and people to see. Sometimes they're in my lap, sometimes his crib, sometimes in bed with me, sometimes his carseat, and he occasionally skips a nap. I do need to be a little more consistent in this area.

-- He's better about the carseat and stays quiet about half of the time now.

-- He flew on a plane for the first time this month and had his first Easter. He also gave his first kisses. No one else would recognize them as kisses, but Mommy knows. While we were in Pecos, Bia was holding him and he leaned toward her cheek with his mouth open and planted one right on her cheek.

-- He puts anything he can reach into his mouth and still soaks multiple bibs a day. I think he's started to experience some pain due to the teething. He gets really frantic and upset sometimes while he's chewing on something and only nursing will soothe him.

-- He loves his jumperoo now. He couldn't quite get the hang of it before, but now that he has, look out. He's a jumpin' fool. He also got to swing for the first time and loves it too. It's very relaxing for him and he's even fallen asleep in it.

-- He rolls over anytime I put him on his back and he's not too interested in sitting up. He just falls right over and doesn't even try to stay up. If he's standing in our laps, we have a hard time making him bend his knees to sit.

Four Months

-- Robert's weight seems to have leveled off a bit. His four month check up is on Thursday, so I'll have measurements then.

-- He's outgrown most of his 3-6 month sleepers and won't have too much longer in anything 3-6 month that buttons at the crotch. He's wearing size 2 diapers and size 3 shoes.

-- He is still swaddled, but I think I'm going to attempt to wean him. I'm procrastinating because I know it's not going to go well. He fights being swaddled sooooo much though. Once I get him swaddled I have to pick him up quick, pinning his arms down and start nursing him or he gets his arms out in a flash. Once he's nursing, he's fine. He stops fighting immediately. Every time he wakes, he's gotten his hands out and they're in his mouth.

-- This past week he started scratching his head. He grabs at his hair and then pulls, scratching himself really hard every time. He's got scabs all over his poor little head. I'm afraid unswaddling is not going to help matters.

-- He laughs without coaxing now. If I accidentally tickle him while changing his clothes, he lets out a chuckle.

-- Robert loves his bath. About a month ago he started smiling real big and splashing like crazy. I'm using Dove soap on him because his skin is so dry. I then use Aquaphor after his bath. It's made a world of difference and his skin is finally soft. His face still gets dry because it rubs off so easily, but it's much improved. He had a few patches of eczema on his arms and they've stayed gone since I started using Aquaphor.

-- I think he's got allergies. The pollen is terrible here right now and every time we walk outside he starts sneezing and coughing. He sounds a little wheezy to me and I think his coughs sound a little raspy, so I'm glad he's got an appointment on Thursday.

-- His sleeping has been hit or miss lately. Sometimes he'll sleep 6-8 hours, but the last few nights he's been up every 2 hours or so. He may be starting to have teething pain. The bottom ones look like they may be making an appearance soon. He's been a little more fussy and clingy lately.

-- He has the absolute worst gas. It doesn't seem to make him uncomfortable, but it sure makes anyone in his general vicinity uncomfortable.

-- He rolls from back to front but gets stuck on his arm and can't get it out from under him.

-- I mentioned in my last post that he had his first fall. I laid him on Clara's bed while I was helping her get dressed on day. He can't really roll off of things yet, but we keep the head of Clara's bed elevated and I placed him at the head, so he just kinda leaned to the side and plopped right onto the floor. I felt terrible! Luckily her bed is really low. I was right next to him so I scooped him right up, but he screamed for several minutes. He had a small red spot on his forehead but it faded quickly.

-- He loves his fists. He chews on them constantly and I'm pretty sure now that he's not trying to suck his thumb.

-- He loves the sling as long as he's facing out and we're moving. We go for walks in it and I put him in it when we go into the store. It's been a lifesaver. He even falls asleep in it sometimes. I'll have to take a picture because it's pretty cute. I've been surprised that it doesn't hurt my back at all. I've worn it for an hour or more on more than one occasion and eventually my arm starts falling asleep but my back never complains.

Three Months

-- I weighed Robert on the bathroom scale this morning and he's 14 1/2 pounds. He is wearing size 2 diapers and fits in 3-6 month clothes perfectly. I think he'll be moving up a size in a few weeks or so. I'm going to have to exchange all of the 3-6 month summer clothes I bought the big guy. I tried on a couple of the one piece outfits I got him and they barely button at the crotch. Thank goodness for hand me downs! He's wearing all of Brody's 3-6 month winter clothes because I didn't have any for him. Normally we have lovely 70 degree days by this time of year, not the mid 30's we've been having!

-- I think he may have big feet. His friend Cooper is a month older and is wearing size 1 still, but it's hard for me to get a size 3 on Robert. Maybe his feet are just wide.

-- He's sleeping around 8 hours at night. Sometimes more, sometimes less. The longest he's gone is 10 hours in one stretch! Go Robert! He still sleeps swaddled at night and during naps at home (which is why he's sleeping so well I think.) His startle reflex wakes him up every time if he's not swaddled.

-- He still hates the carseat and screams almost every time he's strapped in. It doesn't matter if he's fed, dry and happy as can be; the minute you put him in, he goes nuts. If he does calm down, he starts back up every. single. time. we. stop.

-- When he's being held, he doesn't smile much. He loves to observe other people, but usually won't smile for them no matter how hard you try to coax one out of him. His expressions remind me so much of Clara at that age. She was the same exact way. The minute I lay him on my lap facing me and start talking to him, the smiles emerge.

-- He's nursing on demand, so I have no idea how often he eats. I just feed him when he's hungry. He'll go a few hours sometimes and sometimes just an hour. We're not too concerned about being on a strict schedule around here at this point.

-- I nurse him in public all the time. I was a little self-conscious when I nursed Clara but not this time around. I feed him whenever he's hungry and don't worry so much about what others think. It's so much easier this way.

-- His favorite place is still his changing table. He smiles and kicks anytime he's on it. He kicks a lot! I noticed the heels of his sleepers are worn more because of the constant friction from his kicking anytime he's laying down. He kicks hard too.

-- He doesn't like the pacifier and I don't push it anymore. If you hold it in his mouth, he'll sometimes chew on it contentedly, but he never sucks on it. He has been chewing on his hands a lot and may be trying to suck his thumb but so far he can't seem to get it in there.

-- He started drooling around 2 months and goes through several bibs a day. I noticed just a couple of days ago that he has two little white slivers under his bottom gum. You can't feel them yet, but Chris saw them too so I'm not crazy. I think he'll be getting teeth much sooner than his sister who got her first at 10 months.

-- He started rolling from front to back a few weeks ago.

-- His hair is strawberry blonde like mine and his eyes look like they may be turning hazel or brown. It's hard to tell right now. They're brown in the center and blue on the outside so the jury's still out.

Two Months

-- Robert is 12 1/2 pounds and has outgrown most of his 0-3 month clothes. He just moved up to size 2 diapers. I was trying to finish the last package of size 1's and finally gave up when my mom said the size 1's were like bikinis on him.

--He's smiling a lot and lets out a giggle every now and then.

-- He frequently sounds congested in his head and chest, but breathes normally once he calms down and when he sleeps. He has very dry, irritated skin, especially on his face.

-- When he's fussy, sometimes he likes to just be laid down and left alone. He'll kick and play for a long time by himself. Just don't put him in his crib for alone time. The boy's not stupid.

-- His fists are always clenched. I have to pry them open at bath time to wash all the gunk out. Between drool and spit up that gets in there, they start to reek after a while.

-- As of a week or so ago, he's holding his head up really well.

One Month

Can you believe this little guy is already a month old? I sure can't, and yet it seems he's been a part of our family forever.

So, here's what he's up to at one month of age:

--He's around 9.5 pounds according to our bathroom scale. He's outgrown most of his newborn clothes and just moved up to size one in diapers.

--He loves to be out and about. He'll usually sleep soundly in his car seat as long as we're going, going, going. If we're not out and about, he fights naps like a crazy person, so needless to say, I like to go places during the day. I'm ready for some nice weather.

--He doesn't like his car seat for the first 5-10 minutes of car rides and lets you know it.

--He will nap in his swing if he's in the mood.

--He will take a pacifier if he's in the mood (he's usually not, by the way).

--There's pretty much only one thing that will soothe Robert right now and I'm the only one that can provide it. Our evenings have been pretty rough lately and have consisted of hours upon hours of nursing just to keep him quiet. Is it considered colic if nursing calms the screaming when nothing else will?

--He's decided that he does enjoy bath time. He can be screaming but will calm down immediately as soon as he's submerged.

--He spits up a lot.

--He started focusing on our faces around 3 weeks and smiled at Chris at 4 weeks. He slept through the night (6 hours) for the first time on Christmas Eve. (That was my favorite Christmas present I received.)

--He does not tolerate a wet or dirty diaper. He'll scream and scream until you change him. As soon as you lay him down to change him, he stops crying.

--He hates to be swaddled and will let out horrendous screams and wiggle and writhe until he gets his little arms out of the blanket.

--He usually goes down around 9:00-9:30, wakes around 12:00, then wakes again around 2:30. I make several attempts (usually taking 1-1.5 hours) to get him back down at this point depending on how tired I am and then bring him to bed with me if I'm unsuccessful. He'll nurse and sleep on and off until 7 or 7:30.

--He loves loud noises, like the vacuum cleaner and blow dryer, so I have 2 things I can usually get done without him screaming.

--He's as cute and sweet as can be and despite the difficulties these first days bring, I wouldn't trade him for the world. He's absolutely a precious gift from God. I'm so looking forward to all of the smiles, coos and giggles that are in our not too distant future and know that these hard days will soon be forgotten (for the most part).