Happy Halloween

I've uploaded four new pictures to the gallery, including Justin in his Halloween costume. WARNING: extremely high cuteness factors present.

A Call to Arms

This morning, while sitting in his rocking chair, Justin was clearly looking at the toy pig which was hanging from the crossbar. He stared at it, reached out his arm, and swung his little fist at it. He was way off target and missed the toy, so he pulled his arm back in, concentrated, swung a second time, and hit the toy. This swinging, missing, and hitting went on for quite a long time, with his movements making the toy swing back and forth, making it harder to hit.

Also, he has started articulating all of his fingers. I don't think he has yet recognized that the hands and arms are his, but he's learning how to control them. He even maybe smiled once as we were moving the chair and the pig was swinging around crazily.

It is clear that he's right handed.

One Month Birthday Pictures

I've posted five new pictures in Justin's gallery. Follow the link to check them out.

ENT Appointment

We made a trip to the ear, nose, and throat doctor today to have Justin's lower jaw examined. His gums don't line up and we wanted to make sure it was nothing to worry about. After examining Justin the doctor broke the news.

It's nothing to worry about.

He says that it is fairly common and wants to see him in four months to make sure everything is still fine, so we made an appointment to go back in a few months. All systems nominal.

He's getting bigger. Every two weeks or so I look at him and think, "He's bigger than before." I know this is normal, but it seems weird. I will endevour to upload a one month birthday picture for the slightly unbalanced grandparents...

Justin's shelves

I added a picture of the shelves I built for Justin's room. I'll put up some more pictures of him, probably later tonight.

College savings

Justin, Jenny, and I were just going over some of the options for higher education costs. Justin feels that there are not enough options for people in our tax bracket. You should hear the screaming.

Two new pictures in the gallery

Due to popular demand I have added two new pictures to the web gallery. Over the next day or two we will be taking a lot of pictures in order to get a few more shots from which to choose for his birth announcements, and I'll upload more then.

Bottle feeding

Justin has started having one bottle feeding every day. So far, Jenny has been feeding him but tomorrow I will try to get through a feeding flying solo. There were a few problems finding a nipple that he likes, but we think we've got the hang of it now.

He had his first trip to Publix today where various passerby ohhed and ahhed over his tiny head. Just kidding.

Optical system online and church

Sometime late last night, after Justin had had a big meal, and was being burped, he reached some kind of optical developmental milestone and started looking around the room with much more alacrity than heretofore. He seemed facinated by my, and Jenny's, face, the lamp, the pillows on the couch and his blanket. He stayed alert, actively looking at everything for about 15 minutes before becoming tired, whereupon he needed the 5 S's in order to calm down and go to sleep.

The difference in his aspect is obvious in the way he turns his head and shifts his eyes to catch sight of things. I'm fairly certain that he is still, as expected for a newborn his age, unable to track moving objects with any amount of accuracy, unless moving extremely slowly and through the center of his visual field.

This morning we took him to mass for the first time. He slept through most of the mass and only started squirming around a bit during the closing hymn, keeping almost silent through coffee and donuts in the parish center as well. Jenny describes our first church outing as "ideal."

2 Week Pediatrician Visit

We just got back from Justin's 2 week well baby visit and the doctor says he is doing great. He is now 21 3/4" long which means he has grown 1 and 1/2 inches since he was born (76 percentile). He is also 8 oz. above his birth weight at 8 pounds 2 ounces (50 percentile!). Also his head is small (26% percentile). Jenny says to take out the fact that his head is small because the method of measurement is inacurate and everyone will think that the pediatrician told us his head is small. Just so everyone knows, his head is fine. It is not small. Jenny is ranting as I type this.

Justin's Financial Future

We started looking for a bank with a good kids saving program today. As I was telling Justin today, it's never too soon to learn fiscal responsibility. Also, there are some new pictures up in the gallery.

We have a belly button!

Justin's umbilical stump came off just now. Now he has an "innie."

Everyone who has a baby should read this

If any of you have a newborn or are planning on having a child you should pick up the book or DVD titled "The Happiest Baby On the Block" by Dr. Harvey Karp. The method he gives for quieting fussy babies is amazing. If you follow the steps you can calm even a screaming infant and have this:








Cheap at thrice the price.

Passive Alert Time

Justin is keeping his eyes open and looking around for longer and longer periods of time. He's also sleeping in his crib for longer stretches. We're still watching for the increase in fussy-ness that should happen over the first six to eight weeks.