Smiles and Sickness

Connor is a day shy of 1 month old and already giving us small smiles. I noticed the first one a little over a week ago, when I picked him up in my arm and smiled down at him and said "Hi, Connor". In response, the side of his mouth quirked in a little half-smile, but since all my google research said 4 weeks was the absolute earliest, I dismissed it. However, we've seen a handful of similar half-smiles over the past week, always in response to myself (or once Cadence) talking to him, so I think we're claiming it as "real" now.

Connor is a very even tempered baby, but he's definitely becoming more alert. We've had a few rough days here as he gets a little fussy and fidgety. This should peak over the next couple weeks and then he'll settle down again and we'll start to see his real personality begin to emerge.

The girls adore their brother. Cadence asks to hold him at least a dozen times a day, even if he's sleeping, and while she refuses to run most errands I send her on ("can you take this to the sink?"), she'll happily do any errand that somehow involves Connor (now to figure out how to make picking up the living room related to Connor...). Megan's just as helpful and loving, but not as capable. She doesn't understand the size difference between herself and her brother and is constantly in trouble for practically laying on top of him and trying to hug him by pulling his closer to her by his head.

A brief update about his weight gain issue: At his 2 week appointment, he was only 9lbs, 13 ounces shy of his birth weight and only 2 ounces larger than he'd been the week before. At 3 weeks, he'd gained another 7.5 ounces, which is great gain for one week but still not his birth weight. So we went in again this past Tuesday and he was 9lbs and 15.5oz. With another 8 ounces under her belt and finally passing his birth weight, the doctor gave us the "all's clear" and we're back to just the normal check-ups.

Unfortunately, while we were carting ourselves around doctor's offices (we also had to take James in on Monday. Unexpectedly, his allergies in Houston are worse than they were in Bakersfield's nasty air), we picked up a virus of some sort. I got his first, Cadence got hit next and poor Connor has a dry cough and I assume his constant need to nurse is in response to a sore throat. Thank goodness it's a mild cold. A little tylenol for the girls, a little extra snuggling for Connor and a few hot showers for me and we're surviving and already on the downside of it.

And while we're here, a picture of Connor at 4 weeks that don't have access to my Facebook: