Noah's 8 week appointment (at 9 weeks)

Today was Noah's 8 week appointment, but he was really 9 weeks because our doctor's office goes by birth days when calculating checkup dates, so they wouldn't let me bring him when he was actually 8 weeks. And the scheduler didn't want me to put it off until after we got back from vacation, so we ended up with a doctor that I don't particularly care for (we have two that we really like, but neither works on Mondays). Plus, I made it for a Monday afternoon thinking Jason would be off, but because of the upcoming vacation days he had to work today, meaning that I'd have to take both boys on my own. And last but not least, the only available appointment was 2 p.m., which is when Nathan should be settling down for a nap.

The good news is that he checked out just fine, weighing in at 12 lbs. 3 oz. (slightly less than Nathan weighed at this age) but measuring at a whopping 24.5 inches long, which is 90th percentile. Developmentally everything is on track- I have to keep reminding myself that there is a wide range of normal, as I often find myself paging through Nathan's baby blog to see when he achieved various milestones. One milestone that was really bugging me was smiling- he hardly smiles! But over the past few days, he's finally starting to give them up more easily, especially in the morning and during middle of the night diaper changes (which make them far more tolerable). Other than a little evening cranky time, he is still very mellow and easily settled. He's the most efficient eater I've seen; it only takes 8-10 minutes for him to eat. He is not sleeping through the night yet, but most of the time he'll stay asleep until sometime between 3 and 5 and then is up every 2 hours or so after that.

I haven't nailed down his napping schedule, but the pattern seems to be doze on and off, then stay awake for a big long stretch. It really makes no difference to me, as he is pretty independent and likes to just play with his toys rather than be held every second he's awake.

Oh, and the best (or maybe worst) part? He doesn't poop every other minute like Nathan did! In fact, I'm pretty sure he hasn't gone since Friday. I just know he'll let it all out as soon as we pass the last rest stop for the next 60 miles on I 95...

Link to weekly Noah pictures!