Happy 1 month birthday, Ezekiel!

Ezekiel turned one month old two days ago. He already weighs over 10 pounds! He has gotten to where he has more good nights (waking up only twice, and each time eating and then going right back to sleep) than bad nights (waking up every hour, or just not going back to sleep). Last night he was particularly badly behaved. He woke up at 3 am acting like he wanted to eat. He ate a little bit, but then started wailing. I tried burping him with no success. Then he acted like he wanted to eat some more, but refused when given the opportunity. This continued, mixed with periods of relative calm (just grunting and squirming) until about 6:30 am. BLEH! This morning when I tried to feed him again, rather than eating he just looked up at me with his big blue peaceful eyes and a little smile on his face. It was the cutest look I have ever seen, and he kept it up for a few minutes, forcing me to admit, "I can't be mad at you."

Here's Ezekiel on his one-month birthday, snuggling with Dad.

And here's him snuggling with me yesterday.

And here he is balled up on the couch this morning.

Three Weeks of Love!

Today marks Ezekiel's third week of life outside the womb! Hooray! I'm already feeling somewhat normal physically, and getting better adjusted to taking care of a baby. In just three short weeks I have already observed the truth in a few baby-isms that I had heard. One is Luke's aphorism that the less comfortable you are, the more comfortable the baby is. Here is Justin, demonstrating this: he had Ezekiel resting on his legs, with Ezekiel's head by Justin's knees, but Ezekiel was fussy and uncomfortable... until he threw his little body sideways, forcing Justin to hold his head in his hand.

We have also experienced the truth of Sean's anecdote: "before I had kids, I didn't really have any poo stories. Now my life has become on uninterrupted poo story." Ezekiel is constantly pooing! Already we've had so many diaper changes interrupted by an onslaught of poo that they no longer seem like interesting stories.

I went back to school last week, with Mama's help. I only have class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I fed Ezekiel in my office before leaving him with Mama while I went to class, then met back up with them afterwards and went home. The whole process of getting all his stuff (stroller, diaper bag, car seat) in the car and then unpacking it in the hot parking lot was rather difficult. And my office is shared with several other graduate students, so his farting sounds that seem so normal at home made me self-conscious in the office. And I got pooed on a little bit before going to class. Starting this week I'm leaving him behind while I go to school- anyone want to volunteer to watch my dear little baby for a few hours on an occasional Tuesday or Thursday?

Here are a few more cute pictures of Ezekiel:

And Constantine says, "Don't forget me- I'm cute too!"