Happy Holidays!

We've been busy, taking the little man on the grand tour. First we went to see family in L.A. Grandma Lynne was happy to see Desmond again, and was impressed by how much he has grown. Aunt Ligia proved to have a remarkable ability to soothe fussy Des - I think we'll have to ship him off to her at regular intervals! Cousins Devin and Ethan did not seem too impressed with Desmond - maybe he'll make more of an impression when he's old enough to borrow/steal/break their toys?

Today (Christmas Eve) we had dinner at Aunt Patty and Uncle Kendal's. The food was, as always, delicious. Desmond was enthralled by the birds in the backyard, and Aunt Alisha discovered a way to hold him that made him happy when nothing else would. Desmond loves pretty much anything Alisha does with him - she's a baby wizard!

Tomorrow we'll be heading to Lake Tahoe, to stay with Grandpa and Grandma Kathy for awhile. Grandma has already promised us an apple pie and a sweet potato pie - yum! We can't wait to show the boy the lake, and pine trees, and snow.

Desmond has thus far made out like a bandit. His Christmas loot includes clothes, college fund money, stuffed animals, toys, blankets and books. What a lucky boy, to have such generous and loving family and friends. We love you all very much.


Who Needs a Pacifier...

...when you've got mom's finger?

What a Smile!

We finally managed to capture his grin on camera. I love it when he smiles!


Cute Photos of the Week

Can you believe he's already 9 weeks old?

Stats

Weight
Birth: 7 lbs. 0 oz.
Oct. 10: 6 lbs. 12 oz.
Oct. 16: 7 lbs. 10 oz.
Oct. 18: 7 lbs. 14 oz.
Nov. 07: 10 lbs. 9 oz.
Dec. 06: 12 lbs. 11 oz.

Height
Birth: 19 3/4 inches
Oct. 18: 21 inches
Nov. 07: 22 3/8 inches
Dec. 06: 23 1/4 inches

Head Circumference
Oct. 18: 36.5 cm.
Nov. 07: 38.5 cm.
Dec. 06: 40.5 cm.

2 Month Checkup

Today is Desmond's 2 month birthday. I can't believe he's been on this earth for 2 months - it alternately seems like we've had him for just a few days, or that we've had him forever. And it's shocking how much he's changed already.

Today Des had his 2 month checkup. Which meant vaccinations - 3 shots and 1 oral dose. We looked into alternate vaccination schedules, but ultimately decided to get all the vaccinations and get them on the AAP recommended schedule. We found that it's really hard to find reliable information about vaccinations. I don't always trust the medical establishment, but it seems like every anti-vac article is written by someone with extreme views (super-religious pro-lifer or super-crunchy anti-medicine quasi-hippy) , and there is often very little empirical evidence to back up their claims. So basically, since we couldn't find any truly convincing reason not to vaccinate, we decided to trust the doctors.

I was nervous. I have heard stories of many a mom losing it as those looong needles plunged into their baby's thigh, and the baby gave them a how-could-you-do-this-to-me-to-think-I-trusted-you look, and began to wail inconsolably. I made Ron stand in the baby-comforting position while I sat back. The nurse gave the shots expertly and quickly. (The needles really were freakishly long, it seemed like they would just go all the way through his little thigh!) Desmond did wail, but as soon as Ron picked him up he stopped. The nurse claimed that when the parent stays calm, the baby usually calms down quickly. So it was a really good thing that Ron was there, since I started misting up as soon as I saw the needles.

We've been home for a few hours, and so far, so good. Desmond hasn't been any fussier than usual - if anything, the shots made him sleepy - not a bad thing!
Sleeping off the trauma

Super Baby!

This is an old video, as you can tell by the size of little Desmond. But I thought it was very funny. He's changed so much since then. For one thing, he looks like a tiny loaf of bologna in this.

Smiling Baby

In this video you will not only see the magical smile of wee Desmond, but you get to hear the dulcet tones of his dad singing a made up song for him. Prepare yourself.