Locke - 1 Month Old

Today, Locke is 1 month old.  He is steadily gaining weight (unofficial weight is now over 10 pounds), gaining neck control, and starting to develop a little personality.  He continues to be a great nurser, although we've recently begun to suspect that Locke suffers from silent acid reflux.  In the evenings, he gets pretty fussy after his feedings and he grunts and groans and stretches and arches his back and occasionally spits up just a little bit.  We are working on elevating him for half an hour after feedings and trying some new methods to decrease his discomfort.  It is difficult for Chris and I to watch him feel bad and not be able to give him any relief.  Next week we will visit the pediatrician and see what she recommends.  He is also still fighting off a pretty significant baby acne outbreak.  The experts tell us that it really just takes time, so we are waiting it out.  (Ledger went through this too and eventually it disappeared.)  Overall, he is still a pretty easy baby.  At night, he will usually sleep in 3-4 hour stretches -- which makes Mommy VERY happy.  He has given us some glimpses of gassy smiles and I can't wait until he starts to smile regularly -- I know it will just light up my heart.  So far, he has really enjoyed the baths he has taken and completely relaxes in the water (unlike his big brother at this age!).

We hired a photographer to take Locke's "newborn" photos and she came to our house for two separate sessions totaling more than 5 hours of photo time in an attempt to "get the picture" while he was being fussy and uncooperative.  She hasn't given us the CD yet, but the preview proofs that we've seen have been really good.  We can't wait to see the finished product.

We sure do love this baby and especially love seeing how he and his brother interact together.  I can't wait to watch this kid grow and develop and move into some of the exciting next stages.