Will continues to do well.  We had his 2 week checkup, and it turns out that he has grown 2 inches since birth (in length, not girth; they didn't measure girth, and it might have grown 2 inches as well).  He's gained a pound as well.  We need not worry about him.

He spends most of his evenings eating constantly.

During the days, he sleeps, eats, or is mauled by his sisters.

Great fun is had by all.

The Sleepy Baby

Perhaps I didn't record it on this blog at the time, because I tend to try to present a carefully curated and rosy view of parenthood that doesn't involve admitting that I'm about to have a nervous breakdown, but Margaret's first few weeks of life were very stressful and sleep-deprived, and I was pretty certain that I wasn't going to be able to hack this parenting thing.  She didn't like being put down, and she didn't like being swaddled, but she really didn't like not being swaddled.  I went to bed at 7 and left Leo holding her on the couch until she grudgingly gave up and went to sleep, and then she was up every 2 hours or so to eat.

When Ellie was a week old, I asked the pediatrician if there was something wrong with her, because she slept so much.  When she told me that that was normal, I thought that I should have a retroactive discussion about Margaret's lack of sleep.

Will, it appears, is more to Ellie's way of thinking than Margaret's.  He's a good little sleeper, both at night (I've gotten at least a 4-hour stretch out of him every night since he was a week old, and he's pushing 5 and a half some nights), and during the day.  He seems to have decided to have two alert periods, one in the morning and one in the evening, with a lot of high-quality napping in between.  Of course, during both of his awake periods, he seems to feel the need to graze, so there are a couple of hours at each end of the day when I am pinned to the couch.  We will see how that works out.  I feel that other people may think they need things from me from here on out.

One of the nice things about Will is how good he is at relaxing.  It's like we have a boneless baby sometimes.

In Which Puck is Disappointed in Us

Puck has never really been a fan of the children.  I mean, I think he figured out that damaging them would not go well for him, because he's never been aggressive with them, but he's never sought them out or tried to make friends with them.  He's relatively fond of Ellie, I think, because one of the great joys of Ellie's life is feeding him his food, but he's not on board with our decision to fill the house with small people.

This is the look of a cat who is disappointed in the choices that you have made, and is muttering to himself about the fact that he got neutered.

Or it's a cat who wants me to stop taking googly-eyed pictures of the baby, and instead concentrate on doing something sensible, like getting him his food, because Ellie isn't there to do it for him.  One of those, though.  Definitely one of those.

Relaxing

I realize that there haven't been very many action shots on this blog recently, but part of the reason for that is that the children that are the most active are currently not around to be photographed, and William, though he has many sterling qualities, is somewhat limited in his sphere of activity.

He does, however, relax very well.

His preferred relaxing venue is on one of his parents, but he's willing to settle for bouncers and whatnot in a pinch.  In fact, as I type this, he's lying on a pillow right next to me, probably in violation of many safe sleep practices, but it does seem that if I'm sitting here with a hand on him, he probably won't stop breathing without my noticing and doing something about it.

I hesitate to make any sweeping generalizations about his character, but he is a good eater (he gained 3/4 of a pound between Friday morning and Monday morning), and he can sleep for relatively long periods of time, so I'm hoping that that is really part of who he is, and not just something he's doing for the first week of his life.

He has started being awake for longer periods of time (sometimes even in the daytime, which is a bonus) and has been looking around him.  He responds to voices pretty well, and last night got absolutely enthralled with a corner of the room.  So he's being a baby pretty well.

So Mature

To begin with, I am not mature, not at all, and so I find it amusing when my children manage to contort their fingers into rude positions.  But that's a discussion for another day.  And probably not here, because I try not to solicit comment on my shortcomings as a parent.  Anyway, on March 1, 2012, at age1 month 1 day, I took this picture of Ellie:

Such precocity!

Imagine my delight, then, this morning, when I took nearly the same picture of Will.

Oddly, I have no record of Margaret ever doing this, which is surprising.

The Cutest Sisters on the Block

I'm sure that at some point, the charm of having a little brother will wear off, but last I saw (before they headed off into the wilds of Wisconsin with their grandparents), both Margaret and Ellie thought that Will was pretty cool.*  Margaret is very loving, but also polite.  She asks before she squeezes.  They both love to hold him, so it will be quite the adventure once they get back.  Anyway, I love all the pictures of them together.

Ellie has been more concerned with his health.  Wearing the scrubs to the hospital nearly killed me.  It also nearly killed battalions of nurses, pediatric residents, med students, etc.  I had people coming into my room to ask to see the pictures because they had heard it was so cute.  So I am sure that you all want to see them as well.

So we're hoping the whole sibling thing goes well.  We'll keep you posted.

*The first time they came to visit, Margaret may have done the cutest thing ever; she slipped over to where he was, and sang "Billy Boy" to him very quietly, as a lullaby.  Sometimes she's amazing.

Helping Daddy

Leo has had a rather busy week.  He had a lot to get done at work, and there was that whole baby thing, and Margaret and Ellie are not quite self-sufficient, so he's been busy.

Luckily, he now has Will at home to help him.

He's more useful, perhaps, as a paperweight than an interlocutor, but with time and effort, I'm sure that he will become more involved.

It's Either Mommy or a Plush Monkey

So we came home from the hospital today, which is nice, because the hospital lacks a) comfy chairs and b) adequate heating.  I'm not sure why they keep it so cold, but it was chilly, and since I've only been there in winter when one imagines that one will need socks and long sleeves, I hadn't ever noticed.

I noticed this time.

Anyway, we brought William home, and set his car seat down in the living room.  There's not a lot that you would think that he would be able to convey about the changes that have been rapidly occurring in his life, but he gave a good impression of serious and honest thought.

He did not deign to share his opinions with any of the rest of us, but I am sure that they are valid and sensible.

Of course, when we put him in his bouncy chair, he tried to eat the monkey seat cushion, so it's unclear how much high-level thinking he's really doing.

I'm also a little put out by the fact that he apparently thinks that I'm a lot like a monkey appliqué.  But I suppose that there were many similarities, like the fact that both I and said monkey have been near his cheek.

Anyway, we're all home, and I have not let my pique at being likened to a bouncy seat carry me too far.  We're still feeding him.

Virtual Baby Book 3.0

So I've decided that it would be exceptionally cruel to the smallest of my children if I were to stop blogging at this point, because his sisters would have wonderfully curated accounts of their first 3-5 years, and he would have nothing.  It's the sort of thing that he would be bitterly recounting to his therapist at age 25 or so, so I think that it's a good plan not to give him that opportunity.

Anyway, he was born yesterday, and seems to be doing well.  He spent the day in the NICU, because he tried to choke himself last night, and they wanted to monitor him, but he seems to be doing well, and should be returned to me in the morning.

Ellie monitored him closely as well.

According to her assessment, his heart is doing fine, and going "thump, thump, thump."  So that's good.

They're both very excited to see him and touch him and hold him, which I think is good.  I hope they can rein in their enthusiasm a little bit, but I'm sure cold, harsh reality will set in for them soon enough.