Ten-ish Weeks.

I will have to make this a quick update, since the native is restless.  He has definitely decided to boycott naps during the day, although he usually sleeps very well at night, so I can't complain.  We normally start his evening routine with his bath, massage, and jammies around 8ish, his vitamin bottle around 8:30p, and then up to the darkened room for his final feed and Chopin.  He's usually out by 9:30p and waking up around 5:30a. 

However, it's deuced difficult to get anything done during the day with a baby who only falls asleep after being fed, and wakes up immediately, alert and cheerful, when I go to put him in his crib or cradle (or even if I just hold really still for 15 minutes or longer).  And I would love to go to bed when he does and get 8 hours' sleep, but I have to finish up all the stuff I can't get done during the day because he hasn't taken a nap.

The good news is he's getting to a point where I can sit him in his chair or put him on his back on his play mat and he'll entertain himself for a bit.  The bad news is that it's normally not long enough to do any writing.

Last night we heard his first belly laugh, as Ivan Sr bounced him - while the prince was lying on our bed, Ivan would pound the mattress, and get the biggest smiles... and a couple real, honest-to-goodness laughs instead of his usual giggles.

He has also discovered my face with his hands as he is nursing, which is very cool... he reaches up to play with my lips, and it makes me giggle, which makes him smile, which makes him dribble milk everywhere, but who cares?  I have spitup on every surface of my body by the end of the day and none of my clothes are exempt.  He somehow deliberately (I swear) misses all bibs and burp cloths.  His ability manifests in direct proportion to the expense of the outfit.

Other things he has discovered:

toys... still working on grabbing them, but eating them is no problem

although his hands will do too.  Oh, and football:

Germany v. England. 

The Stats, and Not As Fun News

We had his two-month well baby visit on Wednesday last (yes, he was 10 weeks, there was an appointment mixup and it's a long story), where he weighed in at 13 pounds 11 ounces and was 24 and a quarter inches long.  He's gaining nicely for a post-surgery baby and has hit all his milestones plus a couple (which at this age means not much except delighted parents who are convinced he is a genius).

Unfortunately, both his cysts were present and active, and it appears they are indicative of a fistula.  Dr. Wilson advised me to bring them up to Dr. Bhatia, Ivan's surgeon, when we had our surgery follow-up on Friday. 

Dr. Bhatia confirmed that it is indeed a fistula, and we will need to operate on it on the 6th.  It's not responding to antibiotic therapy nor to draining the abscesses (the cysts), so a fistulotomy is required.

Poor kid.  Dr. Wilson said he was just being creative, like her son.  I would like him to be a bit less creative, and a bit more boring, thank you very much.

Or... this works too.