Milo at 5 Weeks

By Adam Johnson

September 9^th, 2014

It is hard to believe that we have passed the 1 month mark with Milo. Those first few nights after he was born, the stress of the unknown and the complete lack of anything routine made this milestone seem very far away. Now that we are here, my main impression is that there is nothing better in this world. Holding the little guy close to you with his chin up on your shoulder and his soft little face pressed up against you brings a peace that I have never experienced anywhere else.

Curiousity

He is getting more curious. When he is clean, fed and rested, we find him looking around the house finding shapes and patterns to fixate upon. We show him our most visually interesting junk mail prior to recycling it and Jess reads to him every morning. It is incredible to see someone that was as big as a key lime a few months ago taking the world in and processing it. He has started to make eye contact and even works up the occasional smile and giggly sigh. It is fleeting at this point, but that hint of a smile lights us up more than you can imagine. When you see that little smile, it is hard to believe there is anything but good in this world.

SLOW GROWIN'

He is growing, but at a pretty slow rate. He has dropped down into the 1st percentile for height and weight, but continues to top the charts for cranium size. Based on our doctor’s recommendation, we have started to supplement his feeding with formula. Here is the People’s Republic of Boulder, “formula” feels like a dirty word. I am personally of the belief that we’ll do what works for us as parents and that a generous amount of love, nurturing and guidance can overcome the potentially disastrous effects of the all-organic formula.

While I cannot speak to the consequences of formula supplementation, I can speak about the benefits. No longer is Jess tethered to the breastfeeding chair ever hour or two in order to feed. She can now leave the house to get a haircut or run some errands without the fear that he will be hysterically inconsolable without his only source of nutrition. This has gained us all a tremendous amount of relief. If there is a downside, it is that I no longer have any excuses for not helping out in the darkest hours of the night.