Tipping the Scale

The day after we brought Calder home from the hospital he weighed six pounds. Last Wednesday, at his seven-week checkup, he was a little over twelve pounds. That’s almost a pound a week. I’m hoping he won’t keep growing at this rate, because Zoe already likes playing ‘Two Baby’s’, in which I have to walk around holding both her and Calder, and Zoe weighs close to thirty pounds. Don’t get me wrong; I think it’s great that he is putting on so much weight, even if there are similarities between him a Jabba the Hutt. It’s really no surprise that he’s getting so big. He eats constantly. If he were on to solid foods I’d be tossing him whole roasted chickens. His favorite toy is a baked ham. He can’t even roll over yet, but I’ve seen him open the fridge from his bouncy chair. You get the idea. The kid likes to eat.

I’m happy to report that there is far less vomit (known in the baby world as spit up) happening in our house. Not that Calder has stopped completely. A few minutes ago he threw up down my back and all over the chair I was sitting on. He was getting back at me for trying to calm him down without getting off my butt (he prefers us to be standing when he’s fussy). I told him I was writing his blog, and he just responded that he was giving me something to write about. I thanked him then tossed him in his bouncy chair. Baby’s can only see a short distance, but their eyes form a bull’s-eye on any cloth within vomit range. I think Calder, and possibly all baby’s, have a unique radar that alerts them to dry-clean only sweaters, cloth-covered furniture, and any clothing worn by a person who is running late for anything. I’m going to try wrapping myself in aluminum foil to see if I can throw off his radar.

And lastly, I am especially happy to report that Calder seems to be less fussy at dinnertime. Like the vomit radar, Calder (and again, probably all baby’s) seems to know when you are seconds from sitting down to eat. Personally I like to eat. And I, like Calder, get a bit fussy when I’m hungry. So I find myself getting a bit short-tempered when I have to walk around the living room while my dinner sits so tantalizingly close. I have already started docking future earnings on his allowance for his unruliness, so I think he got the message.

All the photos of Calder can be found here and here.