Max is continuing to grow well according to our friendly neighborhood pediatrician. (Let's not talk about how I keep accidentally saying I am taking Max to the vet.) He's not a huge baby according to the percentiles, but interestingly his head has risen from a low percentile to about mid-range even while the rest of him has stayed proportional. At this rate, I guess it means when he's a grown-up he really is going to look like MODOK.

Max had his second doctor appointment today -- Jen took him because I was working from home sick (I've had a nasty head cold/flu for a few days). Anyway, the little guy is doing well -- he is up to 10 pounds 7 ounces and 21 3/4 inches long. Since I am an uncontrollable geek I've put his growth stats into a Google spreadsheet, which you can view yourself if you're interested. Here's the happy fun chart.



The doctor also said his head strength is "impressive" -- Max can already hold his head steady, lift it off the ground, and turn side to side.


(And thanks to the random MySpace dude from whom I ripped off this photo courtesy of Google Image Search.)

Also, Max has an umbilical hernia. This is not a big deal -- it just means that his abdominal muscles have a little weak spot that causes his belly button to bulge out, especially when he cries. It is nothing to worry about and generally heals itself up by age 1 to 3. Apparently this is where outie belly buttons tend to come from (they heal up in the sticky-out position).

And as a reward for those of you who bothered to read to the end, here are two photos of Jen and I hiding behind Max. I bet you can't tell where we are. We are ninja sneaky like that.

Wow, today is Max's one month birthday! Even Max is excited. He celebrated with his favorite meal of milk, milk, and milk, and we took him to his favorite places -- Mom, Dad, and sleepytime.

So what's new since last week? I went back to work, which correlated pretty directly with a reduction in the frequency of my posts. The next two weeks are Christmas and New Year's, though, so there will be plenty to update.

The first week back was a bit rough, though apparently par for the course with a baby. Jen and I worked it out that I did a late booster feeding so Jen can get some uninterrupted sleep in the late evening/early night, and then Jen would take Max overnight so I can get 5 or so hours of sleep before getting up at around 6am to get to work by about 8am. Max wasn't totally into this plan, though -- one night he got up literally every hour, then another night he slept while I was on duty and then was wide awake for two hours straight as soon as I handed him off. But we got by and hopefully as he gets bigger his sleeping will get a bit more regular.

Meanwhile Jen has been doing a great job holding down the fort while I am at work, such as clipping Max's tiny, razor-sharp fingernails. Max even scratched his own face with the little buggers, it's like he was born with bird-like talons.


Max himself is doing great and has been growing like gangbusters. He's already outgrown almost all of his newborn-size clothes and is into a bunch of new 0-3 month stuff, including real honest-to-god Osh Kosh B'Gosh overalls! Man, I have fond memories of these things -- really, why don't they make them in adult sizes? Oh, right, they'd make me look like Mr. Green Jeans from Captain Kangaroo. Nevermind. (Then again, I did love Captain Kangaroo as a kid. Hmm...)

Anyway, Max's are still a bit large on him but he'll be overalled up for good soon enough. Here's a photo of them, and a neat holiday onesie from Old Navy:


Max is staying awake and very alert for longer periods of time. He's got much more neck strength now and can hold his head steady for short periods of time. He's been hanging out on a play mat sometimes, and also likes it when I hold him outward so we can walk around the house together and I can show him things. He is also pretty well-behaved in the carseat and stroller, which is nice. This being the gift-buying season, our little consumer has already gone with us to such local landmarks as Frederic Goodman Jewelers, Chef Central, Buy Buy Baby, Garden State Plaza, Best Buy, and Bed Bath and Beyond. At least he doesn't have his own credit card yet.

All in all, the Max republic remains strong. Stay tuned for more.

Max had his first office visit with Dr. Levy today. He's doing well -- he's already grown to 8 pounds 3 ounces and 21 inches. The nurse observed that he was very alert compared to what they usually see in newborns. That's our baby -- always watching, always judging.

It also turns out Max broke his clavicle while being born, but that is apparently nothing to worry about -- it is not uncommon, has already healed up, and will actually be stronger in the long run for it. No vaccinations this time but they'll start when he goes back for his six-week checkup in early January.

When we got home, he was still sacked out in the car seat, so we strapped him into the Graco stroller frame and went for our first walk, to the local Starbucks and back. He stayed asleep the whole walk, thankfully.

Also check out his cute outfit today, especially the awesome sneaker-patterned socks from Trumpette. Thanks to my brother Adam and his girlfriend Marisa for giving us 6 pairs of these in various colors, so he'll always be coordinated. These stay on his feet much better than others we have tried so far, highly recommended. Also this is Max's first dinosaur onesie (a Stegosaurus for those of you playing the home game). Babies can never have enough dinosaurs. Or monkeys.

And finally, your moment of zen:
Yo, baby gangsta. Big night at da club. That pacifier is hooked up to my bottle of Courvoisier, yo.