Toby's six weeks old!  He's still growing fast; he's out of all his newborn clothes and some of his 0-3 onesies.  We had to take the newborn insert out of his carseat.  He's getting chubby and LONG.

Even my favorite "Little Sprout" outfit won't be fitting him much longer - but he'll still be our sprout for a long time, I'm sure. 

Social smiles are probably the most exciting new development - they're occasional and unpredictable, but definitely there.  I'm looking forward to catching one with the camera soon.  He's also enjoying doing baby squats - if we hold his upper body steady, he can stand up.  He likes to do it over and over again.  Sometimes he does it until his muscles are too fatigued to carry on, and then he cries (briefly, until we find something else fun). 

He's also really loving going outside - as his head gets steadier on his neck, he looks all around, especially at the trees.  He seems to love the dappled sun coming through the canopy.  When he's at his fussiest, we take him in the yard, and usually the crimped red face dissipates into Toby Cuteness within 30 seconds.  He's not fussy very often any more - I figured out that milk in my diet irritated him, but none of the other things I tried eliminating seemed to matter.  So no milk or cream for me, and we have a happy baby.  And happy mama, who is eating cheese, tomatoes, and broccoli again.  Even a little chocolate.  :)

We're still working on slowly perfecting the new arrangements in our house; a handmade mobile from my biologist-artist friend Idelle Cooper has been a great new addition.  It hangs over his crib; Toby hasn't really been looking at it yet, but we're definitely enjoying it.  When Toby outgrows it, I'm keeping it up!

Toby and I have been spending more time lately in our favorite baby carrier - the Moby Wrap.  It's cozy but not too hot.  He likes to keep an arm or two out, unless he's very sleepy.  This picture was from a little over a week ago, when he was still small enough to keep his legs in the wrap; now that he's bigger and more active, the legs hang long.  He's been to two parties in it this week, and slept through both of them.  Sometimes I can even extract him from the Moby still asleep (okay, I can't extract him completely, but I can put him down). 

Sometimes I can even work on the computer holding him this way.  

Next week we're heading on Toby's first big car trip, to Richmond to visit with my side of the family.  Hopefully he'll sleep in the carseat, as he has for most (but definitely not all) of his previous car rides.  We'll be sure to get plenty of cute family pictures..

So maybe posting once a week was too ambitious before, but now that I have my hands-free pumping bustier, I might post every day!  A friend of mine sent me a link as a joke a few months ago, and I admit I laughed.  But after a couple of times trying to hold the pump on with my hands and then needing to blow my nose and/or adjust the strength of the vacuum, I changed my tune.  It just arrived yesterday.  I'm a new woman.  Matt gave Toby his first bottle of breastmilk the day he turned 3 weeks, and since then he's gotten maybe four bottles.  As expected, he was happy to take the bottle - the kid will suck anything.  No problems with nipple confusion here.  He did get a funny look on his face the first time milk came out of what he clearly took for a new pacifier, but he got the idea fast enough.  Matt was gratified to receive the adoring gaze of a freshly-fed baby for the first time.   

A brief detour, including pictures of things other than Toby: we got a new washing machine!  Our old one was ancient (no one knows how old, but you can see the matching dryer below and make your best guess) and after literally years of making noises so loud we were sure it would kick the bucket any day, it finally decided to stop draining after just a week of washing diapers.  After a day of disposable diapers, our generous neighbors agreed to let us use their machine, and we were back on cloth.  Our new, super-efficient front-loading washing machine arrived a few days later, and we're in love.  It spins the diapers incredibly dry and sings a pleasing song when it's done (this featured prominently in many online reviews, and is actually charming enough to warrant the attention).  With the addition of our new indoor/outdoor tripod drying rack, our easy cloth diapering scheme is complete.

Toby's had lots of firsts since the last post... a successful first Skype call (with the Schultz grandparents... anyone interested in a video chat with the tyke should check out this free program and/or get someone of the younger generation to set it up for you).  He's been increasingly uncurling his fists and grabbing things (Matt likes to get him to grab rattles, but since Toby doesn't know his hands belong to him yet, you have to be careful he doesn't bash himself with whatever he just grabbed.)  Eye contact is becoming more frequent and prolonged, though we're still waiting for the first smile.  He's also just awake more, happily waving his fists, kicking his legs, and making squeaks, squawks, and coos.  We picked out a video camera yesterday, we just need to order it so we can start recording (and posting) some of this cuteness. 

Last week Toby got weighed again; he gained another pound in his second two weeks of life, hitting 10 lbs 7 oz.  The chub seems to be accumulating from the top down - cheeks and neck are delightfully pinchable, arm creases are getting deeper, but the legs still look fairly thin.  Luckily the chubby charm makes up for the hair loss - what initially looked like early-onset male-pattern baldness now seems to be spreading.  We're enjoying his soft newborn hair while it lasts and getting used to bare scalp, and the mystery of when and with what color the hair will return.  Even though it makes his hair fall out faster, I've continued bathing him, and he's decided he likes it now.  So I'm including a couple of cute bath pictures.  I wish I could have a tub with a nice kitchen-window view.

Finally, I've succumbed to the cult of baby feet - before having Tobes, I thought this obsession with photographing newborn feet was bizarre.  Now I realize it's totally reasonable, as baby feet are the cutest thing in the world.  Poor Toby.  His Mama is turning into as much of a camera fanatic as his Grandpa Royer always was when I was a kid.  Sorry I wasn't more patient posing, Dad; I understand now.  :)

Toby will be 3 weeks old tomorrow!  He's been a very busy fellow in his short life, getting to know all the most important people.  This past weekend brought visits from Aunt Rachael, Aunt Becky, and the Royer-Millers (Uncle Dan, Aunt Margo, and cousin Alten!)  

The second week of life was more tumultuous than the first, as Toby learned about his lung capacity and the discomforts of digestion at the same time.  Matt and I gradually adapted with some new skills of our own, including (but not limited to) the football hold, belly-to-belly couch snuggles, and vigorous "sh" noises that sound like my heartbeat from within the womb.  Whether it's our newfound talent or Toby's mastery of his intestines, things have improved since then.  I think we've also just gotten more comfortable with listening to a little innocuous wailing now and then. 

In other news, the umbilical cord remnant fell off, and Toby got his first bath!  The pictures are a little blurry because we couldn't use the flash, but still cute.  I confess to being a little sad to see the cord go, but the charms of belly buttons, clean baby, and the newfound ease of diapering make up for it.

It's amazing how much Toby is already changing.  He's gained over a pound and a half since birth, and is awake and active more of the time.  He REALLY enjoys looking at his black-and-white book from our friends Johanna and Glenn and a colorful fish toy from his Grammie Royer.  He's also learned how to make a few new sounds, including coughing and squawking.

That's the update for this week!  The next week brings Toby's first 4th of July picnic and other unknown adventures...