Happy Clint!!!

Clint has been giving us hints of smiles for the last couple of weeks, but we haven't really been sure whether they were on purpose or not. We still enjoyed them thouroughly, but tonight, he put on a really good show. It is the previous post. This was the most facial activity we have gotten yet. Usually, we just get the stare, and we have been so happy to have that stare. I was so happy that all of this cooing and smiling happened while we were both here and while I had my phone handy to capture the moment. I have only watched the video six or eight times, but I'll probably watch it another few times before I go to bed.

Clint was four weeks old yesterday, and he'll be one month officially on Tuesday, August 4th. It is hard to believe. Time kind of stood still for me after June 26th. Clint has a weight check on Tuesday, so hopefully he's gained the appropriate amount of weight. I know he is getting longer. He is going to be "longer" than his Momma before we can refer to this measurement as "height." He wasn't quite back up to his birth weight at his two week check, so the doctor just wants to make sure he is still gaining. He eats well, especially in the evenings. In fact, that is pretty much all he does in the evenings. He probably eats four times between 4pm and 9pm. We put him to bed between 9:30 and 10pm, and he only wakes up once during the night to eat - usually between 3 and 4am. Then, he sleeps again until around 7am.

One night last week, (Wednesday night, when we tried to go church) Clint ate almost constantly from the time we got back home (after attempting to go to church) at 6:45pm until almost 10pm. Then, something magical happened. He slept until 6am. He went to sleep at 10pm. That is eight hours, my friends!!! And even though we got up to check on him probably 5 or 6 times (between the two of us), it was nice to be able to go back to sleep right away. The two times I got up, I would hear him on the monitor, and by the time I got to his room, he was out again, so I didn't bother him. He certainly was hungry Thursday morning!!!

We have been blessed that Clint has allowed us to sleep for good stretches at a time. He is also fairly easy to get back to sleep after he eats in the middle of night. I know that I am spoiled, and if we have another little one someday, I hope Clint will teach him or her how it is supposed to work around here!

During the day, Clint has started playing with some of his toys. We have some on the sides of the changing table (Thanks Melissa!) and he bats at them and looks at them. It is really amazing to see him discover things like that. I bathe him in the baby bath tub on the counter in our bathroom, and Clint LOVES to look at the little baby next to him in the other baby bathtub on the adjacent bathroom counter. (That other baby is pretty cute, too.) He has a mirror that attaches to the side of the crib, and we put it in there with him sometimes when he is playing by himself, or we'll put it beside him on the changing table. He just loves that other baby!! I can't blame him. I tend to stare at him, too.

Clint does very well playing alone, which of course, means that he is pretty much just staring at his toys, or maybe reaching toward them. I try to put the parts the crackle under him so that when he moves, they make noise. This morning, after I got him ready for church, I put him in his crib with the mirror and some toys while we got ready, and he was perfectly content (and awake) for about 30-45 minutes. Everytime I went in there, he was just looking at something.

This month has gone by so fast!! We are enjoying Clint so much. He is so sweet to hold and cuddle and play with and stare at and listen to. His little show tonight made us so happy!!! Don't forget to check it out (below)!!!