Erp

"Erp" is what Mark Oliver says when he's faking a burp. "Meh" is what he says the rest of the time. He makes a lot of funny grunting noises and furrows his brow at us. This makes him look more like a disgruntled old man than a new baby and it cracks me up every time. Laurel translates for us. "He wants some milk." "His feet are cold." "He wants to learn how to walk." "He wants M&Ms."

He's 4 weeks old and growing out of newborn sized clothing. His tiny hats don't fit anymore. Laurel was never a chubby baby, and I don't imagine that he will be either, but his legs are filling out a little bit. He continues to be a very easy going baby. I can put him in the Moby wrap when we go out, or he is satisfied to sleep in his car seat. He gets a little fussy in the evening, but calms down immediately when we swaddle him. He really likes to suck on a pacifier and has taken a bottle from my mom.

I am eager to get out of the house and take some walks in the woods with him. Laurel needs the exercise, too. We've been cooped up this winter. Normally the weather doesn't stop us, but the combination of recovering from childbirth and time constraints with 2 working parents have kept us inside or using our car a lot over the past two months. We're trying to figure out how to make this work....jobs and child care and family time and money and balance. It's going to take patience and really good communication, but I think we'll figure it out.