Baby Joel

I noticed I seem to be writing a lot about Reuben lately and thought Joel deserved a post of his own. He is now 9 weeks old and I'm amazed at how fast he is growing. He is 5.64 kgs as of this afternoon when the Plunket nurse came to weigh him (that's just under 12 and 1/2 lbs for the US readers.) In saying that, I was amazed at how fast Reuben grew as well. That 'newborn' look doesn't last for long which is a little bit sad, but at the same time, the older they get, the more interactive they become. Joel smiles, although he seems to be 'selective' about when he smiles, and at whom. He often has quite a serious look on his face, as though he's concentrating on something - or maybe he's just pondering the meaning of life. :) He is quite alert and very strong. I think he recognizes me when I come in to get him up after a nap - he gets this cute little look of expectancy on his face when he knows I'm about to pick him up. He enjoys being on his tummy when I put him on the floor for 'tummy time' - much more than Reuben did, I must say. He is also quite 'vocal' about his likes and dislikes and if he gets upset about something, everyone is going to know about it! :) He really enjoys looking at the mobile above his changing table and kicks his little feet and makes these gorgeous little cooing noises while it spins around! He loves being held and I think he would gladly be carried 24/7 if we could manage that. Unfortunately, that is just impossible, especially with Reuben being so little still. He goes down well at night and at the moment has his last feed of the day at 8:30pm and wakes again around 4am. Then it's back to bed until about 7:30. I think he quite likes his sleep but can sometimes be hard to settle during the day. I have tried all sorts of techniques and sometimes what works one day won't work the next which has left me scratching my head in bewilderment at times. At the moment, we've found if we turn the hairdryer on next to his bed when he's grizzling, often that puts him to sleep. I have read that some babies like 'white noise' but this is the first time I've actually seen it work. It made no difference with Reuben if he was grizzling.
I try not to compare the two boys as I know they are individuals but it is hard not to at times. They are quite different though, and I will be interested to see how they develop as they grow older. Anyway, it is time to feed the subject of this post and so I'm going to post a couple of recent photos and then give him some dinner. :)