Giving thanks.

For Torin. And for the fact that he finally fell asleep in his swing, after hours of crying.

Grandpa Brian is still here, so Thanksgiving is extra special. Torin really loves him; he often falls asleep on his chest or in his lap.

Joey will be going to the last weekend of the Texas Renaissance Festival, near Houston, this weekend. I was dreading facing these next few days alone with a colicky, inconsolable baby, but Grandpa Brian will be here to help me through it.

Today, Joey is fixing turkey and all the trimmings. Brian is watching the football game, Torin is snoozing away, and I'm taking every moment I can to be grateful for all that we have and all that we've accomplished.

Six weeks down...

I can't believe Torin is already six weeks old. He's no longer a newborn. Although I should be sad about how quickly he's growing, I am actually looking forward to the time when he's three months old. At that age, he should be outgrowing his colic and becoming more interactive.

During the few moments each day in which Torin is happy, he is a heart-melting joy to be around. However, he spends most of his waking hours crying uncontrollably. We just began a course of Zantac treatment, and we've switched his formula. We hope these things will help him feel better and be the happy baby he should be.

Grandpa Brian is visiting us right now. In fact, when he arrived today, he finally got to see Torin for the first time. Torin has already taken to his Grandpa and often stops crying when he's in Grandpa's arms. A combination of Grandpa's love, and antacid, and a gentler formula should calm our colicky Thor. I hope.

How can you not love him?

It's a miracle! It's a blanket! It's a miracle blanket!

For the past few nights, Torin has slept for at least four hours in a hour. Last night, he slept for eight hours--and he's still sleeping now! I think that this is not only because he's becoming a big boy but also because of this contraption called the Miracle Blanket. We've been swaddling him tightly in it before bedtime, and it soothes him almost instantly! And mom and dad regain some of their sanity as well! Why didn't we use this thing sooner?

Smile a smile for me.

Torin is smiling real, or "social," smiles. I think. These seemingly real smiles started a little over a week ago, but I don't have an exact date because I'm wasn't sure if they were real when I first saw them. He's using his whole face to smile as opposed to the reflex smile, for which he uses only his mouth. The reflex smile looks like an empty grin, but these more recent smiles portray delight in his eyes. I can't seem to get a picture of this elusive social smile, though, as it lasts for only a second, and I am certainly not an ace photographer.

I'll keep trying to get those smiles permanently documented so that I can look at them whenever I want and whenever I need a good heart-melting.

Happy birthday, Torin!

One month. It has already been one month since Torin entered our lives. Sometimes it seems like it has been only a few days; other times, it feels like it has been several months. It has been a challenging month, indeed, but it has been just as rewarding: Torin is already smiling real smiles!

Unfortunately, Torin isn't really up to celebrating this milestone "birthday"--he has caught his first cold. Poor boy. He must have caught it during one of my many doctor appointments. I feel awful that there's nothing we can do to make him feel better. All we can do is just suction the snot out of his nose and love, love, love him. Luckily, he makes the latter task quite easy to do.

Anyway, one month down and many, many months (and years) to go!

This little piggy.

We ended up having to take Torin to his doctor yesterday because of feeding issues. He eats way more than a baby his age should eat--we're talking four to five ounces every two to three hours. Anything less than that and he's fussy and crying. Add to that a lot of spit-up and you've got one unhappy baby.

Well, the doctor confirmed that we're overfeeding Torin. He has gained almost two pounds in less than two weeks! He should have no more than three or four ounces every two to three hours, or no more than 24 ounces per day. She said we have to "reset" his stomach by cutting him off after three ounces. As for the crying fit that will surely ensue, she said we should comfort him with pacifiers, swaddling, rocking, and whatever else (besides more food) it takes to calm him down.

So far, it's been every bit as tiring and frustrating as I imagined it would be. We're lucky if he sleeps for two solid hours at a time. I feel like I'm starving him now, but I have to have faith in the doctor and understand that this is all for his well being.

And now I have to go--Torin is stirring and likely wanting to be fed, again.