Week 6- School, Smiles, Suckers

By Dad
Roland turned six weeks old Saturday and boy was week 6 busy. I have the feeling I'll be saying that a lot. Every week is full of growth and changes like I don't even believe. I knew, intellectually, that tiny humans do a lot of growing very quickly in their first year, but to see it right in front of my face is still amazing to watch.
The biggest change is smiles. He smiles now and it looks like he's smiling on purpose. I don't know if he's smiling at me or not, but it looks like there is control of facial muscles happening. Angela saw the smiles a few days before I did, but I'm back at work so she is spending more time with him than I am. By the time I get home from work it's time to battle a mid-day nap and he's not always the happiest little boy for a while. But over the weekend I got some good smiles too. That was very good, to be lying in bed next to him and have him look over, then to see a huge smile split his face in half. I haven't been around enough babies to know if they are all prone to big expressions, but if they aren't then Roland is definitely mine. All his faces are bigger than life and over-exaggerated. The Tragic Face that comes mid-cry, which has not yet been successfully photographed, now includes a pouty lip. This elicited an excited call from the other room the first time he did it. "Honey! Come look! He's got a lip now too! It's so cute!" I'm not sure he knows his parents laugh at him while he's crying right now, but he'll probably pick up on it by the time he's two.
This was Grammy and Papa's (my mom and Skip) first full week here too and I can't overstate how helpful they have been. I knew it would be nice to have some family over but I didn't expect how great it would be to not have all the pressure all the time split between just Angela and I. Someone else helping out with cooking, cleaning, or just holding the crying tiny person for a little while is fantastic. Because they are here we've felt more free to do more with him.
For example, Roland went to Waikiki for the first time Friday. They went down a little early and I met them after school and the five of us strolled the main drag, shopping and taking in the first non-rainy day in a while. Roland loves his Ergo and was a good baby the whole time. Everyone who has tiny people- Get a Baby Carrying Device! Cereal, you guys, it's super Al Gore Important. 1000x better than a mobile carseat and easier to move around than a stroller. I'm sure we'll get to stroller use, but the Ergo and Moby wraps are kick ass. He's still not a huge fan of the car, however.
The way we've started combating the fight against the car is by introducing a pacifier. Angela and I were both not sure about pacifiers and we were going to try to avoid using one if we could. Grammy talked us into giving it a shot and it's been great. Sucking seems to calm him down much faster than he can do on his own. He's probably got an oral fixation like his dad, who always has a toothpick in his mouth. We don't go straight to it, we try other things before going to the pacifier, but if he's really upset or just won't relax enough to feed or sleep it's a good tool to have in our utility belt.
The swing also works better now. As he gets bigger the swing become less of an Evil Thing Which Must Be Hated. He's still a slumpy little ball of dough sometimes though. Angela put him in, buckled him down, took a quick shower, and by the time she was done he was curled over into a small ball of I'm Going To Make You Scared I'm Falling Out Even Though The Buckle Has Me Secure With My Arms and Legs Inside At All Times. 
The little cannonball visited his daddy at school last week, and that was pretty cool. I have the best student teacher ever so she took my class over after lunch and allowed me to wander the campus showing him off to all my fellow teachers. Grammy took a bijillion pictures and I posted most of them on this blog here. I look forward to bringing him back every few weeks so everybody can see how he's grown. Also, once Fantastic Student Teacher starts soloing I'm going to get very bored very quickly so Mama needs to visit me for lunch regularly.
According to Mama he's sleeping less and less during the day. He's been a good boy, not very fussy at all, but he needs to sleep more. A few times we've hit Overtired Baby DefCon One (note: everyone does Defcon wrong. Defcon One is the most serious. The higher the Defcon, the less threat there is. At Defcon 12 everyone owns a unicorn).
The biggest thing he did in his sixth week was take Six Week pictures at Sears. These came out great and they will get their own blog later. But he was fantastic during the session and didn't fuss or cry or anything the entire time. Baby loves the camera. Again, just like his father.
Before we get to pictures we must all laugh at the truth of Doghouse Diaries:

Old school diaper pinning

Damnit. Better me than him.

I shall slumpscape!

Baby wearing at the mall

'Allo

'Allo again

I will not make eye contact with Horton

Passed out with Grammy

Oh, The Places You'll Go!

Papa holds me backwards

We have slumpage!

Hello, tiny human!

Genetics Rule!

Dawww!

Grammy in heaven

Are you the cutest boy ever (since your daddy)?

YES!

Test trip to the park in the B.O.B.

We are unsure if we are displeased

Woah!

You are naked! Shocking!

I. Am. The Coolest. Baby. Ever.