So, uh, I’ve been trying to get this post out for a few days, but…one month old!

I can’t believe he’s a month old already. I mean, talk about time flying! He has already changed so much since he was born. On one hand, it’s exciting because I know all of the fun things that are still ahead of him (walking! talking! Agricola!), on the other hand…too fast, too fast! I feel like each baby is a baby for less time than the previous baby.

On the purely physical side, he’s up to 11.2 lbs and just about 23 inches long, with a head circumference of an impressive 39.5 cm, putting him at the very tippy top of every growth curve. He’s like the last of some sort of mythical giant race (never mind, all Halbachs are kind of a mythical giant race).

On the non-physical side, Alex is pretty easy going. I can’t decide if he doesn’t cry that much, or if by the time you get to your third baby you have built up a crying tolerance. He smiles at people (or clocks, he’s not picky), and he will “talk” to you sometimes, like if he says, “Ahhh” and you say, “Ahhh” he will smile and ahh back and forth with you a little bit.

For some reason, that boy loves diaper changes. The changing pad is the only place that he is reliably happy. He’ll just lay there and look around…it’s the one thing guaranteed to snap him out of a crying fit. I love when I take him in there in the middle of the night and he just streeeeeeeeeetches out. It looks like the most luxurious stretch that humankind has ever experienced. He also likes looking at lights (something I remember from the other kids), taking baths, and long walks on the beach.

He still wakes up multiple times per night, but I feel like we’ve managed that about as well as it can be managed (mostly by going to bed early and trying to get Sara extra sleep when we can). He does seem like maybe he’s starting to consolidate his sleep a little bit now: staying awake longer during the day and going for a couple hours at a stretch at night.

I’d say the hardest thing is just that, with Sara and I reliably going to bed so early, it makes it difficult to stay on top of things. By the time the other kids get to bed, we have time for about one thing, max, and then it’s bed time. Doesn’t leave a lot of time for dishes, laundry, Downton Abbey, what have you.

Evelyn is really good at soothing him. She picks him up and sings to him, and he stops crying, just like that. Her singing in particular seems to sooth him, and he just loves to stare at her face while she’s singing (and she loves to sing, so it’s a win/win).

Ollie is torn as to whether Alex should hurry up and grow up, or else stay a baby forever. For example, he really wants Alex to sleep in his room with him. Sara said maybe he’d be ready for that when he’s a year old, but Ollie wailed, “But I won’t love him as much then!” He’s also convinced that Alex says things to him; he’ll run in and say, “Alex just said ‘Hello’ to me!”

Both kids are really sweet with Alex, and just adjusting really well in general to having a baby in the house. I haven’t detected any hint of resentment or anything like that. Maybe it’s just that they’re old enough that they’re past all of that, or maybe that will come later, I don’t know. But so far, everything has been surprisingly pleasant!