It's hard work being a baby! By Thomas A.

Sigh! No one told me it was going to be this hard! Mom LIED! She said it would be fun. It WAS fun when all I did was eat and sleep. As long as mom was feeling sore, she was moving slow and sleeping lots. But now she feels better and is taking me everywhere!

So far I've been to:

Don and Hazel's house. Hazel used to work with grandma.

Great Uncle Tom and Great Aunt Diana's house. It was Uncle Tom's 50th birthday. I got him a card and he got to hold me!

Shopping at Walmart with Grandma Engwall. I think she knows everyone in town! We couldn't go 5 feet without someone asking to see me. She put lots of stuff in my cart. I was scared she was going to try to run me through the checkout line.

I've been to Grandma and Grandpa Engwall's alot. They like being able to see me. I am working my way to being the number 1 grandkid. I will overthow my Engwall cousins yet!

I've been out to eat where Daddy works. All of the waitresses came out to hold me and tell me how cute I am. I didn't cry at all. I save that for mom when it's just the two of us. That way, no one believes her when she says I have a crabby time!

The first picture is me in my camo outfit. It's Wisconsin and the first day of deer season. Leah and Ryan gave the shirt to me when I was in the hospital. They also got me a flannel just like the ones Grandpa wears. I am not a happy boy when mom tries to pose me or makes me act like a show pony. I'm a baby boy, not a Barbie doll!

The second picture is me sleeping in my carseat. It was a long day! Mom, Dad and I had to go see Dr. Flinders for my two week checkup. I do not like the nurse. She makes me get all naked and I get cold and cry. Then they put me on the scale with only a little piece of paper on it and THAT'S really cold. I do my saddest baby in the world cry. I add the chin quiver for drama.

Dr. Flinders then looked to see how much weight I've gained. I am at 8 pounds 4 ounces, which is less than what I am supposed to weigh. I'm at 50%. But I added a whole 1 1/2 inches to my length and 1 inch to my head measurement, which is 95%. Right now, Dr. Flinders says mom needs to wake me up every two hours to eat and come back next week. If I gain a lot of weight, then I need to eat more and sleep less. If I don't then I am a "string bean" and will probably be a skinny baby like mom and dad. And since I was born like the great emperor Caeser, I might have had a lot of fluid in my lungs and the 9lbs wasn't my "true" birthweight.

After the trauma of being weighed, Dr. Flinders made mom get me all unbundled so he could check me. I was quiet but very alert and looking all over. The only time I cried is when the Dr. took off my diaper to check my hips and belly button. {Mom's note....Dr. Flinders is REALLY good at diapering. He was able to get the diaper back on better than I can, and he was standing at Thomas' head so he was doing it upside down. I said "Wow! You're a professional!" "Four kids!" he said.}

While I was crying the Dr. said that I look like mom, but that I really look like Grandpa. He was laughing because he only knows grandpa as an old man, but he says he now has a good idea of what he must have looked like as a baby. Mom commented that I was almost as tall as grandpa, and I cry just as much as Grandpa did after his gallbladder surgery.

Then I heard two things I didn't like. 3 shots at my next visit. He did tell mom to give me tylenol before we come in and to nurse me in the room as soon as they were done. And then mom asked for a refill on her vitamins.

The dr. asked her a bunch of questions and from what I was able to put together, he told her to keep taking them and if she was feeling sick to her stomach she would have to come in right away. He said "Well, it wouldn't surprise me...so you want another baby already?" And mom said she wanted her kids to be close together. We'll see how well that works. As long as I am in my little baby bed...( see below)

After the doctor, we went home and daddy had to go back to work again (I never see him...his boss is gone, so daddy is working lots!) Mom and I went home and I ate and slept. Grandma and Grandpa then came up with Great Uncle Jim and we all went to dinner.

Last is a picture of me in my little bed. It's a special bed that fits in mom and dad's bed so I can sleep all safe and snug between them. I overheard mom and dad figuring out how much room they each get. Dad has 24 inces of bed, mom had 18 inches of bed, and I get the WHOLE middle to myself. Sometimes I have to share with Ike, but mostly, it's all mine! Mom and Dad are trying to figure out why such a little person need so much bed space. It's so I can make sure I am an only child. So ha ha to you Mom and Dad and Dr. Flinders! HA HA to YOU!