Imperturbable

Right from the start, Charlie has shown an aptitude for things that matter if you happen to be a baby: sucking (for good eating), diaper-filling (for processing the food that is sucked in), and squawking or screaming, as required, to get the necessary attention if hungry/cold/lonely, or if pacifier or blanket needs proper adjusting. So far, so normal.

But there is one area where we are convinced that Charlie excels, that perhaps is normal for a fourth baby but in our experience is abnormal for anyone earlier in the birth order: Charlie is imperturbable. The kid can sleep through anything. Just yesterday, he was sleeping peacefully in his bouncy seat, which was resting on the floor next to our kitchen table. I watched him for only 10 minutes and in that short time witnessed Tripp shout Molly's name to get her attention in the next room; Sophie slam shut the cabinet drawer where her markers are kept (which happened to be 12 inches from Charlie's sleeping head); Sophie bump into Charlie's seat as she retrieved said marker, sending him bouncing up and down; and Coco our dog sniff Charlie's feet in her continuing quest to figure out what is this new "toy" we've brought into the house.

In all of that, Charlie never awoke and barely moved a muscle. He continued to sleep for another thirty minutes until feeding time. This skill of his is what is keeping us sane, and what should serve him well and give him a fighting chance to survive in this wacky household into which we've brought him.

At the very least, he'll have a well-developed escape mechanism for later life.