Milestones: Two Months

Four weeks ago...and even two weeks ago...I was torn. I wanted to soak up every bit of your newborn deliciousness, but I was also anxious to move on. They say the first month or two with a baby is tough. And boy are "they" right. Making it to two months is something I can honestly say I wasn't sure was possible. Abstractly, I knew you'd grow and we'd somehow muddle through, but in the practical sense I just couldn't picture it.

Now we've arrived at to the two month mark, I'm no longer torn...I want time to stop forever. I want to savor this sweet moment of your life and snuggle you endlessly. The days are still tough, and I do sometimes tend to look at the clock hoping for it to be time for your dad to come home, but I no longer have an internal countdown to the next milestone. I know three months, or six months etc. will be fun, but I'm in no hurry to get there. I love you just as you are, where you are, and I want to soak it in as much as possible because it's starting to go too fast already.

So in an effort to preserve this fleeting stage...here is a verbal snapshot of your two-month self:

• You are now 12lbs 6oz and 23" long. Your head circumference is 41.5cm (just in case you need to buy tiny fitted baby hats.)
• You are still very particular about how you are held. Upright and facing in please, or you will make your displeasure known. Mostly I think you like to snuggle, but you'll also go up high on our shoulders so you can see the world. You hold your head up really well, and look like a little prairie dog popped up next to our heads.
  
• You're showing us bits of your personality. Around six weeks, you finally gave us a smile, and it quickly became one of my most favorite things in this world. Your dad and I will stare at you for a half an hour or more just trying to coax a smile out of you. And sometimes when we're with you, but watching something else, you'll lure us back in with a big grin. I think you know it's irresistible.
  
• You're finding your voice. You have started to make little noises (other than the crying and grunting you were doing thus far). You move your mouth a lot and I can almost see the wheels turning in your head as you try to remember how to make all the sounds you want. Sometimes we have conversations- I'll make a sound and you repeat it. And even when you're not talking you like to listen. Daddy has a lot of silly noises and voices that you can't get enough of (and I got a kick out of his Russian hockey player accent he did for you the other night).
• You have your own special cry. At yoga this week I realized I can tell your voice, even when I'm not looking at you. There were babies cooing and crying everywhere, but I could pick you out from the crowd. Your babbling is sweet and high pitched- very cute. Your cry starts out small, with little grunts and whimpers, but it can escalate quickly...If you're hungry it goes to a loud scream, that cycles through rounds and rounds. Sometimes we're worried you'll hurt yourself with a scream that loud. My favorite though is when you put on a big sad pouty face, and made a short simple cry- "Meh". It's the cutest little squawk, and I can't help but giggle a little at you even though you're mad.
  
• You like to play (or at least tolerate our little games)- "where's Mommy?" is a new one where I hide behind a blanket...you don't 100% understand that one yet, but we're getting there. "Who's that baby in the mirror?" is common after bathtime. You love to look at your pretty little face (who can blame you?). Daddy likes to blow on your face and hair- which sometimes makes you smile, and sometimes makes you confused. You also like to watch your birds in your bunny seat, and you're learning to play on your own on your activity mat. You'll watch the animals that hang from the top- and seem to like the mirror on the octopus's belly.
  
• You are a tummy time champ. You get better at it every time. You lift your head up proud, and will even smile or coo while you're doing it. The trifecta of tricks!
  
• You like to sing Head Shoulders Knees and Toes (sometimes in Spanish), Wheels on the Bus. Daddy makes up all kinds of songs for you, and sometimes at bedtime he sings "Hallelujah" (you know, the one from Shrek).
  
• You're quite the reader. You'll look at the pictures or watch my mouth as I read to you, and you seem to like books that have some rhythm and rhyme to them. (Barnyard Dance is a particular favorite...Your dad made up a silly song/rap version that cracks me up.)
  
• You are a nuzzler. When you get sleepy you burrow your little head into my chest, rubbing your eyes and face. And when you do get to sleep, sometimes you'll wake up halfway, and rub your head around some more, trying to find the exact right spot.
  
• You found your hands! You don't quite know how to work them yet, but you at least know they're there, and have even gotten them in your mouth on occasion. You'll chew your fingers a little when you're hungry, but sometimes you just get them in there for fun. Makes us wonder if you'll be a thumb sucker (I hope not!). For the record though- you still hate a pacifier.
  
• You learned to a take a bottle. Around six weeks it finally clicked for you, and we haven't had an issue. Daddy gives you a bottle every night so you can practice. You're still a little stubborn- you definitely go at your own pace- but we aren't worried about leaving you with someone anymore.Although- you still hate a pacifier.
  
• You're working on the spitting up. It happens much less frequently, but I think it might be because we've gotten better at burping you. You're a gassy little lady, and will cry if you get a bubble stuck in your tummy. If we can get them out, you do just fine.
• You seem to have a bit of acid reflux (maybe it's payback for all the heartburn you gave me while I was pregnant?) It's a problem mostly at night- you hate to be put down flat on your back, and after you eat you seems like you throw up in your mouth a little. We tease that you look like a cow chewing your cud, but I do feel bad that you have a bad taste in your mouth and have to choke it back down. We got a prescription for Zantac, and after two days it already seems to be helping a bit, so I'm hopeful that will fix it. In the meantime we try to keep you elevated (even propping your pack and play to give it an incline) seems to alleviate some of the problem.
• You like to bounce. To get you to go to sleep (or sometimes to keep you asleep) we hug you close and bounce you up and down. You like pretty big movement, so our knees are paying the price with some deep squats. You are pretty sensitive too- you seem to know the second we sit down- so we either have to get back up, or try to trick you with a mini-bounce on the couch. (Similarly, even in a deep sleep you know when your bouncy chair stops vibrating...how do you do that?!)
  
• You are a mini-yogi. Not like the bear...like a yoga master. We've been going to Mommy-and-Me yoga since you were five weeks. I was worried you would cry the whole time, or want to eat the whole time, preventing me from working out, but you have been an angel every time. You tend to sleep in your carrier the for the first half, but then you will lie on the mat, perfectly content to look at the lights. You don't usually love lying on your back, but maybe the studio is a calm place for you? My favorite part is the last half of class when we get to do yoga together. I swing you around, and lift you with my legs...You don't always cooperate with every movement, but I like being together, and you seem pretty content too.
  
• You are learning to tolerate a wet diaper. You don't cry every time you wet one now, but it does still seem to wake you up from a lot of your naps. I can't tell if your morning naps are always shorter than the afternoon, or if you do better in the PM because you're usually in a disposable (from running errands). It's hard to narrow down the exact cause of your wonky schedule, so I'm still a little skeptical about continuing the cloth route. We'll have to figure it out soon before you go to day care.
  
• You have mystery hair and eyes. Tons of people comment on your hair...You have so much of it (including a little baby mullet in the back)! But the color is a bit of a controversy. It seems to change all the time. After a bath it is almost blonde, but as it gets greasier (by the hour) it gets darker. And sometimes it even looks like it has a bit of red to it. Your eyebrows and eyelashes are almost invisible, so I think you'll end up with lighter hair than everyone thinks. I'm hoping for blonde, but we'll see. (Too bad Great Grandma Gladys isn't around...she'd offer to dye it for you!) Your eyes are a similar conundrum. They were blue-grey when you were born, and have stayed that way for the most part, but in certain lights they look to have a bit of a golden tint to them. Smart money is on them turning brown, but I am hoping for hazel like your Daddy's.
• You're working on sleeping through the night. Your personal record is six hours straight! A typical night for the last few weeks is four hours, followed by a couple three hour rounds, but in the last week or so you've managed several nights with five or six hour stretches. I'm hoping it's permanent, but am not quite that naive. Daddy and I are working on getting you into a rhythm, with a bedtime routine, and maybe soon you'll even be in your own crib!
  

I could probably keep going forever, writing down every minute detail of your short existence. I don't want to miss a moment of this time with you, but I know it's going to continue to fly by. Since I can't slow time down, I compromise by recording as much as I can, so I don't forget an instant. That explains the constant blogging, photo-taking, and general nostalgia. Your dad thinks I'm a little over the top with it (and of course, he's probably right), but I think he'll be thankful for it in the end. In a few years, your first couple months will probably feel like a blur, but we'll be able to look back on the tiniest little details of who you were. And it's hard to imagine, but by then I bet we'll love you even more than we do now. (which is a lot, LOT).