Baby Mine: Two Months Old!

Look at the ~~beer-belly~~ milk-belly

Happy Two Month Birthday, John! It seems that many of you are thinking “oh my god. 2 months already??” but it seems like it’s been 2 years to me. Although it’s been a good 2 months, it’s been the longest two months of my life. How is it possible that a mere 2 months ago Bud and I were having conversations like this…“Do you think he’ll be blonde or have dark hair?”

Sleep:
Things are still pretty good in the sleep department. He’s been fighting his naps during the day, but is still a pretty good night sleeper. Until recently he was still waking up a couple times per night (eating at midnight, 3:00, and 6:00 am). However, the past week we started a bedtime routine to help him wind down and it seems to be working. Around 8:00 or 9:00 we give him a bath, put lotion on him, and then I nurse him in his room with the lights dim or off. If he’s awake I’ll sing to him (he’s the biggest fan of my singing), but he’s fallen asleep while eating the past few nights so I’ve stayed quiet. After he’s done I’ll put him in his crib and I won’t hear from him for a while. The past 3 nights he’s only woken up once (around 3:00). Last night was his longest stretch ever…almost 7 hours! Heavenly.

I’m still swaddling him and putting on a white noise machine plus his ceiling fan and sleep sheep when he’s in his room. Yes, it’s excessive, but it works for him.

I miss his long naps during the day. He’s a much happier kid if he gets his naps. Maybe one day I’ll figure out how to get him to sleep during the day too?

Eating:
John is still a champion eater although he’s also still a champion at spitting-up. So gross. The spit-up is always worst in the morning, but he’s pretty much locked and loaded at all times.

During the day he continues to eat every 1.5 to 2.5 hours. He has days when it’s more and days when it’s less, but generally that’s his schedule.

Likes and dislikes:
His favorite things are still looking at himself in the mirror on his changing pad and eating, but this month we’ve added a few more things.

He finally likes his swing! Almost every morning he falls asleep in it or sits happily in there while I eat breakfast or get other things done.

He also likes his little play mat. It has a toy that plays music and lights up which will entertain him for a bit. Nothing keeps his attention more than a few minutes.

Music, singing, and humming are also always welcome. We have a ‘John’ playlist on the iPod and it gets plays at least twice per day. Thankfully, it’s not kid songs…just quiet music that we like. John loves it. No Raffi in this house…yet.

John also likes being in his carseat…either for a car ride or a stroller ride around the neighborhood. He LOVES sunshine, especially when it’s directly on his face. Is this my kid?

He also has plenty of dislikes, but they are hard to pinpoint. On any given day it can be anything. Mostly he just dislikes sitting still and gets bored pretty quickly.

Size:
My big boy! We haven’t been to the doctor this month so I don’t know exactly how much he weighs. According to my scale he weighs 14.5 lbs. It’s not exact, but it’s safe to say the kid is eating plenty. He’s still in Size 1 diapers, but they are getting pretty snug. I bet we’ll go up another size in a week or so. His 0-3 clothes are also tight and are being phased out. 3-6 month clothes fit the best, but he wore a 6-9 month onesie just fine the other day. I think the sizes are pretty inconsistent…no way does he actually fit a 6-9 month outfit, right?

Me:
I’m doing better and better. John has good days and bad days, but I’m learning how to deal with both. It’s still not a walk in the park, but Easter candy helps a lot. Breastfeeding is also getting easier. John is getting quicker, thank god. We’re now up to 212 hours, 14 minutes of nursing this kid. Whoa.

John started smiling this month which is better than I even imagined it’d be. Not because of some bullshit “my child’s smile lights up the room and makes world peace seem possible.” No, it’s just so nice to get a little something back from the kid…even just a little. The first month was so hard because it’s all take-take-take from the baby and getting nothing back. I treasure every smile because it lets me know that I’m doing ok.

I’m down 24 pounds since John was born (4 pounds less than before I was pregnant) which is great, but I still have a long way to go. Now that I’ve gotten the green light from my doc to resume normal activities I would like to try to get in better shape. I wasn’t in good shape before John was born so I can’t really blame him for ruining my six-pack, but my body does feel…uhhh…different. Hard to explain, but it just feels blah and floppy and squishy and ewww. I’m sure that’s how all women want to describe themselves. Breastfeeding alone isn’t going to get me where I want to be so I need to come up with a plan. For motivation, I told myself that I can get a new pair of jeans when I lose 15 lbs. I’ve lost 1.5 since then so only 13.5 lbs left to go. Maybe I should ease up on the aforementioned Easter candy? Nah.

John’s highlight of the month:
Meeting Aunt Sarah and Aunt Allyson

John’s low-point of the month:
His first injury when June accidently wacked him on the top of his head. At least I learned that he definitely has a different cry when he’s in pain. His crying only lasted a minute, but it was pretty sad. Please forgive Juno…she didn’t mean to.

Favorite Picture of the Month: