Tidbits: Two Months Old

Dear Kaeden,

Today, you are two months old. You are not a newborn anymore... I can hardly believe how quickly you are growing.

You are tracking well, and I love the way you focus so intently on things. You look very serious so much of the time, but when your mood is right and you lock eyes with someone, your smile takes over your face (who knew your mouth was that big?).

You are happiest right after you eat, not surprisingly. You still take frequent naps, varying in length. You typically wake up between 7-8 am, eat, have some happy awake time, nap, and repeat. It sort of throws you off if you fall asleep right after you eat and then you usually wake up unhappy and think it's time to eat again even if it's not. You are still staying up late at night, although we've been able to get you down before 10 pm most of the time recently, which helps a lot. At least then Mommy & Daddy can get to bed on time. Some day, we'd love to have our evenings back to ourselves, but until then, we will enjoy the extra time with you :-) And you are sleeping for one 6-7 hour stretch quite consistently, so I really can't complain. Will you be like your brother and start sleeping through the night now that you are a big 2-month-old?

This month, you celebrated your first Christmas.

You got lots of new toys (most of which you're not that interested in yet), but your absolute favorite is a very colorful little stuffed owl from your Aunt Monica & Uncle Avery. It almost always brings a smile to your face, even when you are being fussy. It's so fun to see you starting to gain interest in toys... though you are still equally amused by blinds, shadows, etc. Christmas didn't mean much to you, except that we had nearly 2 weeks of time with extended family, which meant that you got lots of extra attention, snuggles, and special treatment. You spent almost every nap in someone's arms... not a bad life!

Unfortunately, along with your first Christmas, this month also brought your first cold. It was so pitiful, little one. You were oh so congested and the worst were the days when you had trouble eating because you couldn't breathe out of your nose. You would try and try, get so frustrated, and eventually just give up and go back to sleep. It was as if it just wasn't worth the effort. I am so thankful that it wasn't any worse than it was and that you are feeling way better now.

Things you like:

- Being held (especially for naps)!

- Being sung to, especially when there are hand motions involved

- Standing up (with help, of course) - you're holding your head up so well these days!

- Your owl :-)

- The "mega-swaddle", as Daddy calls it. He wraps you up in a huge blanket and it almost always calms you down.

Things you don't like:

- Your car seat... man, you can't stand that thing! The good news is that you still fall asleep most of the time when we start moving, but I'm not looking forward to the day when you stay awake in the car. Let's hope that by then you have gotten used to the seat.

- Sudden loud noises, like when I blow my nose close to you. You get this big pouty lip, but you are easily calmed with a Mommy hug.

- Any part of your body "falling" (like if we put your legs down too swiftly while changing your diaper) ... you get a panicked look on your face and if we don't comfort you fast enough, you scream harder than I've ever heard and shed big tears. Something tells me you may have a fear of heights when you grow up!

- Being held facing out. You much prefer being held over someone's shoulder.

- Being put down to sleep if you are not already in deep sleep. Mommy is not looking forward to sleep training you!

- You don't like tummy time as much as you once did, but you tolerate it okay as long as you are in a good mood... especially if someone else lies on the floor with you.

The snow, but who could blame you? It's awfully cold & bright for a little baby.