Tidbits: Two Months

Dear Ethan,

Happy 2 months :)

You continue to grow so fast, but I can truly say that I am enjoying each and every day with you.

You are doing your best to surpass your oldest brother for the easiest baby ever award. I don't know how I managed to get two of you, but I will take it! You, my dear, are a dream.

Once you hit 6 weeks, you got a lot happier. You weren't an unhappy baby before, but you were pretty fussy during the day when you weren't eating or sleeping. Now, the only times that you fuss are when you're hungry, tired, have a full diaper, or are in your car seat for too long.

You are weighing in at 13.5 lbs - up 2.5 in the last month and still a pound bigger than either of your brothers at this age... not bad!

You are an incredible sleeper. Lately, you've been sleeping a minimum of 8 hours at night, and most nights it is 10-12. You are very insistent about your bedtime... if I'm not upstairs feeding you at 7:00, you will make it clear that it is time. You're typically asleep around 7:30-7:45, and then you sleep until the morning. Even after you wake up to eat, you'll often go back to sleep for a couple more hours. If it were up to you, you'd take a long morning nap and a long afternoon nap, but since we're often on the go, you tend to take any number of catnaps throughout the morning and then a longer nap in your crib in the afternoon - it's usually at least 2 hours... sometimes 3. You're also great at putting yourself to sleep - when I sense that you're getting tired, I can just swaddle you, put you in your crib with your mobile going, and you'll put yourself to sleep. How did I ever get so lucky? Over the course of the month, you've stretched out your feedings from every 2 hours to at least 2 1/2 (more if you're napping), so that's been nice too. You do still cluster feed in the evening, usually eating around 5 & 7 before bed.

You are a talker. When you're happy and interacting with somebody, you just coo and coo. I love the little conversations we have :) I don't remember either of your brothers cooing this much, so I'm curious to see if you'll be a little quicker in your language development than they were.

This month, you had a number of visitors. Aunt Sara came to meet you, then Nana & Papa came, and finally Uncle Tyler & Aunt Molly. We love having the extra hands, and you love having the extra snuggles :-) Aunt Sara discovered for us how much you like having the top of your head stroked. Who knew!?!

Papa snuggles

Kaeden was very excited about the dog lovee that you got as a gift. He is quite attached to his doggie, and now he often asks where yours is so that he can bring it to you.

Your brothers continue to adapt to your presence in their lives. Ryan is as sweet as could be with you. It's so nice to have a child around who I can trust to watch out for you! Giving up more attention hasn't been a walk in the park for him, though. For a while, he was expressing it with his "woe is me" attitude, more than average meltdowns, and impatience with Kaeden. That has all improved a lot, especially since I've been trying to be sure to spend more quality time with him when possible. Kaeden still adores you on the surface, but he is definitely jealous and tends to take it out on you. I can't really let him near you unless I have my protective reflexes ready - sometimes he can be sweet and gentle and then out of nowhere, he'll pinch your cheek or squeeze your hand as hard as he can or grab your head and twist it. You're learning to be somewhat wary of him, whereas Ryan frequently brings a smile to your face. I'm sure you & Kaeden will work it out over time :-) At this rate, you'll be as big as he is before we know it!