2 Months Old

Samuel Jacob,

You are two months old! There is no "newborn" left in you at all. You have turned into a sweet baby this month who interacts with us, coos, and smiles. It's a tad bittersweet to be past the newborn stage, but for both me and your daddy, the newborn stage isn't really our favorite stage. I love the sweet cuddles and snuggles, but it's a tough, tiring few weeks for everyone trying to figure out your needs. It's easier now that you're a little older and we are better about knowing what you need and how to meet it. And the smiles, well I can never get enough of those!

You are starting to recognize faces. I love when you're lying on you play mat and I come over to see you. As soon as you see me, you light up with the biggest grin. My heart bursts every time! And how you watch your brother. If he is in the room, your eyes are always on him, watching everything he does. I'm praying he'll be a great role model for you and you'll always look up to him.

When you were 5.5 weeks old, I laid you on your tummy in the Living Room and ran to the kitchen for a minute. When I came back, you were lying on your back! I haven't seen you do it since then, and you haven't really tried either. I'm guessing it was a fluke. You don't enjoy tummy time very much. A lot of times you'll start fussing after just a couple of minutes.

But you love to lie down, stretch out, and play. You like to be held some but prefer to be lying down on a blanket. You were held all day during your brother's birthday party (Your whole family loves you so much!). Toward the end, you started to get fussy, and I suggested putting you down on a blanket, and you stretched and kicked your legs and were so happy. You're content to lie on your play mat for long periods of time. You reach for your toys, talk and play.

For most of your second month, you ate every 2.5 hours during the day and would go 4-6 hours between feedings at night- usually 8 feedings per day. You nurse for about 10 minutes per side and still take a little supplemental bottle after each feeding. Our doctor recommended cutting your food intake down a little, so for the last week or so, I've been stretching your feedings to every 3 hours and you go about 5-6 hours between feedings at night. So now, you eat 7 times per day.

You still sleep wonderfully at night. We had one night where You slept from about 10:30-7:30, but that's the only time you've slept all night. You usually have your last feeding of the night between 10 and 10:30 and have been sleeping pretty consistently until 4:00 or 5:00. I think we're getting close to you sleeping through the night. You sleep swaddled in a pac and play next to our bed.

You nap after most feedings during the day, but most of the time they are short cat naps. I don't have you on a great nap schedule. The only consistent nap I try and get you to take is after your lunch time feeding between 12:00 and 1:00 (That's when your brother naps). I can usually get you to sleep about 1-1.5 hours then. I'll start you sleeping in your crib, but you almost always end up in your swing by the end of the nap.

For the most part, you are a very content and calm baby. You have a little fussy time in the evenings. You usually get upset from some gas issues, or if you're tired. You fight sleep a lot and cry before falling asleep for most of your naps.

You occasionally take a pacifier. I picked up a few different kinds to see what you prefer, and we've found one you like better than the others, but really, you just want to suck on your fist. I have a pretty good feeling you're going to be a thumb sucker. You just have to figure out where your thumb is and how to get it in your mouth, without putting your whole fist in your mouth.

You seem to enjoy your baths. You've never cried during one and usually just chill out during them even when your brother is not so gentle when he "helps". It's hard to keep you warm enough and it breaks my heart when I see your little lip quivering when I get you out of the bathtub.

You are my swing boy! Really, you just like motion. If you're in the car and are stopped for too long, you let us know! You'll fuss, but as soon as we start moving again, you settle right down. You sleep so much better when there is some motion. You still take a lot of naps in your swing, because it's usually the only way I can get you to nap for more than 20 minutes. You usually fall asleep in your car seat when we are on walks in the evenings, but the minute we put you down and we stop moving, you wake right up.

We took you to the doctor last week for your 2 month check up. You weighed 11lbs 13oz (50%), were 23inches long (50%) and your head circumference was 16cm (75%). You seem so long to us, so I was surprised you were only in the 50% for height, and even more surprised when I pulled your brother's baby book out and found out he was the same height as you at 2 months.

You are wearing 0-3 month and 3 month clothes and a size one diaper. You have outgrown a lot of your 0-3 month sleepers because you are too long for them. I put away all your newborn clothes last week. Whew, that was tough! I still can't believe we're already to the point of you outgrowing clothes.

You are so precious to us Samuel. We've only known you for two months, but we don't know what we ever did without you!