Into Mommyhood: 2 month update

Having a child is the best thing you will ever do, and also the hardest. Staying home full-time is harder than working outside the home, in my opinion. However, I think I got a "C" in Home Ec. My days at home consist of juggling and prioritizing (it's gotten a lot more manageable lately). It is repetitive and thankless work with no feedback about how I'm doing. I have little adult conversation or contact with the outside world. And being on-call for someone else 24/7 can be tiring. But we get to set our own schedule. I can hold her, play with her, and nap with her as much as I want. And I can take care of her the way that is important to us, teach her, and be there for her firsts. We adore her. So, I will be returning to work in one month with mixed emotions.

6 weeks turned out to be a big turning poing for Elena: She hit the 10 pound mark, and was almost sleeping through the night, 4-5 hours (sleeping 5 hours is considered sleeping through the night). She began smiling at people. She grew out of "newborn" size and into "0-3 months" size, and also graduated from newborn diapers into size 1. She is making little pre-coo sounds, "talking." And as mentioned in previous post, crying increased and we started using a pacifier. I quit breastfeeding and she can drink from the bottle like a champ now! Cradle cap/bad dandruff started around 6 weeks, and there was some on her eyebrows too. Bought Aquaphor and applied it twice to her forehead and the flakes wiped right off! Her Social Security card, which we applied for in the hospital, arrived around 7 weeks. She is official!

Common comments made about Elena by others: she is "beautiful," an "easy baby," has "bright eyes," and a "strong neck."

She loves to look at lights, windows, and mirrors. Newborns notice high contrast items - black/white/red.

At 2 months she slept through the night (6 hours!), started giggling a little, is increasing her repertoire of sounds, using her hands more and finding her hands to put to her mouth, starting to drool, and smiling freely at everyone. She is so cute when she smiles at and tries to "talk" to the animals on her activity mat and bouncy seat! Giving her a bedtime bath works wonders for sleep. She doesn't mind her baths, just looks up at me patiently.

We have found ourselves falling into a schedule (thank goodness). She gets a bath every 3 days, and we wash her face/neck/ears and hands daily (got to wash the neck or you will end up with the dreaded neck-cheese!). We do a bedtime feeding around 8PM-ish, and one middle of the night feeding around 1-2AM, and an early morning feeding around 5-6AM. She has a lot of awake time in the morning, takes a big nap in the afternoon, more awake time in the evenings before bedtime. She feeds about 15 minutes, we burp her for 15 minutes, she might take a power nap and then have 20 minutes of awake time before she is either ready to feed again or nap until her next feeding. Have I mentioned that she is an excellent burper?

At her 2 mo doc's apptmt she weighed 11 lbs 1 oz (60th percentile), length is 23 and 1/4 in. (90th %), head circumference 37.5 cms (25th %). She is growing very well! I have asked her doc to space out some of her vaccinations, so instead of getting all her 2 mo shots at once, they gave her half the shots, and we return next month to get the other half. It means we go back for extra visits but I'm fine with that.

Showing her team spirit