Lillian is 2 months old today, April 12th, and she is so stinkin' precious and fun! The first month was joyous, but hard (sometimes very hard!), so now as we head into Lillian's third month we are really enjoying the nights that are easier, smiles that are more frequent, and her little personality that we're getting glimpses of.
- Sleeping has gotten so much better and b/c it's so much of the adjustment of having a new baby, I'm giving it it's own section!
- Week 5 there was this special thing we'd do to put her down for bed where we'd swaddle, turn her on her side laying on my legs, and jiggle back and forth while running the blow dryer. (Ha! I should have videoed this!) That worked beautifully for 3 days... on the 4th day Michael tried to 'work this magic' and 25 mins later she was still awake and fussing. That night marked the end of that trick and we had a few really bad nights that week.
- Week 5 aside, starting in week 6, Lillian would go down between 11pm and Midnight (she's still hovering around a 10:30 or 11pm bed time) and most nights give us a 4 to 5-hour stretch of sleep. One night she gave us 7 hours - MIRACLE! - but that has only happened once so far.
- Sometime in the coming months we'll be working towards that earlier bedtime, but for now round her 11pm bedtime and after the 4 am-ish feeding she goes to sleep like a dream - we feed her, swaddle her in one of the wraps with Velcro, and then turn her on her side with her belly against ours and bounce/jiggle while patting her bottom. Her eyes get heavy and we put her in her bed.
- Now she's still sleeping in her 'newborn napper' of the pack and play and is napping in her swing, so we're liable to have a little sleeping boot camp sometime in the coming weeks, but for now I'm totally content to have this little bit sleeping within arms reach.
The changes in sleeping have really helped morale and the feeling confident in knowing what we're doing... this contributes to us being able to enjoy her during the day more with all her new developments!
- She is clearly smiling at us and the voices and faces we make these days as well as 'talking' some when we talk to her.
- She is content on her activity mat for longer as she stares at the animals hanging overhead and she kicks her legs and waves her arms.
- Though a betterigh sleeper, she is still a sleep fighter at the end of her three hour eating cycles during the day and she starts to get fussy when it's time to start that cycle's nap. It's pretty much 0 to 90 in no time. Even once you get her to settle down, she likes to 'flare up' with one good whine or a few screams before she totally gives it up.
- She is very tolerant of diaper changes.... actually, on the changing table is one of the places she's smiley-est.
- We still hear that she looks like Michael more often than we hear she looks like me and people are always saying things like "her nose is so distinct" and "her nose isn't like a regular baby nose" - both of which I'm taking as compliments because I'm totally biased.
- My dad, her Pappy, and Michael's parents, Papa and Nana, came to visit Lillian this month.
- She went to her first 'race' to watch daddy this month as well. Michael and Clay SMOKED the Big D half marathon (with seriously record times) and Lillian, dad and I showed up to watch.
We think Lillian is the most beautiful baby ever, because as Lesley said when she was here for Sara's bachelorette weekend - "once you have a baby you think they're the cutest, smartest, funniest..." etc. and that is so true!
At her two month check-up Lillian was in the 75th percentile for head and length (23") and in the 50th percentile for weight at 10lbs 2oz.
