She is so much more alert these days and starting to interact with us which is the sweetest. She gives the biggest grins now and they just melt my heart. She really enjoys her play mat during her awake times. She will sit there for a long time content just batting at toys. She is getting a lot better at holding her head up too. She is enjoying her bouncey seat more now as well. I usually sit her in that in the mornings while we are getting the big kids ready for school. She is always the happiest in the morning and usually just kind of quietly entertains herself. She still loves her bath and hates getting out. I finally bought a new adapter for our BOB stroller since we couldn't find it, and she has loved strolling. She really likes being outside. She loves her mommy of course, and her favorite napping spot is on my chest. She still loves to be swaddled to sleep, and she loves her paci. It has been especially helpful in the car since that still is not her favorite place. But, it seems like she is getting a little more used to it and doesn't scream the whole time we are driving thankfully!
We just starting working on getting into a better schedule and into bed earlier, and it is a game changer. I had been keeping her up until 10 or 10:30 to get a later feeding in, but I was so exhausted and had no "me" time at night. If there is one thing I cherish it is that hour of quiet couch time before bed to just watch a little TV, drink a little wine, and have some adult conversation with my husband. I loved the extra cuddles, but I needed some quiet time. I ran into a friend who had a baby a few weeks after me, and I asked about her schedule for the baby. She said he went down at 8:30 and only woke up once to feed- WHAT? It was like a light bulb went off- Hey Meredith you don't have to kill yourself trying to stay up all night to put the baby to bed when she passes out on your chest every night anyway. So I slowly moved her bedtime up. The past few nights I have done her last feeding at 8 and then put her to bed. We have had to cry it out a little bit, but she usually falls asleep within 30 minutes or so which has given me back some free time. And guess what- she is still waking up between 3:30 and 4:30 which is pretty much what she was doing before. I get her up, change her diaper, feed her, and then put her back down. She then wakes up between 7 and 8 in the morning. I make sure to feed her every 3 hours during the day even if I have to wake her up to keep her on schedule. We try to follow the eat, play, sleep pattern during the day. But, she still kind of just naps whenever she feels like it.
The big kids still love her so much, and I feel like it is getting a little easier to balance my time between everyone. I'm feeling more like a normal human being and not such a zombie. Even though she's still waking up at night, I don't feel totally exhausted all day. This little baby is such a blessing, and I know that I am going to blink and she will be in kindergarten. Everyone agrees that she looks so much like her big brother!
2 months:
11lbs 9oz (56%)
22.5 inches (51%)
