Feels like a minute ago I was delivering my baby girl in the hospital and two months of her life has already passed by. I literally think I blink and another day goes by. The word schedule is not really part of my vocabulary since she rules my day and night. Mostly by her hunger I’d have to say. It’s just a pattern I repeat daily: wake, feed, play, sleep. Somewhere in the middle of all of that, I’d say I change her diapers about 7-9 times a day and give her a bath. I try to fit in coffee where I can because I’m not sure what else I would run on. Coffee = mom fuel.
I think the hardest part of all of this has got to be breastfeeding. Feeding every three hours is exhausting. By the time you finish and she goes down to sleep, you sometimes just have 30 minutes to an hour before the next feed. I know the cardinal rule is: sleep when the baby sleeps, however I’m not sure how mommies implement this. In my head, I run through the thoughts of “Should I eat?”, “Should I shower?”, “Fold her laundry?”, “Should I pump?”, “Should I do the dishes since it’s piling up?”..And the list goes on and on. There are days that I definitely prioritize sleep when I do a rundown of those thoughts, but the reality is if I only followed that one cardinal rule, I would not be myself. I cannot just hibernate in my room next to Aria and let the world go to hell. I need to feel like a person and therefore that rule just doesn’t work for me. Either way, I know I’m doing her body good with breastmilk and I’m not ready to give up just yet. Trust me, there are days I want to just throw in the towel, but I convince myself how nutritional it is for her and I just keep chugging on. Pumping is helpful but sometimes it’s difficult to find the time to fit it in. But having those bottles in the fridge let’s us get out of the house which is great. So for now, I’m not ready to move to the formula just yet!
As for my little Aria, each day she presents me with a new thing that makes the hard part of parenting just melt away. If we’ve had a rough night and she kept me up, that smile in the morning when I pick her up erases all the frustrations from the night. The fact that she’s starting to recognize our faces is such an amazing feeling. Making her smile is my goal each time she looks at me with those big brown eyes. I don’t think there is a sweeter sound to my ear than her little giggle. And it is then, at that moment, I realize the power she has over my heart. I could give anything for my girl to keep her happy forever. Hearing her cry is definitely a sound I despise, especially when the day arrived for her two month shots. After coming home and realizing how much pain those little legs were in, I tried everything to keep her calm. As I held her in my arms and she cried out those blood curdling screams, tears were streaming down my face because I knew that pain was something I didn’t ever want her to feel. If only I had that power… Luckily with tylenol, she calmed down in a couple of hours and went back to being her jolly self…THANK GOD. At her two month appointment, we found out she weighs 9 lbs now and is already 24 inches tall! She’s definitely long and lean.
Right now, she has a couple of things that she absolutely loves such as her changing table and ceiling fans. The minute we set her down on her changing table, she is so giddy. So of course, that has become one of our favorite places as well! And I swear she has a love so deep for ceiling fans. She could stare at them all day. I really feel she tries to converse with them in her little coos, and then a massive grin comes across her face as she stares at the blades in awe. Also, in the last few weeks, she has become a huge fan of her play gyms. I’m assuming as her sight keeps improving she’ll love these sorts of toys. This is where most of her playtime occurs right now. She lays on her back and gawks at the circling toys with the music. This lasts maybe 15-20 minutes for now. The other thing she’s slowly starting to enjoy is bathtime. Once she’s in the water, she’s content. The minute it’s over and she’s out of the nice, warm water, she is not a happy camper. I think about how much as adults we hate to step out in the cold after a nice hot shower, and imagine it can’t be any easier when you’re that tiny and want to be warm.
Anyhow, here are a couple of pictures of her at two months old! I’m so obsessed with taking pictures of her tiny feet. Could kiss those lil’ toes all day! You can already see the difference from her 1 month photos!
And last but not least, I have a couple of things that I loved having to make things easier this past month.
1. Boudreaux Buttpaste – She hasn’t had any diaper rashes yet but sometimes if we see her bum is a little red, then we slather this on and by the time her next diaper change comes around, no redness to be found. It does wonders for her little tush!
2. Infantino Play Gym – This is the mat I mentioned earlier she loves to lay on and spend some time on. It’s super colorful and definitely catches her attention and keeps her busy.
3. Baby Bjorn – Love this for when she’s awake but doesn’t really want to play or be left alone. It’s also great to take out when you’re out and about. It helped us get through her first party as well! Love this thing and can see us using it for a very long time.
4. Diaper Champ – Seeing as to how we change diapers 7-9 times a day, it’s super helpful to have something that disposes of that putrid smell. Plus, it’s better than the diaper genie since you can use any trash bag versus having to buy the specific refills!
5. Miracle Blanket – I’m sure there a ton of folks out there like my hubs who are amazing when it comes to swaddling with just a blanket, but I am AWFUL at it. I love this blanket since it solves that problem so easily for me. Highly recommend this guy as it’s completely foolproof.
6. Boon Grass – I love having this separate drying rack for on the counter versus the one I use for our dishes. It holds all her bottle and my pump accessories perfectly!
7. Chicco KeyFit Caddy – Having a super light stroller is absolutely necessary. I have the BOB but lugging that thing around is a task in itself. Add a heavy carseat, diaper bag, and a unhappy baby because of the cold and the whole scenario is a mess. This stroller is made to fit her carseat which clicks right in and off you go. Easy peasy.
8. Infantino Pop and Play Gym – When she gets bored of the play mat I mentioned, I move over to his guy. I also like this because it’s got a couple of different songs. Another advantage is you can rotate the toys so they can also enjoy it at a later age.
9. Laundry basket next to changing table (not pictured) – Let’s face it. Babies can be gross at times. All that spit up, boogies, and loads of poop. I love keeping a laundry basket to throw all the dirty stuff in so that I’m not running around all over the house to put that onesie that got some poop on it! YUCK.
Looking forward to the third month to see the next milestones that await us!