Two months and counting...

I certainly can not believe CJ has reached two months old already! I know it's very cliche to say, but time goes by way too fast. I can't emphasize this enough. To new parents, and parents to be, I have one piece of unsolicited advice to offer you (and I'm far away from being a parenting expert)! If you want to remember the youngest days/weeks/months of your child's life, write it all down. Keep track of everything you think you're going to want to remember and reminisce about: how much s/he sleeps, eats, poops, pees, farts, etc. I assure you, when you say to yourself, "I'll do it later"; Take it from me, it never happens. Monday when we woke up, CJ was all smiles (as he is most mornings). I sat there and I tried to remember the first two weeks we came home. (Granted those two weeks were Christmas and then New Year's, where everything around the holidays in general is a big blur, with or without a baby!) To my surprise, I sadly, and unfortunately couldn't remember much. I do remember always holding him when he would sleep and wait for his sleepy smiles and funny faces. I remember never wanting to put him down. We cuddled A LOT. We took trips to the doctor's office week one and week two. If I didn't write down in CJ's baby book how much he weighed, I never would be able to remember today.

This is (a small amount of) what I've experienced/learned from my two months of being a mommy: Take pictures of everything (crying, smiling, sleeping, laying like a lump, in a swing, in his crib/bassinet, ANYTHING). And make sure you get some pictures with your baby as well. Take family pictures as often as possible. Don't have someone to take a picture? Well, do the old "reach your arm out as far as you can" trick. No matter how tired you are, always take a shower to rejuvenate yourself. Before you go into labor (my suggestion is to do this as early as you want in your pregnancy), go buy some fancy or your favorite moisturizing body wash/body lotion/or some exfoliating shower salt glows or something of the sort. If possible, buy some hair products that allow you to style your hair without having to blow dry it. Put the items away for when you bring baby home. Trust me, you will feel SO much better after having pampered yourself. Even this very short and subtle shower experience post-delivery will make you feel 150% better than you did before; plus it gives you a pretty feeling again!!

CJ had his 2 month check-up with Dr. Katz Friday, February 20... My little chunker is just that, a chunker; a very healthy, happy chunky man. Here are his stats:
Wt: 13lbs, 9oz//Ht: 23inches//HC: 16 inches (His weight was over 75th percentile and his height is just above the 50th... like I said, a little chunker!!)

Prior Stats:
1 month (01.20.09) Wt: 10lbs, 12oz//Ht: 22.25inches//HC: 15inches (75th percentile across the board!)
2 weeks (01.02.09) Wt: 8lbs, 6oz//Ht: 21inches//HC: 14inches
1 week (12.23.08) Wt: 7lbs, 5oz//Ht: 20inches//HC: 13.75inches
Birth (12.16.08) Wt: 7lbs, 8oz//Ht: 19.25inches//HC: 34.5cm

The importance of CJ's smiles

It's no longer important that I don't remember what it feels like to sleep more than 2 1/2 hours at a time... What is important is the look on CJ's face when after I change his little non-existent butt after he wakes up in the morning. His smiles are beautiful...

His smiles in the morning are by far the best (for me at least!) Whether he is wide awake and happy for 15 minutes or an hour, his cheerfulness gets me through the rest of the day; no matter what time we wake up, how much we slept the night before... It all just doesn't matter after he shows me his gorgeous, toothless smile.

CJ is about a week away from being 2 months old (February 16 he'll officially be 2 months). His greatest achievement at this point, I think, is smiling when he hears my voice and sees my face. It fills me up with happiness I never knew existed!! He's also developing well. He's holding his head up like a champ, and he doesn't fight tummy time (as long as we get him on his belly under his terms, he's happy; that is the key to tummy time I believe.) His newest thing is chewing on my finger. He loves to chew on my pinky right in front, and then also in the back of his mouth... He doesn't take a binky from me, which is ok, I'm not against them or for them. If they work, they work. If not, I don't want to force him to take it, but he also chews on those now!! i wasn't sure if it a sign of teething (not very likely, but who knows!?)

We go to the pediatrician February 20 for his two month check up and some vaccines. I'm spreading out his vaccines so he doesn't get more than two at a time. If I can, I will only allow him to get one at a time. It's pretty stressful for him to undergo more than that I think. Yes, I survived the shots and so have many other people. But when he gets one, he tenses his arms and legs up, and putting a needle into a tense muscle doesn't feel very good!!

Anyways, CJ is eating like a champ, he takes a bottle (of expressed BM) for daddy (not for me... he'd rather have the real stuff, I guess). But it is kind of nice just in case I want to or have to go out somewhere, and daddy is watching him. I've gone out to the store for a quick ride, but never out for more than an hour (and I've done that once, maybe twice). And I'm always local!! Never more than 10 minutes away. I'm certainly NOT complaining because I don't think I'm ready to leave him for more than that yet! February 28th I'm heading to a tricky tray and that will be my first night out of the house with Frankie home with CJ for a good amount of time. The doors open at 5pm and the auctions start at 7pm... However, the school where the event is being held is within walking distance (10 minutes max; 1-3 minutes driving (depending on lights). So if I had to get home for whatever reason, I'm REALLY close. I think it's a good planned first night out!!!

All in all, everything is going well. Transitioning to parenthood can be a challenge. Don't get me wrong, Frank and I have had some up's and down's over the past almost 8 weeks, but everything has been up for the most part! I'm pretty much exclusively breastfeeding, so Frankie doesn't necessarily have to get up at night. I'm a little quicker with changing diapers, so I take care of them at night... It keeps CJ sleeping rather than waking up!! Plus, CJ has an innate sense of who is changing him, and he usually pee's on Frankie 2 out of 3 times when he changes him!! We agreed that during the night, I'll change him so we ALL can get some more sleep... Silly daddy!!