Marlowe update: Two months old

Marlowe’s 2nd month was a busy one.  We took weekend trips to visit both of our families, so she met a lot of people and spent some time in the car.  She did pretty well in the car, really only waking at the end of the 3 hour trip to my parent’s house.

She was a bit fussy through the month and was spitting up more than usually.  We thought she must have reflux like Jenson did, but it mostly tapered off since then.  She started watching things more intently and reacting to us, so she’s becoming a “real person”, as Lo likes to say.  She’s a happy baby for the most part, but she does want held as much as possible, and gets really mad, really fast if she doesn’t get that.  Jenson liked a little more space when he was a baby.  Sometimes she’s even picky about wanting us to stand while we hold her…sitting just won’t do.  Girl just knows what she wants and she’s cute enough to get it.

Marlowe: January 29 – February 28

Age:  2 months old

Weight:  11 lbs., 2 oz. (50%) at her appointment at 10 weeks

Length:  24 inches (98%) She’s a tall one!

Clothing size:  All 0-3 and 3 month clothes. Some brands of 0-3 month jammies are too short now, but 98% for height accounts for that.  She wore her last newborn outfit towards the beginning of the month.

Hair: Light, baby bird hair that’s getting longer.  It stands up all over the place still and is so fine.  It’s mostly blond, but there is the slightest ginger tint to it, and her eyelashes are a coppery gold color (is that a color?).

Eyes:  Dark blue for now

Teeth:  None, thank goodness.  Her bottom gums are bumpy, so it looks like teeth buds, but the Dr. said they aren’t.

Temperament:  She was pretty fussy at various times of the day for a lot of the month, but nothing major.  She kind of just wants to be held all of the time, or laying on her changing table, and she’s happy.  If she’s not fussy or sleeping, she’s smiling now.  She still goes from 0-60 very quickly and cries SO HARD when she’s mad about something.  Some of her cries have started to sound girly even – little screeches when she’s mad.  And then she’s smiling again.

Sleeping: She’s a pretty great sleeper.  She started sleeping 6-8 hours before she nurses at night, and then 2-3 from there.  She’s usually in bed by about 9:30 pm.  She’s grunty when she sleeps though.  She sleeps in the rock-n-play in our room still and wears a HALO swaddle.  During the day she doesn’t nap well unless she’s being held.  She likes her swing and bouncer enough, but rarely sleeps in them.  She still just catnaps between each meal for the most part; nothing longer than 45 minutes usually.

Eating:  All breastmilk.  She was spitting up a lot for a week or two, but that seems to have calmed down.  Sometimes she’ll just stop nursing and scream, but I think she just gets a bad bubble.  She doesn’t arch her back or spit up regularly, so I don’t think it’s reflux like Jenson had.

Movement: She’s starting to kick her legs on purpose when she’s laying down – especially if there’s something to kick against, like when I lean over the changing table.  She likes to lay on her playmat usually and look at the lights.  Her neck is really strong – everyone is always surprised.  We don’t do a lot of tummy time with her, since she’s usually sleeping, wanting to eat, or has eaten to recently to be on her stomach without spitting everything up.  But we hold her up and on our chests enough that she’s really strong. When we put her in tummy time, she can hold her head up for a few minutes at a time and doesn’t get too upset.

Milestones: 
–Weekend trips to visit both of our families, so she met a lot of new people
–Sleeping 8 hours some nights
–Smiles on cue

–First trip to the playground

 
–First Valentine’s Day (we were at my parents house)

–First girls’ night at Julie’s house
–First time dining out. We got Mexican with Lo’s mom and grandma.  Mommy needed a margarita…

Favorite toys/activities:
–Laying on changing table (just like Jenson)
–Looking at the black and white paintings on the wall (Amsterdam and London)
–Staring at the curtains behind the couch
–Being swaddled
–Nursing and being held
–Baths

–Riding in the baby k’tan
–Laying on the playmat (poor thing never gets the mat to herself if Jenson is around)
–Striped monkey rattle
–Looking at the lights on the swing or the animals on the bouncer
–Filling her diaper

Dislikes: 
–Not being held
–Having to wait a minute once she decides she’s hungry
–Taking a break from nursing to burp
–Getting sprayed in the face when nursing, lol
–Boof barking, especially when she’s sleeping

Sounds and Words:
–Starting to coo a little when we talk to her
–Some of her cries/screams are really starting to sound girly
–Grunty sleeper
–Communicates with a variety of faces

Looking forward to:
–Getting outside in the spring weather
–Easter
–NOT going back to work…I went back to work when Jenson was almost 11 weeks old…it still makes me want to cry when I think about it.  I’m so thankful I get to be home with them, even though there are occasional bad days when work would be “easier”.  It’s going to be a whole new thing for me to experience this next chapter of her life – I was gone over 10 hours a day from Jenson during this time period.  My biggest challenge is adjusting my expectations about what I can get done during the day (not much).  It’s definitely different than when I was just home with Jenson, but they need me more than we need a clean house.

Oh, cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
But children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust, go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby. Babies don’t keep.

(Excerpt: Song for a Fifth Child by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton)

Watch Marlowe grow: