A Love that Grows Stronger: Two Months Old

Lincoln turned 2 months old couple of weeks ago. The delay in the post is because I was waiting for his 2 month doctor appointment on the monday after and then I unfortunately had to go back to work last week, but that will be a separate post.

Over the last month I've really enjoyed getting to know my little booger. This month has been by far a lot easier than the first month. He is really the sweetest little boy ever, although I'm biased. This month his personality has really started to show. He is getting more and more social and his wake times are getting more and frequent. Now his doctor did confirm with me that he does have a mild case of colic, but even so he is getting easier and easier. Though it does help that his mimi and papa are just down the road and can come over and give this mama a break!

This month he developed some sort of schedule. I use that term lightly but there is some sort of pattern. He usually wakes up around 9 or 9:30 and then he is up for a little bit, somewhere between 30 min and 1 1/2 hours, then will sleep for 45 minutes to 2 hours. His feedings have moved from every 2 hours to closer to 3.5 or 4 hours.

We had a great month at home together and getting to spend every second together. I truly cherished those moments because I knew I was going to have to return to work. But I did do a trial run a couple of times. We left him for a few hours with my sister while we tried the black friday thing, and we left him with his mimi and papa so we could go to dinner just the two of us...it was weird!

This month he celebrated his baptism and first thanksgiving. So it was a big month overall. He has changed a lot and has grown a lot too. When I look at him it's hard to believe that he is 2 months old and how big he has gotten. It's also hard to believe that just 2 months ago this beautiful baby was inside me completely dependent upon me and only me. It's sometimes hard to allow other people to tend to his needs because for so long it was just me. In fact one of my instructors said it best once when I was talking to her about having to go back to work. She said it was going to be hard because after all you have been with him for almost a whole year with minimal separation. When she said that I was almost moved to tears because that truly did describe how I felt.

One thing that has really surprised me this month is how much my love for him has grown. I can't honestly say that I was overwhelmed with love for him while I was pregnant, I never really felt an overly strong connection that I thought I would. Don't get me wrong I always loved him and wanted what was best for him, but I always felt that I would have this OVERWHELMING feeling of love, but I didn't at first. Friends of mine would describe their love for their unborn child or newborn and it would almost make me feel guilty because I just didn't feel that. I don't know if exhaustion and the fact that he was so fussy played a part of it or all of the emotional turmoil of the year but it just wasn't there even though I wanted it to be.

However this month I can say that my love for him brings me to tears. I am overwhelmed by my love for him. He is tied for first as the best thing that has ever happened to me (his dad is the second part of the tie). I am truly moved and taken aback at the love a parent can have for their child. It's remarkable. I love nothing more than being Adam's wife and Lincoln's mom. I feel so blessed that God chose me to be both. I feel so truly blessed.

Well here are a few of the milestones/things he enjoys this month.

He smiles A LOT during the morning hours
He loves the shower/bath time. There are several times where he just falls asleep when we shower together because he is so relaxed.
He still pretty much hates his pacifier. SO much so that it will sometimes upset him more if you try to give it to him.
He loves his lamb seat and sitting and watching everything
He loves Christmas lights and we've set him in front of the tree to just stare at them several times
Getting his diaper changed is one of his favorite times. He could be fussy then we put him on the changing table and he is all giggles and smiles.
He loves to be naked, and is sometimes the happiest being so
He absolutely HATES to have anything put over his head. He could be all happy and almost giggling then you put a onesie over his head and you'd think he was going to die. and it will sometimes take 5-10 minutes to calm him back down.
The best thing he does is when I say his name and he gets a smile from ear to ear. It melts my heart and I love it!
Mommy isn't very good at tummy time because he can be so fussy and I don't want to upset him, but he's getting better with it and will lift his head about 45˚ or so.
He coos A LOT sometimes it even sounds like giggling
He will sometimes hear my voice and turn his head to me, if nothing else he definitely turns his eyes, he sometimes struggles with the head thing.
He slept through the night (7 hours) for the first time when he was 6 weeks old
On average he sleeps about 4-5 hour stretches at nigh, though he will still have a bad night here or there where he is up every 2.
When held upright he can hold his head up, occasionally he's a little wobbly but for the most part he's pretty good about it
He will hold a rattle and shake it if it's placed in his hand
he will reach out and try and touch the "toys" on his activity mat

Overall Lincoln is growing and developing well. Sometimes I get a little almost defensive when I hear about my friends kids who are the same age and able to do things such as roll over already, but I have to remember that every baby is different and he is growing at a healthy pace for him. He will catch up eventually. He doesn't have to do everything first, so long as he's developing thats what matters.

This month breastfeeding has gone a lot better. We attended breastfeeding support group meetings a couple of times a week. I'm thankful I had the time to dedicate to breastfeeding. It's not easy and I'm grateful to have the support of other nursing moms. Due to my dedication, I can say that Lincoln is growing at a steady pace. He doesn't seem to be growing as fast as some of my friends kids are, but he's holding strong! His stats at his 2 month appointment were:

He weights 11 lbs 8 oz
He's 23.75 inches long
He's in the 50% for weight
He's in the 75% for height

He also got his first round of vaccines. Before they gave him his vaccines I talked with his doctor about doing an alternative schedule. Unfortunately most of the vaccines he would get at his first appointment came in a combo vaccine so I was unable to separate them as I wanted to. So he just got his combo vaccine. But then the doctor wanted to make sure he got the rotovirus oral vaccine because I guess he wouldn't be able get it past so many weeks of age. So I wasn't able to get the exact schedule I wanted but it's better than nothing.

Now I know that as I'm writing this I've already been back to work for 2 weeks. But at his 2 month birthday I know that I was excited for what the next month would bring to my baby boy of celebrating his first christmas and new years. But I was also dreading going back to work. I'll I'd ever wanted to be was a stay at home mom, but unfortunately our finances don't allow me to do so. So I headed back to work to help provide for my family. I miss my little man dearly but it's unfortunately all a part of what I have to do!

Here are a few pictures from his 2 month photoshoot...