Unbelievably, my little boy is two months old.

It seems like only yesterday I was waiting for him to be born, past his due date, and then taking him home; this tiny creature who had been through so much and was so fragile and bewildered. The boy who lives in our house today is much rounder and much, much louder. The haze of jaundice is long gone, and he is vibrantly alert. He smiles often, and each smile lights up his face with pure joy. He has one big dimple that can be seen when he smiles. He even wakes up with a smile on his face before his eyes open. This “social smile” – a smile in response to outside stimuli, like being spoken to – is an important milestone. He is controlling his head very well, and using his legs to “stand up” all the time. He is so much bigger than before! It sneaks up on you, but you notice when he outgrows clothes. He is so much chubbier and longer. His round belly and chunky legs are hopeful signs that all is going well with breastfeeding.

He is awake most of the day, alert and looking to play. He likes to watch me talk to him, and coo or goo in response to the things I say. He stares intently at lights (both artificial, and the lights coming in the windows) and loves to look at the pictures in his room. When he is on his changing table he stares at the castle on the wall, and we will walk around his room so he can look at the other pictures. He will follow toys with his eyes and squeaks and coos at them. Today while working on his birth announcement, he stared intently at the pictures of himself on my computer. My smart boy is blowing bubbles in his mouth and sticking his tongue out all the time (as I’m sure you’ve noticed from his pictures). He squeals and moves his arms and legs rapidly, which is how he earned the nickname “Boogie” from me. 🙂

He cries now more quickly when he wants something, and his cries have gotten a lot louder. Of course I try not to see him cry. He will have big tears run down his face, and that just breaks my heart. He is so interested in the world that he fights sleep, and then gets really tired and cranky. The Moby wrap gets him to sleep, if I can bounce him vigorously. Very vigorously. He likes loud white noise. I put him to sleep each night with a white noise machine, which I like to leave on the rain sound (my personal favorite). I hope someday he loves the sound of rain like I do. He typically sleeps when we’re out of the house in the Moby, and I try to do some things around the house with him in there as well. It’s not as easy as you may think, as I have to support his head most of the time (once he’s asleep I’ll tuck it inside, but while awake he likes to move his head around) and he gets mad when I bend forward. Not sure why…anyway, I’ve gotten more accustomed to putting away laundry and other tasks while wearing him. Today I put him to sleep (and accomplished some housework) by wearing him + vacuuming with the stellar combination of steady movement and white noise. I have also blow-dried my hair while wearing him, but he’ll get mad if my hair keeps touching him.

You want to know how he’s sleeping, I’ll bet.

He is sleeping so well at night! Again, he’s not as interested in sleeping during the day as he should be, and I have to actively put him to sleep, or help him fall asleep, but at night he’s wonderful. He will sleep for 6-7 hours straight, or longer. I don’t know how much longer because after waking up periodically and worrying about him for 6-7 hours, I feel like it’s time for me to change and feed him so I wake him up. That’s a long time! I feel great with all that sleep in a row, although it’s definitely nothing like it was before. I’ll probably not sleep deeply ever again. I wake up at every little sound as well as the absence of sound. When he’s quiet, I’ll wake up and get out of bed to make sure he’s breathing.

I’ll update you all again after Friday’s pediatrician appointment. I’m scared to see him get his first shots since the hospital, but excited to find out just how big he is (I think he’s huge!) He is already wearing 3 month clothes (not just 0-3 but 3 months) and has been for a while. He is such a joy, and I feel like I fall further in love with him every day. He is entertaining and charming, and for the most part such a sweet, patient boy. I find myself wondering constantly what I’ve done to deserve him. He is just perfect. 🙂