Calendar Girl - Two Months

Not only is my girl two months old now, she's actually 10 weeks as I am writing this.  Yep, I am still not doing so well at getting her monthly update up around the time she actually turns that month.  This time, though, it wasn't for lack of trying!

Somebody tell me this girl is going to keep those blue eyes...

Baby girl turned two months on the 4th of July.  Boy, was she a grouchbaby.  It took two different attempts just to get pictures of her in her little 4th outfit, there was no way I was going to be able to do a month-onesie shoot, too.  It actually took me two different days to get these ones too, because the first time she just wasn't having it.  As a side note, I am totally a slacker and a bad mommy.  If grandma Cheryl hadn't bought her a 4th of July outfit, she would have had none.  Why didn't I think of this?  On that day my FB was blowing up with pictures of cute babies dressed up for the holiday.  I need to remember that for next time.  Holiday = photo shoot.

Speaking of photo shoot, these pictures are pretty terrible.  The exposure is horrible.  My crappy little point and shoot has a "high" ISO setting that I pretty much have to use because she moves around so fast with her hands and feet.  But it doesn't help the exposure, and I'm pretty bummed that I didn't buy a digital SLR when I could afford it.  'Cause now I can't. =(

This girl is gracing us with her smiles more and more each day!  She's also chunking up nicely.  At her 2 month well-baby visit, she weighed 10lbs. 4oz. and was 22.5" long.  It's kind of funny, so far she has gained pretty much exactly 2 pounds per month.  She also had her two month shots.  Horrible.  Actually, she cried less at first than with the Hep B last time.  We left the office, went to Whole Foods and Jimmy John's, and I thought we were all good.  Until we got to parent-baby class.  Poor girl cried HARD, like turn bright red, scream until you run out of breath hard.  It shocked the other mommies, they'd never heard her cry like that.  I had to bounce on a yoga ball with her the whole time (she even would unlatch and cry while nursing!).  At the end, she was inconsolable.  When we got home, she passed out on me.  I missed her sleepy snuggles, but I just felt so bad for her, you could tell she didn't feel well.

My suspicions were confirmed at her appointment - she has the dreaded cradle cap.  It's actually not that bad (and you can't even see it in the pictures!).  She also has a minor flat spot on the back of her head.  The pedi said hers is not a big deal at all, and should mostly correct itself when she starts sitting up.  For some reason though, I am totally devastated about this.  I feel like it's my fault, even though I hold her all the time and she hates bouncy chairs and swings and all of the other stuff people would usually plunk babies in.  I feel totally self-conscious when we go out now, like people are thinking, "Ooooh, look at that baby with the flat head!  What terrible parents she has!"  I know it's really not a big deal, but I can't help but be totally wrecked about it.  Just typing this out makes me want to cry.

Another thing that makes me want to cry?  I've been packing away the newborn clothes.  Rubes is almost totally in 0-3.  In fact, the Old Navy 0-3 stuff is even getting too short (I've found it tends to run short and wide vs. Carter's long and skinny, which is a better fit for her).  It's fun to venture into previously untouched stuff in her closet, but it kills me that she was once so tiny we had to cuff all of the sleeves and pants on the NB stuff.

At two months, Ruby still sleeps a lot, though she isn't likely to curl up on you and sleep on your shoulder anymore. *sniff*  She IS likely, however to give you a 6-8 hour stretch at night where she's asleep (maybe this is why her head is flat...).  She goes to bed around 7:30-8, waking between 2-4 to nurse, then back to sleep until around 6.  I usually (attempt to) dreamfeed her then, and she usually will go back down until 7:30-8, then is up for the day.  I noticed she needs a nap again about an hour after waking, and like to help her with this so that I can shower. =)  She also usually needs an evening nap, but catching her before she's overtired is really hard.  In between, she pretty much just catnaps.

Apparently this post was brought to you by the number 4.

At two months, she's also started to do something that is totally unnerving to me.  Warning: it's about poop.  And poop she doesn't.  Well, she does, but she went from going 4-5 times a day to going only every 3-7 days!  You'd think that'd be great, but I hate not ever knowing when it's coming.  And when it gets closer to day 7, I get worried that she won't have gone by then and I'll have to call the pedi, and they'll tell me to "help her" go.  Ick.  The nurse told me that it might be hard for her to poop while laying down (makes sense), and sure enough, the last time she went in the Beco.  Poor kid.

In spite of all the smiles, this past month has been the month of the grouchbaby.  She's pretty darn fussy most of the time.  She's decided she HATES her car seat (insert awkward/embarrassing moment while waiting at the Target pharmacy here), she grouches in the City Mini some (a paci helps with this), and by the end of the day only a bath or bouncing on the yoga ball will soothe her.  Oh, or nursing.  She still nurses like a champ.  The things she likes when not grouching though, are music, daily walks, being held (still), her crack book, the tiger/zebra thing on her activity mat, being a strongbaby (tummy time), "talking", flirting with the boys in baby class (and her daddy), reading Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, and tooting.  Seriously, that girl can toot.

She really seems like she's turning into a "real baby"now, not so much a newborn anymore.  It's fun to be able to interact with her more, but man, she's growing up so fast!

You didn't think I forgot the crying pic, did you?