2 months!

Wow, our baby girl is now 2 months old! The Lord has been so faithful to us every step of the way. Each day we are learning something new about Emily and adding to our knowledge as much as we can about how best to care for her and love her. She is certainly keeping us on our toes!

At two months, Emily, you are...

smiling!!! Your first smile was one that Daddy saw you giving to Mommy last Friday at a party. Later that night, you gave yourself lots of smiles when you looked in the mirror! Haven't seen many more after that, but it did happen, so I now know what that gorgeous smile looks like! :-)

lifting your head up and sometimes your chest during tummy time. You still don't enjoy tummy time yet, but you now are able to tolerate it for about 5 minutes at a time and look around for something to entertain you. Mostly you love sucking on your fist that is conveniently placed next to your head.

a voracious eater! We are still averaging more than an ounce a day of weight gain. You do not eat on a set schedule but it is 2-3 hours during the day and 2-4 hours at night depending on how deeply you sleep. You love to nurse both for food and for comfort. You often fall asleep best after nursing. You chow down and are often done in 5 minutes during the day, but at night you are sleepy and often stretch it to 20 minutes. You now weigh about 10 lb., and we will know for sure what your weight and height are at your check-up on Thursday. Mommy and Daddy are pretty sure you have hiked off the 15% for weight and toward 35%, but we'll see.

tolerating baths now! Bath time is a lot more enjoyable now that you sit in a little bit of warm water instead of getting sponge bathed. We usually make it through the bath before the tears start during the drying off time.

still hating the swaddle. We try and try but usually to no avail. You sure do love your freedom. We now swaddle with a swaddleme that you can't escape easily, but you spend the whole time either wailing in protest or drowsily grunting and wiggling to fight it. The 5 S's have not worked that well for us, sadly. If we do manage to successfully swaddle you and get you to sleep, this gives us the longest stretches between feedings. Not sleep for us, mind you...we are holding you or shushing for a good hour. But you'll then sleep longer most times. Unswaddled you are often calmer and easier to put back down after nursing, but you wakes herself up 2 hours later.

You are challenged by a sensitive stomach. :-( Perhaps being a month early has given you an immature digestive system. Or maybe you're ultra sensitive. Either way we know that your tummy hurts at some point each evening. We can see it on your precious face as you work through it all. Gripe water, gas drops, bicycle legs, tummy pressure all work intermittently to get us through this period. Hopefully this is one thing that you will out grow over the next month!

You are quite the spitter! Mommy and you change clothes multiple times throughout the day when the burp cloth is not strategically placed. Your doctor said that some babies are just spitters, and we are lucky enough to have one! I used to worry and worry that you weren't getting enough to eat since some always seems to come back up. But those worries are gone. You definitely eat enough, even if you often only eat for 5-10 minutes!

You have the most adorable airy laughs when you are contently cuddled and drifting off to sleep. I love them. It gives me a glimpse into what a full laugh might sound like in another couple months. To see you peacefully resting, even if you aren't fully asleep yet, brings me so much joy.

You sometimes like the swing(s) that we got you off craigslist. I didn't like the first one that I bought you, but it actually has worked out better than the nicer, newer swing I got the second time. If you are calm but not asleep yet, I can sometimes put you in the swing, let you look around for awhile, and then drift off.

You also curl your toes just like Mommy and Mema! Love it!!!

Mommy and Daddy are crazy about you! Happy 2 month day! :-)