Two month update

Nicholas turns two months old today. It seems like he is so much older than that, but then I realize that he is 1/6 of a year (and so once we go through 5 more times equal to that which has passed he will be starting to walk and talk) I am in shock with how quickly it is going. And he has already gotten so big and so grown up (comparatively speaking, of course). A little bit for you, but even more for our sake as a record to look back at, here is a snapshot of Nicholas at 2 months:

• He has smiling and laughing down pat. He smiles in response to smiles or fun "games," when he can make toys move, or when he sees someone he recognizes. He laughs when other people are laughing. Since most of the time we laugh it is at something silly he did, this leads to him laughing at himself, which of course makes us laugh more. He also laughs at all of Daddy's stupid jokes, if only because Daddy laughs at them and he follows suit. He started smiling at Joe first and even once he started smiling at me and other people, saved his biggest grins for Daddy. This is just now starting to even out.


• He is starting to get control of his head. He still needs some backup support because he loses control, but in the past week he has gotten so much stronger. When he is awake and in someone's arms he is moving his head back and forth so rapidly I think he'll get whiplash, but he just wants to use his new skill to see everything.


• He remembers games and will get excited by knowing what is coming. I've mentioned in other posts how he remembers that he can make the toys on his chair move. After I did the "charge" game a few times, he started smiling as soon as I started rather than waiting for the "charge" on his nose. (See the video in the Peanut Gallery.)


• He is freaked out by mirrors. There are mirrors on his playmat and his swing because supposedly babies love them. He didn't take any interest in them until last week, but now he notices them and hates them. But he won't take his eyes off of them. He just stares intently and gets upset. We now have a blanket over the one on the playmat.


• There are still a few 3-month outfits that he can fit into, but for the most part he is wearing all 6-month clothes now. We have been sad to say goodbye to some of his old outfits, which are now overflowing the "Cashew drawer" (so named because it holds the things that are in storage for hypothetical younger sibling, nicknamed Cashew). Since poop now frequently seeps out of his diapers, we think it is time to move him up to size 2 . . . in 3-4 days when we use up the rest of the size 1s.


• He "talks" to us some, but started talking to "his animals" (the animals on his playmat) first and does so more frequently. Probably because unlike us they actually let him get a word in. We're trying to work on this.


• Much to our disappointment, he is not a big fan of being read to. He wants to be moving or doing something all the time, so sitting still (or even rocking) and being read to is not active enough for his taste. We're hoping this will change. Right now the only way I can get him to be happy through a whole board book is if I have Chompy (the beanie baby alligator) read it to him in a funny voice and act it out.


• He does not like to sleep. Or, more accurately, he does not like to fall asleep. He fights sleep with everything he has. We'll watch his eyelids get heavy and close, only to pop back open . . . over and over again. We often have to use some combination of movement, rubbing his back, and a pacifier to overwhelm his defenses and get him to relax enough to let himself fall asleep. I know he comes by it honestly, but we have to find some way to get this kid to relax and take a nap on his own or the toddler years are going to be a nightmare.


• He has recently taken to demanding being walked around, and so we've been doing laps around the living room and apartment complex parking lot. I do not like this development, but when the choices are walk with him or have him screaming, I'll choose the former.


• He is sleeping in his crib in the nursery at night. Some nights he sleeps 9:30-7ish with only waking up once or twice to eat. Other nights he is up every couple hours and needs to be coddled back to sleep. We're trying to only feed him the times when it seems he could reasonably be hungry in hopes that he will stop waking up the other times. I think part of the problem is that his nursery is over the stairwell and some of our neighbors come and go (and close doors loudly) at all hours of the night. He will not sleep in his crib during the day. On good days he sleeps in his chair. Other days he'll only nap in his carseat (i.e. in the stroller in motion) or in our arms. We'd love to enforce naps in his crib, but sometimes you have to live to fight another day.
  
• He in general likes baths, but hasn't yet started to play in them. He likes them enough that he sits patiently through them without crying, but he doesn't smile. A couple times he has kicked around and seemed like he was exploring, but for the most part he just sits there looking stunned. This is great for us, as it makes it much easier to keep ahold of him.

I'm sure there are a ton of other things I can't think of right now, but in summary Nicholas is a happy 2-month old who makes us smile at least as often as he frustrates us. And whether because we have 2 months of experience or because we're getting more sleep, even the frustrating things aren't getting under our skin these days.

Nicholas and Mommy at 2 months old: