Happy 2 months, my sweet baby boy! The past two months since you've entered our lives and turned us into a family of four have been simply lovely. You are about as easy a baby that one could wish for - you're a good eater, a good sleeper and you have a smile that lights up our world!
The first 10 days of your life were particularly joyous because you had both sets of your grandparents visiting (along with your Uncle Stephen) and we all celebrated Christmas together. You and Silas wore matching footed pajamas on Christmas morning and I was so thrilled to see the two of you together, already imagining all the holidays and celebrations to come. Your brother is so proud of you and loves to tell people "This is Asa! He's my brother!" whenever he gets the chance. He also likes to call you by the nickname "Basa Basa" - which I find adorable!
At your two week well-baby doctor appointment, you received a great bill of health! You weighed 10 pounds, 5 ounces (up from your lowest weight of 9 pounds, 8 ounces when you were 6 days old), you were 22 inches long and your head was 37.5cm. (Your 2 month well-baby doctor appointment is next week, so I'll fill in the updated information for that ASAP). Your umbilical cord fell off when you were 12 days old - the first proof that you were starting to grow up - it seemed too quick!
I love your eyes - they are often very serious looking - or at least very intent. You were a few weeks old - maybe 3-4 weeks old when you really became alert and looking around. When you were born, you had subconjunctival hemorrhages in both eyes...this is just a really scary way of saying you had broken blood vessels in your eyes because of the pressure change from your fast delivery. There were red circles around each eye - like little halos! The doctor at the hospital said they'd take a few months to disappear; much to my happy surprise, by 3 weeks old, both of them had fully disappeared! Your eyes are a beautiful shade of blue that reminds me of the color of my own mom's eyes. At 2 months they are still quite a clear blue color, so I don't know if they'll stay that way, or if you'll get my brown eyes later on. You have really soft, light brown hair. When you were first born, it was so short that it felt softer than velvet when we'd rub our hands on it. Now it has grown just enough that the velvet feeling has gone away, but it's still really short. You have a little "dimple" on each of your shoulders - just the size of a little dot on each side. I don't know what they are, but they are super cute.
And talking about dimples - when you smile that amazing smile of yours, a big dimple shows on the left side of your smile. You started to smile earlier on, but the real purposeful, social smiles started at 6 weeks. You started by smiling at your brother - almost on cue. Silas would tell me "I want a smile," and I'd say to you, "Silas wants a smile!" and you'd grin. Silas would laugh and tell me "I want a BIG smile," and I'd say to you, "Silas wants a BIG smile!" and right away that smile would show. Next, Silas would say "I want a REALLY BIG SMILE" and again, I'd tell you and sometimes tickle your lips and chin...and that huge glorious smile would come right out. I take so many photos of you smiling because it's makes me so happy. I hope that you will always be a joyful person and bring happiness to others the way you already have in these short few weeks.
Your eating and sleeping habits are pretty remarkable for a 2 month old - and essentially have been from the start. Well, the very first night you were home, you did NOT want to sleep in the Pack 'n Play that is along side our bed. I thought maybe you were hungry and ended up sitting in the rocking chair from 11pm-7am as you nursed on and off through the whole night. It was exhausting (and painful) and I think I misread your cues - what you really wanted was just to be snuggled all night! We worked on getting you to sleep in the Pack 'n Play and it gets better and better. You'll always fall asleep in it, but by the time I pull you out to nurse you a few times each night, you often end up sleeping with us in our bed anyway. Part of this is because you were quite the grunter/snorter from the get-go. I lost a lot of sleep at night not because you were nursing or crying, but rather because you were so noisy sleeping on your back. When I'd snuggle you, the snorting and grunting usually stopped and we both slept better. Just recently the night-time noisiness is starting to reduce - and just last night you slept in your bed the whole night (outside of a few nursing sessions). What I find amazing is that you seem to know that night time is the time to sleep and you don't wake on your own, except to eat. You don't even cry when you want to eat, but rather just start kicking and flopping your swaddled legs around and as you get impatient start making louder grunts.
Since birth through today, your eating schedule is on an amazingly regular schedule - every 3 hours, almost to the minute! There have been a few instances where you've given me a little extra time, say 4 or 5 hours between feedings, but overall, you keep a tight schedule! Nursing has pretty much been a breeze with you (unlike with your brother!) - and I'm eternally grateful for that! You've been given a bottle maybe 8 or 9 times and you like it moderately. We are going to have to practice giving you more bottles soon, because in 3 weeks, you'll have to start going to daycare 2 days a week - and a bottle will no longer be optional.
Your dad started back to work this week, and I start back on a part-time schedule in 3 short weeks. I am going to be conscious about enjoying each moment I get to spend with you between now and then...I am really going to miss you during the hours I have to go to work! We took advantage of our time off from work with you by spending lots of time snuggling, napping, nursing, cuddling, talking and oooohing and ahhhing at you. We took you on your first vacation to Phoenix at the ripe old age of 5 weeks old...you were a champion on both flights, didn't even utter a peep. You were taken on your first hike up Lookout Mountain, joined Silas's birthday party in Phoenix, and were as easy of a traveling baby as you are an at-home baby. We are lucky, lucky, lucky!
You are a special, sweet boy and we love you so so very much. You entered our world so easily and you fit right in our world, almost like you've always been around! You are peaceful and content...I'm continually amazed at how infrequently you cry (but you do cry just enough that I don't worry something is wrong!). I'm excited to see what type of boy you develop into over the next months and years!
Sweet Baby Asa, we love you to pieces!
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