A Letter to Elise at 2 Months

Elise you are such a sweet and cuddly baby.  I love that you want to be held and snuggled all the time.  It is so nice to be able to put you in the baby carrier and go about our playdates and chores while you happily snuggle in and sometimes even rest your little hand on my chest.  It has been so much fun to be reminded of what is so awesome about this age.  Before you were born I was worried you would seem boring compared to all of the fun and entertaining things Carter can do, but that has not been the case at all.  I forgot about how much fun the firsts are.  This month I got to experience your first smile and we have been enjoying how much you express yourself with your smiles and frowns!  You smile at Carter all the time and I can already tell you love him!  For pictures I made sure to get a mixture of pictures with and without bows for those of you who aren't fans of the bows.  I personally love them and think they are too stinkin cute!

 

You got to meet a lot of people this month.  You met Addison, my best friend's daughter, who is a month younger than you.  Then you met your Auntie Ang who flew in to see you.  Toward the end of the month we made a trip out to daddy's home town so you could meet family.  You met both sets of great grandparents as well as Great Aunt Gena, Great Uncle Karl, and daddy's cousin Jessica.  Chris and Candice, Ty's best friends from college, came over to meet you and you also got to see their 2 kids.  Their son who is just over a year old loved you and wanted to hug and kiss on you.  It was very sweet!

 

Growing is definitely something you are good at!  You were 10 pounds, 1 ounce which put you in the 43rd percentile for weight and 23.2 inches long which put you in the 90th percentile for height at your appointment last Tuesday.  I took you to the doctor on Monday of this week and you were already up to 10 pounds, 7 ounces!  I couldn't believe you gained 6 ounces in one week!  Your head circumference was 15.1 inches which put you at the 49th percentile.  At your well check you got 3 shots.  Carter was so sweet with you.  He went over and held your hand and when you started crying he put your pacifier in your mouth.  I thought for sure you were going to spit the pacifier out and be upset but you started sucking on it really hard and then calmed down.  I took you in to the doctor the following week because your cry sounded funny like you had a sore throat and then you started coughing occasionally and it sounded terrible.  Sunday night you woke up every 1-2 hours and I could tell you were miserable.  Carter had run a high 101-102 degree temp over the weekend so I was worried you had whatever he'd had, but you weren't running a temp.  It turned out you had a cold and we just had to let it run its course.

 

Sleeping is going really well!  You have gone 5-5.5 hours between feedings a few times and have at least one 3-4 hour stretch each night.  What makes it really nice is that you are such an efficient eater.  You eat 3-5 minutes on each side, sometimes longer if you've had a really long stretch between feedings.  Most of the time you go right back to sleep after you eat.  You have had a few nights where you lay awake after you eat.  You don't fuss or cry, you just wiggle around and grunt.  I can't go back to sleep when you are doing it, but your daddy sleeps through it.  One night you did it for 2 hours!  The sweetest thing when you nurse is that you reach out and grab my shirt and hold onto it while you eat.  I love looking at your sweet little hand!

 

You are now in the Pack N Play at night.  It wasn't too difficult of a transition.  There were some nights where I'd lay on the edge of the bed with my arm reaching into the Pack N Play so I could rest my hand on your tummy.  If I took my hand off you'd start fussing.  You had a few days where you'd wake up at 3 am to eat and then were wide awake after nursing.  I'm so glad it didn't last long!  3 am is definitely not my ideal party time!  It seems like the opposite of what would be true, but you sleep better at night when you've slept more during the day.  If you are awake a lot or for long periods of time during the day you don't sleep as well at night.  I think it must be because you get overtired.  There have been days where you were awake for 2 hours at a time and you didn't have as long of stretches of sleep at night.

 

There were a couple of rough moments for you this month.  During one of your baths with Carter he dumped water on your face which honestly scared me and your daddy just as much as it scared you.  Since you had water on your face you stopped breathing for a moment and began flailing your arms.  Luckily you spit up a bunch of water on daddy and then were fine.  Then that night you somehow managed to kick yourself off the bed.  Thankfully you are one tough girl and barely even cried.  I think you were more scared and surprised than you were hurt.  Now you prefer to watch Carter take baths and bathe on your own.  When he's in the bath I'll put you in your bouncer in the bathroom when daddy isn't around to watch you and you are all eyes for Carter and love watching him splash.

 

I am constantly amazed by how strong you are.  If we put you on your feet you can stand with support.  You push off things with your legs so hard that I can't really change your diaper in my lap like I used to.  While I'm doing it your head is hanging off my lap because you kick your legs against my stomach the whole time.  You are starting to grab things and hold onto them.  You get my hair, my shirt, my necklace, your blanket, Carter, whatever is within reach.  You are also starting to make noises.  You aren't quite cooing yet but you are awfully close.  I love making noises at you to get you to make noises back.  It's the sweetest hearing you attempt to communicate!  You can roll to your side and really want to roll from your stomach to your back.  I think you would have it but your arm gets in the way.  You kick your legs up in the air and really work it, but don't quite make it anywhere.  You enjoy looking at your high contrast cards and books that we have.  Carter and I have also enjoyed playing with you using finger puppets.  We tried out your Bumbo for the first time this month.  You seemed to like it because you really like sitting up and looking around, but I let you sit in it too long and you got overtired.

Much to Carter's dismay you don't need your pacifier quite as much.  You like it to soothe yourself to sleep but other than that you are pretty content without it.  Carter's favorite way to help you is by giving you your pacifier, so he still does.  He'll come to me with your pacifier saying, "Sissy no want it!"  I've also seen him switching out your pacifier.  He'll grab the one you have out of your mouth and stick a different one in.  There have also been times when you've fallen asleep and spit your pacifier out.  He'll sit there trying to stick it back in your mouth and nearly wake you up.  Although you aren't taking a pacifier quite as much, you are trying to get your thumb in your mouth.  Sometimes you even start rooting around on your hand while you are sleeping!

 

You can recognize my voice.  Daddy says if he's holding you and you are crying, when I walk into the room and you hear my voice you perk up and get really quiet listening for me.  It's the sweetest thing and makes me feel so special.  I've also noticed when you're crying if I start talking to you, you get quiet and listen to me.  I got my first smile on May 4th.  It was your first smile where you looked right at me, took in my face, and then smiled.  I loved it!

Currently you are wearing mostly 0-3 month clothes with a few newborn things that still fit thrown in the mix.  For the most part 0-3 month jammies are the best fit.  A lot of your newborn onesies are too tight around the tummy and newborn pants are a little short and tight.  Your 0-3 month pants are still a bit baggy on you, but they work.  You are ready for size 1 diapers but we still have some newborn diapers left so we are finishing them up before moving on.  I would go ahead and switch you over anyway, but you aren't having blow outs.  Other than one this past weekend while your Gigi held you, you haven't had any actually.

This month has come with a few more firsts.  You, Carter, and I took our first drive just the three of us without daddy.  We drove 2 hours to my parents' house and everyone did really well!  You had your first smile which I already mentioned and also went to your first wedding.  Oma and Opa took you out on the dance floor while covering your ears and you slept through pretty much the entire reception.  I took daddy out to the movies for his birthday and your uncies stayed home with you.  They did a great job and you ate 4 ounces of milk I'd pumped and left for you!  We also celebrated our first Mother's Day and you were such a sweet little girl.  I ended the day with Carter's potty on my leg and your spit up on my shirt.  It definitely made me feel like a mother!  Although a sad one, another first was your first cold.  This past Monday you were sounding terrible and then started having a cough.  I took you to the doctor just to be safe and he said you just had a cold.  I can tell you don't feel up to par because you've been waking up a lot at night and wanting to nurse more frequently than usual.  You also want to be cuddled a lot!

Little Miss Elise you are such a sweet and snuggly baby and I love that.  You'd be happy to sleep in our arms constantly.  You love being on your belly and don't fuss at all during tummy time.  I think you'd sleep for longer stretches at night if we could let you sleep on your tummy.  I love having you in my arms and I have really enjoyed these first 2 months as your mommy.  I'm looking forward to watching you grow and become best of friends with your brother.  I love you forever and for always precious pot pie!

Now on to daddy:

You have changed so much in your second month, it is amazing. It is also amazing how much of the early stages I have forgotten from when Carter was that age to when you are now. I am constantly asking your mother if Carter did this, or when will you do that.

You spit up so Carter started to pick you up and put you on the floor.

The one thing that surprises me is how strong you have gotten. I was goofing around one evening after dinner with you and having you "stand" on the table much to your brothers delight, when I noticed that I was simply balancing you, while you were holding up your own weight. There have been several times where I just plant my hand when you are on the bed and let you push yourself forward a few inches at a time.

You have also gotten into a very nice sleep pattern most nights, and are getting quite easy to get down for bed, unless it's 4 am, then you have no interest in doing anything other than snorting and grunting to keep your mother awake. I can sleep through it, but not your mamma!

Soon you will be on the move and will be exploring your world and I cannot wait! It is such a blast watching you accomplish new things everyday.

Also, you have some very serious eye lashes for a baby girl!