I guess I'm a little late on Isaac's two month update, seeing as how he was 11 weeks on Thursday. Oops! My tardiness makes it all the more important to capture some of his milestones, so that someday I can rely on my blog to recall when he had all his "firsts". Especially because we don't have a baby book for him yet (thus begins the second child getting the shaft, right?).
Isaac is amazing. At his 2-month appointment (which occurred around 9 weeks of age), he weighed 13 pounds 9 ounces. When we went back for shots a few days later, he was 13 lbs 11 1/2 oz. He's a grower! And thankfully, within a few days after that, his allergies seem to have miraculously cleared up. I don't know if it was our efforts to cat-proof his (our) bedroom, or coincidence, but we are just grateful that he is breathing more easily these days. The cats are now actually gone, having been re-homed this week, so we may never know if it was them for sure.
The anchor of Isaac's day is bedtime, which is in the neighborhood of 8:30/9:00 but has been inching earlier in the past week. He sleeps until at least 3:30 or 4:00, but had a couple of nights last weekend when he slept from 9pm until 5 or 6am! He then sleeps a few more hours, hangs out awake for a bit, and often sleeps the whole morning away after another meal. I'm so grateful for this pattern because mornings are Mikayla's neediest times, with wake-up, breakfast, getting dressed, etc. Often, she will go down for a nap around 11:30 just as he is waking up. Then he goes back down for a nap around 12:30 and I get some quiet time all to myself!
Afternoons vary, with a nap somewhere at some point. He is getting good at falling asleep in his pack 'n play bassinet for both naps and bedtime. If we missed the "golden window" of drowsiness, he sometimes cries it out, but that generally takes no more than 20 minutes. Everyone warned me that because Mikayla was such a good sleeper, our second would be the opposite. So far, though, both kiddos seem to share their parents' love of sleep!
(The above is a generalization, more "guidelines" than rules, but it feels like we at least have a pattern, most days.)
The highlight of my days lately, as with Mikayla, are the first wake-up moments with Isaac. After his first breakfast of the morning, he unlatches with a HUGE grin and would laugh out loud if he knew how. The smiles that little guy turns out are just amazing! (First smile: within a few days of his baptism, probably April 23 or 24.) I wish I had more time to snuggle him, as I used to with Mikayla, but....well, Mikayla has to get up, too! So he hangs out in his swing while I get his sister up and breakfasted. Then it's back to sleep for a nap almost as soon as she's finished with breakfast.
Did I mention he's SUCH an easy baby?
That's if we're on our home turf; days when we head out for errands or events are much more challenging because we don't all get to sleep and eat exactly when and where we like. Isaac, like his sister before him, is fantastic at sleeping in his bed but is getting a bit hit-or-miss at sleeping in his car seat. The BEST times are when EVERYONE is tired and we are all in the car, say, driving home from New Jersey, and we are ALL screaming at the top of our lungs. Yes, those times are quite thrilling. Momma and Dadda do our best to sing hymn after psalm after spiritual song to get the kiddos to quiet down, and when all else fails, we willfully dissociate and pretend it isn't happening. There is so much you can do in a moving four-door...oh, for the days when we will have a minivan and Momma can pop back to help the kiddos out!
Isaac eats about five times a day, starting with his early morning breakfast around 4 or 5 or whatever. Then another quick nibble around 8, then his (hopefully) long morning nap. Lunch, an early dinner, and then an epic feeding before bed that sometimes begins an hour before sleepy time. It varies some, but that is the typical pattern. And he is not nearly the spitter-upper that his sister was! Once in a blue moon (seriously perhaps once or twice a week) he spits massively, seemingly due to a renegade air bubble in his tummy. Otherwise we are talking perhaps a tiny dribble if he has overeaten. And the dude can BURP. He will give his Dadda a run for his money when he is old enough for the manly contests.
When we put Isaac down for tummy time, he can easily push up with his arms and hold his head way up high to look around. He sat in his bumbo seat this week for the first time and did well for 5-10 minutes until his neck meat got tired, and he went all slumpy on me. Not bad for a first attempt, though!
You'd think I would have a fresh photo for Isaac's update post, but nope. Not on the ball. Did you miss the part about second children getting the shaft? It's just those pesky firstborns demanding all their parents' time and energy...particularly when they are only 14 months older. Phew!
So we are generally all sleeping and smiles over here, on the Isaac front anyway. God is so good, and our children are precious gifts from His hand. May He strengthen us for this daunting task of rearing and disciplining, nurturing and encouraging these little souls toward their heavenly Father.
SDG!
