2 Month Stats

Does this look like the face of a sick little boy?

I didn't think so either. This is how Dylan woke up this morning after sleeping normally last night (Friday and Saturday nights consisted of waking/crying almost every hour, but last night he went back to his normal 1:30 & 4:30 wakings). He was so alert and so happy and his nasal congestion was significantly better. However, his breathing seemed a bit tighter, he was a little wheezy, and his cough still sounds bad (when he does cough, which isn't too often).

At the doctor today (for what was supposed to be his 2 month well-baby check up), I reported that he seemed to be feeling better...only to be told by the doctor that both of his ears are infected--something that has developed since Saturday--so his appointment turned into a sick visit and his shots were delayed until next week. The doctor was surprised that I reported he was so happy when his ears looked so bad, but I'm glad Dylan seems to be feeling better even if he isn't getting better. Hopefully the antibiotics will bring him back to 100 percent soon.

In other news, we got his 2-month stats at the beginning of the appointment. Here we go:

Height: 23 inches (50th percentile)
Head: 40 cm (50th percentile)
Weight: 15 lbs, 13 oz (Off the charts...literally...meaning ABOVE the 100th percentile)

We're just glad our little boy seems to be growing and developing well and we can't wait for this cold to go away!

Sleepy

We're hoping this is how Dylan spends most of his days (and nights) this weekend:

Even if all of his naps need to be taken like this:

Why, you ask? Well, Dylan officially has his first cold. It started as a stuffy nose (which I referred to last week when I took him to the doctor) but it quickly escalated from a minor stuffy nose to a VERY stuffy nose and cough from Thursday evening to Friday afternoon, which led to a very miserable night for Dylan (and Mom and Dad) last night, including throwing up ALL OVER me after a coughing fit. We took him to the doctor this morning and he said Dylan is still breathing really well so all we can do now is treat it like a cold and watch for any additional symptoms of RSV... Hopefully the humidifier, saline drops, nose sucker, and lots of extra love will help him recover quickly!

In other news, they weighed him this morning at the doctors office. He now weighs (drumroll please)...

15 pounds, 11 ounces!

That's right folks. You know your baby is a chunker when even the doctor is making comments about how chubby he is and jokes about putting him on a diet... He has his 2-month visit on Monday (even though we saw the doctor today we figured an appointment on Monday couldn't hurt because if he's worse we'll need to see the doctor and if he's getting better he'll be okay to get his 2 month vaccinations), so hopefully we'll discuss Dylan's eating habits then.

The Ever-Expanding Boy

Today during his bath, I took another picture of Dylan to document his size at 2 months. Here's a comparison of the other bath time pictures we've taken so far:

{Click on the picture for a larger version}

The change from 5 weeks to 9 weeks definitely wasn't as dramatic as the first 5 weeks of his life, but he's definitely expanded even more. Look at those arms! At Shane's work, they joked that he has Popeye arms because his forearms are so chunky. I love the rolls, but they make bath time take a little longer since I have to get between all of them and then be sure to get them dry afterwards (Dylan's least favorite part).

Making Life Easier

Today, I was reflecting on a few things that make life these days a lot easier, some more trivial than others, but here they are:

These Veggies

{Image from www.thenibble.com}

These wonderful microwave steam packs are so simple! If it weren't for them, I don't know that we'd get any servings of veggies in our current diet since most days I'm planning dinner as Shane is pulling into the garage and Dylan is eating. I just put one of these babies in the microwave and have perfectly steamed veggies in 4-7 minutes!! (Green Giant makes similar ones that we love...especially the cheesy broccoli)

This Cleaner

{Image from www.amazon.com}

I don't know if it's the "Resolve Power", but this stuff works wonders...especially on lovely orange-yellow baby poop and spit-up stains. So far, there hasn't been a stain that this stuff hasn't been able to get out. Granted, I act pretty fast to get it soaking, but so far I've been pleased with the results.

These Goodies

Ever since our summer in Baltimore, I have LOVED Trader Joe's...so when one opened up just down the street from us last summer, I was so excited and have been exploring their many products ever since. Some of my favorites so far: dark chocolate covered shortbread stars (a holiday product, shown above), chocolate-filled Joe Joe's (TJ's version of Oreos), and their fiberful fruit leather (unsweetend fruit leather with ground flaxseed). I know, I know...two of those three options really aren't the healthiest, but they make a great afternoon pick-me-up on days when Dylan wasn't the best sleeper the night before!

This Blanket
{Image from www.bonnybabies.com}

We witnessed the beauty of the Miracle Blanket our family trip in California and received one from my brother and his wife in preparation for Dylan's arrival. It definitely has a learning curve (see here for usage instructions), but it's the best swaddling blanket and has been perfect for Dylan, who gets so fidgety when he gets tired and still isn't very effective at sleeping unswaddled (his Moro reflex is still very strong...which wakes him up).

This Girl

This is Emma Jane, and I've known her since the day she was born...literally (okay, okay, I don't really remember the day she was born since I was only a month old). And, for the record, I was one of the few people allowed to call her Emma until she decided that it was her name of choice during her freshman year of college, but I digress.

This girl is a very persistent friend, and just what I need right now. I get so wrapped up in my little world of Dylan (feed, burp, change, play, nap...repeat) that I forget that the world outside my house is moving on. I forget to return phone calls, to respond to emails...basically I forget that other people have lives and things going on that matter. Emma calls, and calls, and calls, and when that doesn't work she sends me messages in ALL CAPS on gmail chat, and when that doesn't work she leaves me voicemails threatening to call my mother...and she does all this in good fun because she knows I need to have human interaction with someone other than my 2-month-old (and maybe she needs interaction besides her 2.5 children of her own).

Regardless of her motives, she lets me blab on and on and on about Dylan--about my frustrations, my worries, my joys, my new discoveries--even though she's been through all of this twice before and probably under much more stressful and frustrating circumstances than I could imagine. She offers encouragement, advice, and her perspective and then distracts me by suggesting new books to read or planning an eventual reunion (she lives in TX, I'm in AZ).

{Interestingly, because she's always somewhere on my recent calls list on my phone, she received a surprise call in the middle of the night last night while I was using my cell phone as a flashlight to avoid waking Shane... Sorry Em!!}

This Boy
{See the resemblance?}

Obviously, I love Dylan and enjoy every minute of my days at home withi him, but right now I'm referring to Shane... I can't imagine raising Dylan on my own or with any less supportive of a husband. In the hospital, I didn't change a single diaper thanks to this man, which exemplifies his attitude toward taking care of Dylan--it's both of our jobs. As soon as he's home from work and on weekends, Shane steps up and takes on more than his fair share of Dylan duties. It's nice that he realizes that taking care of him during the day is still work, even if I don't leave the house to do it, and that I need a break sometimes. Every time Dylan cries in the night, Shane checks with me to see if he needs to eat or just needs to be comforted...if it's just for comfort he always offers to be the one to take care of it. Luckily, Dylan generally only wakes to eat (and goes right back to sleep), but I always appreciate the offer.

More than taking on his share of the work, Shane is willing to listen. When he gets home, he listens to my recap of the day (down to the contents of each diaper changed) because he knows I need to talk to someone. Those nights that I'm overtired and frustrated he somehow knows, wakes up, and cuddles or rubs my back, just to let me know that he understands...and lets me vent if I'm really wound up.

When my wonderful friends from Salt Lake came down to visit, they commented on how involved Shane is with Dylan. I realized how helpful he was before, but I don't think I realized how lucky I am to have such a loving, helpful husband.

These smiles

Don't get me wrong, I love my little boy and have loved every minute I've spent with him since he was born (and even before), but now that he's smiling, I love my days even more. He even smiles without me smiling first and now has added cooing to some of his smiles. It makes me melt every time and makes everything seem even more worthwhile.

There's my list for now... What makes your life easier?

Daily Dylan Plus!

Today's Daily Dylan is extra special because he's 2 months old today and he learned to smile this week, which means there may be a few extra pictures for each day. I can't believe he's already that old--where has the time gone?

January 27 (He likes to furrow his brow like his daddy)

January 28 (Let's notice the unbuttoned pants...)

January 28 (Shortly after the picture above, the shirt was covered in spit-up...so we had two photos shoots)

January 29

January 29 (First smile caught on camera!! Excuse the blurryness...I'm still fine-tuning my quick shot skills)

January 30 (Yep, even a Saturday picture this week. Click here for the story behind this picture...and Dylan's sad face)

February 1

February 1 (Yep, another blurry smile...)

February 2 (The football was added for Shane's benefit)

February 2 (A less blurry smile, but still an awkwardly close picture)

And now, here are two pictures to prove that his cheeks aren't as big as they may seem in most pictures. I always tell Shane how cute he is during tummy time, but I've never taken a picture of him at this angle. He strikes this pose up on my shoulder after every feeding and I LOVE it!

His eyes are turning more blue!

And this one is to prove that our house isn't a dark black hole as it appears in all the pictures I post. I need to turn the flash off because our house is actually quite bright in the daytime.

We love our little boy and can't wait to enjoy many more months with him!!

Perspective

After propping up the mattress, paying more attention to his tired cues (as taught in Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child), and use of the bouncer on more difficult occasions, I think it's safe to say we have our little boy back. Although he's not sleeping through the night, he is back to his 2 feeding a night routine rather than waking up almost every hour--something both of us appreciate! Last night he even slept from 9:30 pm to 4:45 am and then from 5:30 to 9:15! I think Sundays wear him out...

Part of me believes we were given those days of all night wakings to give us some perspective. Prior to last week, I'll admit I'd get a little frustrated when I woke up for the second feeding of the night. I just couldn't see an end to these nights of fragmented sleep (even though I know it'll come eventually). But after having a few nights of pretty much no sleep, I'll take the 2-3 hours I get at a time, and stop expecting him to sleep longer than he normally does. I know that in time he won't need to eat in the middle of the night and we'll all be able to get more sleep...and that's good enough for me.

Another dose of perspective came from the story of baby Karis through a friend's blog (click here for a little background, and here for the main site). In short, this family discovered that their sweet little girl was sick with Krabbe's disease around 5 months of age...a disease that slowly destroys the brain with a life expectancy of about 13 months.

I can't imagine finding out in a few short months that my sweet baby--the one that we hoped and prayed for and eventually anticipated throughout the pregnancy, one that we already love so much even though we've only known him for 2 months, one that puts us in awe every time we realize that we made him (with lots of divine help)--would only be with us for a short time! How many things would I do differently? I definitely wouldn't be frustrated if he woke every hour at night, I'd cuddle him a little more, let him take a few more naps laying on my chest (even if it does teach him a bad habit), and I'd try even harder to soak up every moment I had with him! I think I needed this dose of reality and perspective to help me understand just how fortunate we are to have a healthy, happy baby, to remember how long we waited for this baby to join our family, and to love every minute of it.

Hand-Me-Downs

Tom, Shane's brother, recently found a newborn outfit that both he and Shane wore as babies. Somehow the process of getting the outfit from Tom's attic, washing it (it was quite dusty), getting it back from Bart (Shane's other brother who accidentally took it home with him), and finally putting it on Dylan took longer than we all expected and he grew quite a bit. Luckily, we somehow squeezed our little boy into the outfit, and here's the result:




These were the best of the pictures we took... In Dylan's defense, the outfit was made of polyester and was quite rough, and the entire thing was way to small for him--we could barely do up one button on the bottom, the buttons at the back of his neck aren't fastened at all, and the armholes were a little snug and the fabric didn't have any give (Notice his bright red arms?? Yes, we're terrible parents...). Plus, he had just taken a bath (which he loves until he has to get out) and it was almost bedtime so he was already a little fussy.

We took it off as soon as we snapped a few pictures and gave him lots of love. We just couldn't miss the opportunity to pass down the outfit. Maybe someday Dylan will be squeezing his son into the same clothes...but that's really too much to think about right now.

**UPDATE: While scanning pictures for another post, I realized that we have a picture of Shane in this exact same outfit!! Obviously, he was a little smaller when he wore it, but how awesome is it to have this picture??