Day 65: 2 Months

Another month, another milestone. Mitchell is two months today. No official weight and height measurements yet because his two month Dr. appointment isn't until Friday. Like I suspected last month, quite a bit has happened in Mitchell's second month of life. His first real smile was on September 15, but they have only gotten better since then. When he smiles, he smiles with his whole face and his eyes light up. It is so cute that it melts my heart every time. It never gets old. He hasn't started a full on laugh or giggle yet, but he does have a noise that accompanies his smiles when he is really happy. It's kind of like a throat clearing cough sound, but I know he isn't coughing because it is consistent with his huge smiles and good moods. I can also tell he is getting really close to "cooing." He sort of "talks" when he is happy, but it is short lived.

Mitchell is finally starting to settle into some kind of a routine. At the beginning of the month he was eating, on average, 10x a day. He was eating at least every two hours during the day and every three hours at night. It was making me lose my mind. Once I figured out that the Enfamil formula I was supplementing with was causing him tummy troubles, it got a lot better. He was crying so much because his belly hurt, but babies think they are hungry when they have a belly ache. I wish I figured it out sooner, it would have been better for both of us. Now he is on Enfamil Gentlease and breastmilk. He is able to spread his feedings out to three hours and eats 5-6x per day and 1-2x at night.

Sleeping is still a challenge. Naps go pretty smoothly. He is on a eat-play-sleep routine. After he eats I keep him up as long as I can. He lets me know when he needs sleep and he will go right to sleep. When he wakes up the cycle repeats. He goes to sleep at bedtime just as easily, it's the staying asleep that is the problem. He typically goes to bed between 8 and 9. He will sleep until anywhere between 11 and 2. He usually gets up for a second time between 4-5, and he gets up for the day between 7-8. Lately we have been putting him back to bed in his swing after the night feedings. I don't like to do it, but I am just so tired that I do whatever I can to get some extra sleep.

Mitchell is staying awake a lot more during the day. He enjoys tummy time and hanging out in the swing. He only likes the bouncy seat in the bathroom with the fan going and shower running. He has yet to show any interest in rolling over.

This picture is what Mitchell wore to bed tonight. It is the same outfit Maya wore in her three month picture. This is one of only a few things that could be passed down from big sister. Maya was excited to see him in it.

The past few weeks have been extremely hard, but things are getting better. For the first time since Mitchell has been born I can honestly say I will miss this time someday...

Day 64: Big Sister Love

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that Maya has not held Mitchell nearly enough. She asks to hold him a lot, but it never seems to be the right time. Mitchell has been such a fussy baby that the right time is hard to find. Even though Maya was in the middle of eating dinner, I asked her if she wanted to hold him tonight since he was in a happy mood. This photo shoot took place after Maya's swim lessons. Maya told her teacher in the middle of lessons that she had to go potty. I had to get up with Mitchell and take her to the bathroom - only to find out she didn't really have to go. I was not impressed.

After swim lessons we came home to eat dinner. Maya has a new word in her vocabulary: allergic. She had cucumbers on her plate and told me she is "allergic to cucumbers." I asked her what allergic means and she said "it means I don't like it."

After dinner it was time for bed. Maya will not be watching TV tomorrow.

Day 63: Mitchell's First Sleepover

And he loved it! Mitchell did pretty well last night on his first night away from home at Mimi and Papa's. Once he got past his gassiness before bed the night turned out alright. He slept on me part of the night and in the boppy pillow part of the night. He woke up to eat at 2am and 5am and went back to sleep easily after the feedings. We woke up for the day at 8:15 and shortly after that the girls joined us to play hopscotch...

Maya and Peyton slept together with Aunt Lolo. Apparently they had a hard time going to sleep and the bed was pretty cramped. Next time they will need to sleep in a bigger bed. Aunt Lolo went to class this morning and I stayed home with all three kids. The girls played nicely together and Mitchell was a happy boy. It was nice not having to watch kid shows since Maya is currently not allowed to watch her shows. She hasn't watched TV since Thursday. She has to go bed like a big girl two nights in a row before she can watch any of her shows or movies again.

Day 62: 362 Months

I think I need to start posting pictures of all of us on our special days of the month. When the 3rd gets here that means the rest of the family is soon to come. We went to a birthday party today for Sam and Gabe. Maya had a blast playing in the bounce around, playing carnival games, and hanging out with all the kids.

We topped the evening off with an overnight visit to Mimi and Papa's house. Maya thought we were really moving to Cincinnati today.

Day 61: Mummy Loves Me

Day 60: Hangin' On The Deck

Day 59: Halo Snuza

The Halo Snuza is a little device that every parent of an infant should own. It is basically a breathing monitor. In the picture it is the white and purple device clipped on his pants. The way it works is the purple tip of the device senses movement. If 15 seconds go by without movement, it vibrates. This is to remind the baby to breathe. If another 5 seconds go by without movement, an alarm goes off to alert the parents. We are able to let Mitchell take naps on his belly without watching him like a hawk. At bedtime we put the snuza on his diaper. This is the true purpose and correct way to use it, since babies are supposed to sleep on their backs. Even though back sleeping reduces the risk of SIDS, it is still a risk so this is nice piece of mind.

Once Mitchell has better neck control we might let him sleep on his belly at night.

Day 58: For Sale

We got the sign in our yard today, so our house is now officially on the market. Hopefully it will sell quickly. I haven't had much time lately to type much. We have been so busy cleaning the house and trying to get it ready for showings. Last night was my first night with both kids by myself. Bedtime was an absolute disaster. Maya did everything she possibly could to stall going to bed and I don't think she fell asleep until 10:30. It was ugly.

Mitchell had a great three days but tonight he is back to his old self again. I had come to the conclusion that his grumpiness must have been from the formula hurting his tummy. So I started eating dairy again. Just like that, his aching belly returned. He just finished fussing and crying for the past hour and a half ending in spit up all over daddy. I guess it's time to find an easy to digest formula and no more dairy for me until we do.

Day 57: Swingin'

Day 56: Dining Room

Here are some before and after shots of the dining room.

9/12/2010

9/27/2010

9/12/2010

9/27/2010

9/27/2010

Day 55: Yee-haw!

Maya rides this thing like it's going out of style! I admit that I'm not much of a fan of it, but had to capture the memories on camera. It is reaching the end very soon and will either be put in storage or donated. Maya doesn't know this yet.

Thank you Mama and Yeye for coming down today and watching the kids and helping clean the house. Your help is so much appreciated!Mitchell slept almost all day and went at least two and a half hours between all feedings. Maybe we have reached a turning point!

Day 54: Down To The Wire

We had some much appreciated and much needed visitors today. Mary Beth came down to help clean and brought the kids to play with Maya. Sam and Gabe entertained Maya while Mary Beth and I attempted to make the house spotless and Arthur concentrated on the outside. We definitely made some progress. Today would not have been possible without her visit. The house still isn't real estate ready, but we are definitely getting closer.

It sure seems like all Maya does is sleep with all the pictures I have posted lately. If only that were true! She must have been really exhausted since she passed out on the couch while her friends were here. Poor Samantha couldn't wait for her to wake up and play. I just thought this picture was too cute to pass up the way she is cuddling with her baby.

Even Mitchell had a better than usual day. Mary Beth helped get him to wait almost three hours between feedings, he took excellent naps, and he went to bed without a fight. I'm going to attempt to cut dairy out of my diet this week and see if there is any change in him. We'll see how that goes.

Day 53: Seven Weeks

Aww, doesn't he look all sweet and content? It's too bad this is the less common picture of Mitchell and the one to follow is my life lately.
This is Mitchell immediately after arriving home from a shopping trip of just the two of us. If you look closely you can see he is bleeding. He was apparently so worked up that he scratched himself hard enough to draw blood. Today's shopping trip was pretty much a total fail aside from spending a gift card on Maya. I can't even remember the total number of meltdowns Mitchell had at the mall. He is still eating every two hours, if he can even go that long. To me, this is excessive, but I wouldn't feed him if he wasn't showing me the hunger signs of sucking on his hands and fingers. In addition to eating so often, each feeding lately is followed by serious discomfort and screaming fits. I can't figure out if it is gas or reflux. If we are at home the only thing that calms him down is putting him in the swing. Today, I had to hold and shush him while trying to shop. Needless to say, I wasn't able to find anything for me.

When Maya got home from daycare I gave the things I bought her. She was so cute looking through the bag of goodies. Here is our conversation after Maya pulled out more underpants:

Maya: "I love these panties."

Me: "Keep looking, there's more."

Maya: "For reeeaal?"

Me: "Yeah."

Maya: "This is ridiculous."

I think she is going to be a butterfly for Halloween if I can find a costume. I couldn't resist this shirt when I saw it.

She was so excited to put this shirt on. Cute, right? Well, let's hope the strawberry milk she spit out all over it doesn't stain. At least I got a picture before she decided to act up tonight.

Day 52: Friends From Work

Day 51: Do All Babies Do This?

Or just my babies? Mitchell was having an uncharacteristically happy morning so I started snapping away. I hardly recognized the content baby happy to play on his activity mat for an hour and interact with mommy and big sister. When I went back and looked at the pictures I immediately remembered this picture of Maya taken when she was just about a month old. They are making almost the same face - too funny! So, is this a Bradley thing or just a baby thing?

And an update on Maya - she is fever free for the moment. Doctor said to give it another 24 hours and call back tomorrow if she still has a fever. If she wakes up without one she is going to daycare tomorrow. She has already picked the outfit she will be wearing!

Day 50: Still Sick

Day 49: Fever With No Diagnosis

Everytime Maya gets a fever it turns out to be strep throat. I took Maya to the Dr. this morning thinking for sure that's what it would be, and it came back negative. Poor Maya had to have the throat culture for nothing. She even said when I made the appointment that "I don't want them to put a stick in my throat." She has had strep so much that she knows the drill. So no strep, but she still has a fever. And why on earth she had to wear these winter pajamas is beyond me. We shall see what tomorrow brings.
Here is the best smile I could catch. He started his social smile on September 15th, but it isn't consistent yet and hard to catch.