Cara is TWO Months!

I am TWO months old!

 

 

I like: The living room windows (this should really say loves the windows...they got her first real smiles), standing on her legs with assistance from us (she LOVES that), bath time (for the most part, it's the getting out of the warm water and freezing she hates), car rides or walks to new places, mom and dad (if others are holding her she always knows where we are in the room...I'm taking that as a sign of love haha), my voice (she coos and makes noises all the time and I LOVE it), and (of course) keeping my parents on their toes when it comes to what actually puts me to sleep.

 

I dislike: Being put down or sleeping during growth spurts (which makes it fun for mom and dad!), tummy time (if it goes past 2 or 3 minutes) or gas bubbles (who can blame her though, right?)

 

I am now: wearing 0-3 months clothes and size 1 diapers (WHAT?!). At her two month appointment (which was today, but the picture was taken on the 2nd though) she was 11 lbs. 3 oz. and 22.9 inches long. Our unofficial measurements on the 2nd were just over 10 lbs. and 21.5 inches, so we were kind of close to what the dr had :)

Didn't have the bow yet,
But she's so cute all smiley

 

A Typical Day looks like:

• 8:30 wake up, eat, get changed (diaper and clothes)
• 9 - 9:45/10 play on activity mat, tummy time, walk around the house
• 9:45-11:45/12 nap time
• 12-2 eat, change, and play again (this time we'll throw in a book or a Disney movie instead of a walk)
• 2-4 nap (she'll usually make it to 3 or 3:30 on this one, but then we do a walk to the mail box at 3:30 and she'll sleep through that)
• 4-7 eat, change, play (we'll do dinner around 5:30 so she'll go in the swing at this point) and 6/6:30 is when she starts to get fussy for bed.
• 7-7:30 bath (either with these head to toe wipes I got or a real bath)
• 7:30 start bedtime routine. Sometimes she goes to bed at 8:30, other times it's 9:30. We're working on getting it closer to 8:30

 

Such an angel when she sleeps
And I love when she's cuddle-y

 This Month I: Got to meet Nana on mom's side, which means I got to go to a bunch of new places during the day (see this post for that visit and what Cara liked and didn't like). I also celebrated dad's first Father's Day by only giving him the good smiles (the little stinker!). I grew a bunch and am still doing what I can to keep my parents on their toes a bit haha.

 

Trying out sunglasses for our Zoo trip
(I determined they were too big for her though)

 

Doing her "exercises" with Daddy

Parent's Notes: Cara was such a good baby this month. It was SO nice having my mom in town to have an extra set of hands and eyes for me during the day. It was also nice taking Cara out during the day, which I guess I was nervous to do before now thinking it would throw off her schedule too much. But we did really good, I wasn't able to pump as much as I'm used to so I made sure to make up for that after the visit and get back into the schedule, but it was SO nice seeing I could take her out during the day and be good. I even started walking up to the Ridley's up the street when we need an item or two from the store and taking Cara with me.

She's got a grumpy face, but she
Actually liked the chair for a bit

She also got super smiley and better at holding her neck up. It was nice because she would get little smiles here and there (I even joked with Larry that I worried about her sense of humor because I would hardly get any smiles even though I would play with her or make funny faces/voices at her all day and get almost nothing). Then I got some gripe water and OH MY GOSH! What a game changer! That must have helped so much because she got SUPER smiley after that. It's like having a whole new baby!

Looking at her windows :)

 

Another helpful gadget we got was a monitor so that we can put her to bed earlier and leave her in the room while we have our own time again. That has been a major help in keeping me feeling sane and more normal (even though I don't actually leave her in the room unless I'm putting pumped milk in the fridge real quick, but it'll be good for when I'm ready to).

Trying out the carrier

 One of the biggest shocks was at one point during this month she actually nursed! We decided to try it on a whim and for a few nights she took too it like a champ. Unfortunately, after those few days she started to get too frustrated with it and she'd start to throw a hissy fit that we couldn't calm her down from and so we decided to stop trying. It was sad it didn't last long, but it was nice to at least have those few days and it seemed to really up our bond (she's super cuddle-y with me after that).
 

Update on last month's goals:

• We did good with the sensations, but I'd like to work more on those, especially the feeling one. The smell she'd react to some things, but not a lot, so I think we have to wait a bit on that one, and listening just comes with being awake so not much to report on that one either.
• We worked a little more on tummy time, but more towards the end of the month. She has a stronger neck when we hold her up, but lifting it is going to take a bit more work.
• She isn't grabbing things just yet. We can get her to hold onto things if we wrap her fingers around them, but she doesn't grab herself yet. She will still grab fingers though, so it's a start.
• Nap time schedule we messed with in the middle of the month, but things are going well with it so far.
• I was able to start my workouts again after my mom's visit and I bought this amazing post partum belt that helps get all my insides back together. My diastasis recti went from 4.5/5 fingers to 2 finger wide so I'm doing better on that, but at my 6 week check up my midwife still said I need to work on repairing it and can't do any sort of stomach workouts just yet. I did get a new Fitbit (I lost the charger to my old one and I couldn't find anywhere sold just the charger so I had to upgrade) to help motivate me to get up and stay active whenever possible.

Goals for next month:

• Mom continue working out and build up to 3 days a week (I'm only at 2 right now because my weekend one usually ends up getting skipped). I also would like to make sure I'm wearing my belly belt as much as possible to get my abs back together sooner (the midwife said up by my ribs is looking good, but the lower you go the wider it is)
• Continue working on sensations, tummy time, and grabbing toys.
• Get out of the house at least one day a week and do my best to hit my goal steps each day.
• Continue working on nap schedules and getting it all ready for when I go back to work and she's with Larry all day (sniff sniff...I'm going to miss being the one she sees most of the day)
• Keep the smiles coming!! I can't seem to get enough of them, I love making her smile and coo!
• Make the most of this last month I have with her! It's REALLY going to be hard leaving her each morning, even though I know it'll be good for us all around.