It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

It's Ryan's first snow! And since it's freezing outside (and because i'm his mommy and can do such things) i turned him into the cutest little polar bear you ever did see. It's the perfect way to stay roasty toasty and enjoy the Christmas season.

A Day in the Life...

When Daddy babysits funny things happen to my hair

This is the way to relax! And a good way to keep my hands warm

Refusing to look at the camera

Practicing Standing

Giggles!

Cuddle Time!

Ryan is starting to learn that his hands, fingers, feet and toes can do things. He still tries to wave back at us and intently watches his Oscar the Octopus in the tub. Today he realized the feet on his footsie pj's were frogs and he was briefly fascinated by that. But the cutest realization? Cuddles and thumbs! Peanut is exploring his hands and is starting to get the hang of sucking his thumb. He also enjoys cuddling a soft toy when he's sleepy. We just got him this new seahorse that is similar to the old-school "Gloworm". It sings soft songs with a gentle light on it's belly that we play when it's nap time. He stares at the glowing belly and "pets" his seahorse. So cute!

2 Months

Height: 23.25 inches (67th percentile)
Weight: 12 pounds 6.5 ounces (71st percentile)
Head Circumference: 16.25 inches (83rd percentile)...and yes i just measured my head to see how big it is in comparison
Milestones: Ryan is trying his hardest to talk to us. He gurgles and coos and makes "Aaaaahhhh!" sounds. He's getting really good at holding his head up all by himself, which is pretty amazing considering it's so huge! He looks at us and follows objects a lot better, but sometimes you'll talk to him and he'll look at everything *except* you...i think it's on purpose to drive mommy nuts. He's starting to realize that his hands and feet actually do things. When we wave at him he tries to mimic us by "waving" back (opening and closing his fingers.) It's really cute! His smiles are my absolute favorite, but right now he mostly smiles in response to us smiling at him...or sometimes (like tonight) when he makes a massive dirty diaper and is super-proud of himself. I tried really hard not to laugh but when he broke out into huge grin and giggled i couldn't stop myself. When i stand him up on his feet he locks his knees and stands straight for about 30 seconds. He's just starting to learn to grab things but so far just lets them go without doing anything with them. Still sleeps best completely swaddled.
Favorites: Peanut's absolute favorite time of the day is bathtime. He splish-splashes all over the place. He's just started realizing his Oscar the Octopus floating toy and has learned how to "trap" it between his feet.
Sounds: "Wooooo" "Aaaaaahhhh!" "Ah-goo" I could really make up all kinds of words for the noises he makes.
Foods: Similac Advance formula. I did tell him to pretend it was turkey flavored on Thanksgiving...yummm!
Hours I Let Mommy Sleep: We're still working on a set bedtime. But usually when he goes down for the night he'll sleep about 5ish hours before waking up to eat again and then he'll sleep another 4-4.5. In a surprising turn of events Daddy has become a total morning person. He's been in bed way before midnight every night this week! I guess that's what happens when Mommy returns to work and Ryan wakes up at 6-8am to play.
Other News: Peanut lives in footy pajamas. They are soooo much easier than onesies and outfits, plus socks seem to cut into his ankles. So for Black Friday i just bought a gajillion of them. He's just starting to wear the 3-6 month footy pj's because the smaller size was scrunching his toes. His reflux is practically gone now. He currently has his very first illness...a cold. Which he then gave to me and it hit me my first day back to work! *sigh* I'm not looking forward to what he'll bring home when he starts school. And apparently "Aunt" Jenn is the baby whisperer. I don't know what witchcraft she's brewing but he just smiles and giggles for her all the time! Jake had to make her leave today because Ryan couldn't eat and smile at the same time...at least not without making a huge mess.

I Can't Believe I'm Saying This...

 ...but i miss being pregnant! Of course i love my little Peanut and wouldn't trade the "real" thing for the world, but there are some things about being pregnant that i miss quite a lot. Now that i'm headed back to work soon i realize that on days that i have to close i won't see my little guy practically all day long because he'll be asleep by the time i get home. I miss my round belly with it's little kicks, wriggles and hiccups that i could feel anytime i wanted. I miss listening to a tiny little heartbeat with my doppler almost every night. I miss the excitement of the unknown and telling my belly stories without worrying i'll wake him up. My belly was also quite portable and didn't mind if i took it out for midnight Wendy's runs. It never complained (too much) and generally let me sleep as long as i wanted, even if i did have to get up to pee all the time. My belly also followed me to the car much more quickly and didn't require bottles, diaper bags, a fully tummy, a pacifier, a good mood, and a clean diaper. As much as i complained at the time i totally get how moms "forget" all the awful side effects, pain, etc, and reminisce about how great it was to be pregnant and how delivery really isn't that bad. After months of bitching, i can't believe i'm saying i miss being pregnant!!

Then and Now

Ryan is almost 2 months old! We go for his well-check tomorrow. I'm nervous because it's his first round of immunizations and i'm not looking forward to watching it. He's grown sooo much over the past two months. My favorite things right now are his pouty face and his giggles. The pouty face is so cute, it makes me laugh every time. He sticks his little lower lip out and scrunches his eyebrows together. Here are some pictures to illustrate how much my little man has grown!

Birthday

1 Month

8 Weeks

6 Weeks

Trying to figure out babies is exhausting. Currently our biggest issue is sleep. A typical evening consists of giving Ryan a bottle, getting him ready for bed, putting him down...and then *just* when we think he's asleep for good (after about 30 minutes) he spits out his paci and starts crying. I give him a minute to see if he'll fall back asleep, but he just starts sobbing and i have to run in the bedroom and try to replace the paci as discreetly and quietly as i can. He usually proceeds to fall back asleep...for 10 minutes or so before repeating the process. This usually persists until he's finally awake and ready to eat again.

So last night after he had a 4oz bottle and whined through an hour worth of sleep before downing another 4oz bottle i suddenly realized: "I'm starving my baby!" The next time he woke up we gave him 6 ounces...and he drank it all! And then slept really well. Of course that was the middle of the night and he usually goes right back to sleep after his middle of the night feeding. So the rest of the day i offered him 6 ounces, and most times he drank it. Although he started spitting up again, so i think 6oz is a maybe a little much. Anyway, the point is that tonight after our normal bedtime routine he went to sleep without even a whimper...and he didn't wake himself up even once! So this could be a combination of factors: We have started a new bedtime routine that includes a bath, bottle, bedtime story, and bed (the 4 B's). We put him in his big-boy crib instead of the bassinet and he was also probably exhausted because he only took a catnap prior to this. And last, he had a 6oz bottle again. Whatever it was i'll try it again tomorrow and hopefully have the same results.

The other sleep issues is ours. Every time we try to sleep with Ryan in the same room as us we can't. He makes little noises and grunts while he sleeps and both Jake and I are instantly awake. I had really wanted to keep him in the same room with us until he was 4 months old and the SIDS risk went down (because i'm paranoid) but since Jake is currently staying awake all night long until 9-10am and then sleeping most of the day and i'm about to return to work...something will have to change so that we can both sleep at night. Jake's idea is to crank the fan up to high in our bedroom to drown out noise and then just leave our door open so that when he's screaming loud enough it will wake us up. I think at the very least i'll opt to have the baby monitor on!

Lately Ryan LOVES to play on his activity mat. And by play i mean he lays on his back concentrating really, really hard on the pink piggy dangling above him, swings his tiny little arms and frantically kicks his legs, makes lots of noises...but ultimately nothing happens. This doesn't seem to bother him at all but it is *so* frustrating to watch! It must be awful to see something you want to do and not be able to do anything but lie there. It's really cute though. He's getting more tolerant of tummy-time and is able to hold his head up a lot longer now. We've also started giving him a tub bath every night as part of his bedtime routine and he really seems to enjoy it most of the time. He kicks and kicks his little feet like he's swimming. Here are some pictures of his favorite activities!