Two Month Visit(s)

Huh. I just looked it up.

Alex, at two months, weighed 11 lbs, 7 oz and measured 23.5 inches long.

Max weighs 11 lbs, 8 oz and measures 23.75 inches.

Just about the same. That's kind of neat! :)

Today, instead of seeing Dr. Brewer, we saw a fluffy bumble bee! I should have taken a picture, but I was afraid it might be a little too "camera nazi" (as Keith calls me...) to ask the pediatrician if I could take a picture of her dressed as a bumble bee. I think it's pretty neat that we have such a fun pediatrician, though! :)

Max is healthy, growing just fine, in the 50th percentile for weight & the 75th percentile for height. Dr. Brewer had no concerns. He might have a bit of thrush, so she gave me a prescription...but he had just nursed, too, so it's possible that he just had milk on his tongue.

Here's Alex hanging out with Grandma P during the appointment. Dr. Brewer gave him a pack of Halloween crayons to keep busy, so Alex and Grandma colored on the paper.

Here's Alex at his 2 month visit. Even then, he was fascinated with all the equipment on the wall. Now, it's hard to keep him from touching it when he's on the table!

I'd asked Grandma if she would mind staying in the car with Alex so he wasn't exposed to any flu germs in the waiting room, and she was willing to do that. (He had the regular flu vaccine last month, but hasn't had the H1N1 vaccine.) When I signed in, though, I talked with the mother of one of my former students. She's working at the pediatrician's office now, and she got us straight into a room without any wait...so I ran out to the car & told Alex and Grandma to come on in. We were 25 minutes early, too! :)

We also visited with Nana and Melissa at Cracker Barrel. Melissa is Nana's helper, and she's the mom of 3 boys. She's good at cuddling Alex & Max! Here are a few pictures from our breakfast.

Breakfast was first, then the pediatrician, and THEN we stopped at The Chocolate Shoppe for lunch...and we STILL made it home for naptime! Wow!

Now, we just have to wait & see how poor little Max reacts to his vaccinations. Alex felt miserable for about 24 hours after his 2 month shots. Hopefully Max isn't so miserable...I hate to see my little ones suffering! We'll just keep giving him Tylenol & hope for the best!

Two Months Old

Our little newborn is already two months old. Where does the time go? Wow!

Max is a pretty good little baby. He gives us big smiles, goes to sleep easily for naps & bedtime, and is often willing to lie contentedly when he wakes in the morning. He has his fussy times, mostly in the evening or during church on Sunday morning, but no baby is perfect!

Max has been sleeping pretty well lately. Most nights, he gives us a stretch of 5 or 6 hours - from 11 until 5ish. I'm enjoying that immensely! Now that I've said something, he'll probably sleep in 3 hour stretches tonight, ha ha! :)

The past few nights, I've nursed him, cuddled him until he's drowsy, and put him in bed awake. He is drifting off to sleep independently, which I think is a pretty important thing. That way, if he wakes in the night, he can get himself back to sleep. Good for you, Max!

He's starting to "talk" to us, which is one of my favorite things about babies at this age - looking right into our eyes and telling us those little baby stories. Wouldn't you love to know what babies are saying?

Max has bright, alert eyes. He loves to look around & take it all in. He often sits in my arms & watches Alex play. He will smile at Alex, and Alex just LOVES it!

Alex absolutely LOVES to hold Max. He will clap his hands and then hold out his arms, which I've learned means, "Mom, I want to hold the baby!" I'll ask Alex to go sit down, and he'll run over to climb onto the couch. He is so proud to be holding his little brother. Max doesn't always like it, as Alex doesn't really hold him securely, but Alex thinks it's the best thing!

Max isn't spending as much time in the swing, as we're working on more structured naps. He's taking a 2 - 3 hour nap every afternoon. It often coincides with Alex's nap, and I certainly won't complain about that! I'm kind of tailoring his mornings so that he will be sleepy at around the time I put Alex down for a nap...which means I usually wake him from his morning nap after about an hour of sleep. Then he'll stay awake while we play, eat lunch & read stories, and I'll put him in the bassinet either right before or after I put Alex to bed. There are days when it doesn't work out, but it sure is nice when it does!

Since he's in the bassinet, and I'm nearby, I let him take his daytime naps on his tummy. I'll swaddle him for his naps once in a while, but he is just so content to sleep on his tummy. At night, he sleeps swaddled & either on his side or his back.

Max will sit in a bouncer seat for 10 - 15 minutes...IF there's enough activity to keep him from getting bored! It's so nice having two bouncers this time around! We keep the "boring" bouncer in the living room, and we keep the Rainforest bouncer in our bedroom. He'll sit in the Rainforest bouncer & watch the lights while I take a shower or put away laundry. As soon as the lights/music stops, he'll start to fuss!

Max has pretty good control of his neck muscles. He loves to hold up his head & look all around. It won't be long, and he'll be ready to sit in his pretty, purple Bumbo seat. (Thanks, Aunt Leanne! Our boys are secure enough in their "boyhood" to handle a purple seat!) We tried out the Bumbo the other day, and it held Max very nicely, but I'm just afraid that he'd have a hard time keeping his head up on his own for any length of time. (After Max tried it, Alex thought it was great, climbed in, and got his little tushy stuck in the chair. Too bad I didn't get a picture!)

Max is still nursing quickly. I don't think it ever takes him more than 10 minutes to nurse fully. That boy likes his milk! I like the snuggle time, but it sure is convenient to have a little one who nurses so quickly.

Bottles? Well, he'll take them, but only when he's good & ready. He has to be REALLY hungry to willingly take it. Last night, he sucked it down just as fast as he nurses. Keith & I were shocked! Most nights, he grudgingly and slowly takes about 2 ounces and then stops. Usually, I'll let him nurse often in the evenings. I guess, for the sake of taking a bottle nicely, I'll have to make sure we wait 2 - 3 hours from the last feeding & make sure he's truly hungry - not just looking for a snack.

He's fitting 0 - 3 month clothes very nicely now. Everything seems to fit him just right...no more "drowning" in his clothing! I love to see him in some of the outfits that were so cute on Alex. I often keep him in sleepers at home, but love to see him looking so "grown-up" in his nicer clothes, especially little polo shirts. Too cute!

I have to confess that I don't give him as much "tummy time" as I should. I'm sure the pediatrician will ask at his 2 month appointment on Friday. It's hard! If I put him on his tummy on the floor, Alex wants to sit on him! I try to give him tummy time on the Boppy pillow in Max's room when I put away clothes so I can keep a close eye on Alex, but then Alex drives his trucks up & down poor Max. I'm sure he'll still grow just fine without a ton of tummy time! :)

Like I said, Max's pediatrician appointment is this week Friday, so we'll have to see what he weighs at a little over 2 months. I'll make a guess of 11 lbs...and I'm sure to be wrong! So...check back on Friday for the real weight...and in the meantime, pray that Mommy & Max both handle Max's 2 month vaccinations just fine :)

Hi-ye Nana!

Alex is very into saying "hi" and "bye" lately. It sounds more like "hi-ye" and "bye-ye", though.

Keith called Nana (Keith's grandma) tonight to wish her well, as she is having surgery tomorrow. Alex crawled up on his lap, so Keith put the phone to Alex's ear. Alex said "HI!" on the phone for the first time ever. Lucky Nana was the first one to hear Alex say hi! :)

So, Nana, here are the pictures of your phone call with Alex!

(excuse the lack of clothing on a 50 degree day - this was right after dinner, and Alex was COVERED with mashed potatoes...so I stripped him down to his onesie!)

Today's Cuteness

Kiddos...they may drive you crazy some days, but they're just SOOOO cute that you have to forgive them for the crazy moments.

Brotherly love...Alex asks to "hold" Max every day. He LOVES when I take pictures of him and Max.
HAPPY Little Boy!

"Helping" Mama make an orange jello dessert to bring to Grandma's house.

It passes Alex's taste test! :)

Awfuls!

So I don't forget the cuteness...

Yesterday, the boys & I went to visit Grandma & Grandpa S for the day. We had a simple lunch - cleaning out the leftovers from my mom's fridge.

Alex was eating some leftover waffles. He cleaned his plate, looked up, and said, "Awfuls! Moh awfuls!"

Complement? Criticism? Whatever it was, it was cute!
Thanks for the smiles, little man! :)

PlayDoh

My friend Karen gave Alex a Playdoh octopus set as a big brother gift. We already had some playdoh for kids I babysat, but now we have a lot more fun tools & toys! I pulled out the playdoh from time to time after Alex turned one, but he was more interested in eating it than in playing with it.

Now, finally, he's getting the idea! We can sit at the table & play for 30 minutes without playdoh entering Alex's mouth! :)

He usually chooses to play with yellow or orange dough. Poor Alex - his crazy mama only lets him use one color at a time, as I *hate* when the colors get mixed together. I probably need to get over it, don't I?!
He is not only learning how to use the tools, but also how to pick up what he has dropped and how to put away the playdoh and tools when we are finished. He's been very good about obediently putting away the tools when he's ready to climb down from the chair. I'm impressed!

On a funny note, I've left the playdoh box on the kitchen table for about 5 days...lazy me! I walked into the kitchen one day to find Alex sitting ON the kitchen table, pulling out his favorite toys & popping the lid off of a container of dough. Apparently, he was ready to play! (And, yes, he did get in trouble for sitting on the table...but, in his defense, it was the only way he could reach the playdoh!)

The rest of the pictures...

PICTURE PEOPLE

Click above if you're curious to see the rest of the Picture People pictures...all the ones that I didn't order, that is! :)

(If our last name is anywhere on the photo site, please let me know so I can remove the photo link. Thanks!)