2 months old!

Cute things that happened recently:

Last night after feeding Brynlee I held her up over my shoulder to burp her. As I'm patting her back I felt 3 small pats on my back from her. It was sooo cute and funny!

We had been out doing some grocery shopping and got home around 5:30. We were all starving, but of course the baby gets priority. I quickly warmed up some soup in a mug and took it upstairs so I could drink it while feeding Brynlee. A few minutes later John brought his food upstairs so we weren't lonely. Apparently Frank was feeling left out of the feast so he went downstairs and got his rawhide. He was carrying it in his mouth as he came upstairs. He sat down right by us and started eating too. It was hilarious because he doesn't eat those too often and certainly has never taken it upstairs before. The fun ended however when he puked it up on our carpet a few minutes later.

Brynlee is growing and changing everyday!

As far as eating goes we are doing much better at nursing. It's so nice to not have to pump AND feed her a bottle, but she doesn't always get full. She often nurses for an hour each time, plus at night we give her another 2-3 ounces in a bottle. For Brynlee to not be gassy and in serious pain I have to not eat dairy. It sucks, but worth it to have a happy baby and not a fussy, sad baby. Since I spend so much time feeding the baby, I have watched a lot of TV lately. I actually don't mind all the time spent sitting in the rocking chair.

For a while she was pooping out the diaper several times a day. I got so tired of changing outfits, scrubbing and washing clothes (and the stains still wouldn't come out) that I finally started doing a double diaper. Newborn diapers seemed too small but size 1 too big, so 1 of each worked better (though still not 100% effective). Thankfully that isn't a problem anymore and only wears size 1.

She smiles all the time and laughs too! There is nothing better than seeing your adorable baby smile at you. One night we were all awake at 2 AM and Brynlee had the biggest smiles. We didn't mind being woken up in the middle of the night if she's all smiley and cute. She also coos and babbles when she's happy. I seriously can't get enough of it. I wonder ifshe gets sick of me kissing her all the time but I just can't help it. EVERYONE just thinks she's the cutest baby ever and we totally agree!

Brynlee sleeps a lot better now that we have her figured out somewhat. Currently she sleeps in the bouncy seat, swaddled, on her side, with the vibration and white noise machine on. She has a hard time staying asleep though, but seems to get better every night. For the last several days she has slept for 8-9 hours at a time, which is awesome. We just need to work on getting her to bed earlier (before midnight would be good). Soon we will put her in the crib and hope that she will sleep well in there. I wonder how much the noise and lights of the tv or our talking affects her sleep when she is in our room. We can't seem to go to sleep right at the same time as her.

My absolute favorite time is when she is awake, calm, and just hanging out. For the most part she prefers to be held, cuddled, and talked to. But she also spends a fair amount of time just looking around and not requiring constant stimulation. She is just so fun to watch. This time is right after she eats (as long as she got enough food and isn't still hungry) and usually in the evenings.

On December 29th she had her 2 month Dr. appointment and got several shots. John couldn't be in the room with her while she had her shots, so it was just me. I've never seen her face get that red (almost purple) and she screamed bloody murder for about 10 seconds, but was okay for a while. She went right to sleep and was acting like she was drugged (she kind of was). She slept for several hours, then woke up miserable. We gave her Tylenol but it took a while to work so it was so sad seeing her in pain and not being able to do anything about it. Being a nurse you would think I would know how to prevent this, but #1 I am not a baby nurse ( I only know how to take care of adults) and #2 I am the mom, not the nurse when it comes to Brynlee. I should have known to give her Tylenol right after the shots and that she would feel crappy for a while, but I didn't think about it. But I am learning and will do better next time.

2 month weight: 10.5 lbs. (43rd percentile)

2 month length: 21.5 inches (24th percentile).

At her 2 week appointment she was tall and skinny and now she is short and chubby. Not really though, as she is still completely in the normal range. It's just funny how fast that changes. She is obviously getting enough food as she has several fat rolls on her legs, arms, and neck. And her cheeks are still one of the first things people see and talk about.

Brynlee had her first cold around Christmas time. She was sneezing every 5 minutes and had a stuffy nose. She is still getting over it, but didn't seem too affected by it. I wasn't surprised she got sick as almost everyone around her was sick.

I will be honest by saying that the first 6 weeks were not really fun. I didn't think I wanted to have another baby for a loooong time. But it's finally getting better, we are getting most of the issues worked out, I am getting more sleep, and she seriously is sooo cute and funny. I just can't get enough of her and love her more than anything in the whole world. I am so lucky to be her mommy!