Alan at Two Months

My little boy is already two months old. Somehow amidst the sleepless nights, constant diapering and feeding, he has grown and yet it feels like we've had him barely a day.

Alan (or Anni-Bear as I like to call him) is a very sweet boy. He is content to sit and watch us, which is great. I cannot imagine if we had a colicky baby who needed to be held all the time. Sometimes he does need to be held, but mostly he is one chill little dude. Keep him well fed and he is pretty content.

He is a pretty inconsistent sleeper. One night he sleeps from 8-3, the next night from 8-4 (with a "dream feed" where I feed him while he sleeps around 11) and the next (like last night) he is up every two hours. I know that we got extremely lucky with Sam. She slept 12 hours from the time she was 6 weeks. I know that was very rare. But that is also what we got used to, so this? This is hard.

The advent of the new schedule is pretty nice, though. The main thing I was missing (besides REM sleep) was time alone with R at the end of the night, so at least we have that again from about 8-12.

He started smiling right around four weeks, which is pretty early. It is so great to feel like he loves me. Both his sister and I get the majority of his smiles. He really seems to adore her and she is getting much better with him, which is a massive, massive relief.

Somewhere along the way I have also grown accustomed to two kids. It is not easy. Not at all. But those desperate early days of feeling like I was going to cry at any minute are gone. I have the basic routine down. And even as I say these words, I am well aware that I have only spent one full day alone with the two of them. There is still learning left to do.

This week has been an annoying one. Anni-bear got a mild fever Sun night into Mon morning and I panicked and brought him to the ped. He was fine (he weighs 12.5 pounds!) Still, it is hard to keep the little guy healthy with a big sister-toddler full of germs. I will just keep on filling him with breastmilk and hope for the best.

We also ran into some issues with our car (the little green trolley, not the Volvo, which is still under warrantee--thank g-d) so we need to decide if we are going to one car or if we are buying a new one. Until yesterday we were pretty sure we were going with the Mazda5 but we have some big decisions coming up soon (more on this to come, I am sure) and we are not sure a new car makes sense. So we may be down to one car unless R and his friend can somehow get the little green trolley to work for another month. I am not holding my breath.

It has been a stressful month (aren't they all?) But Anni-bear is a trooper, highly portable and such a joy. Last night I was thinking about all my fears prior to his birth. They have all faded and now I am so thankful that we made the decision to throw caution to the wind (one time) and create Anni. Even at 3 a.m. or nursing non-stop he is a little rock star and we love him more than I ever could have imagined.