I love the way he nuzzles into my neck. I
love the way his body gets heavier when he falls asleep, like
dead weight. I love the way he opens his mouth when he’s really
hungry – so big – and turns his head back and forth, like he’s
not sure where the boob is coming from but if he turns back and
forth hard and fast enough he’ll find it – and he always does.
I love the way he arches his back and sticks out his butt when
I pick him up. I love the way he falls asleep while nursing,
and smiles sweetly when I pull away. I love the way he flails
his little arms and legs when he’s crying. I love the way he
collapes into my arms when I pick him up for cuddles. I love
the way he gets so happy and full of smiles when I lay him on
the changing table. I love the way he gazes at me when he’s
nursing – such big, sweet eyes staring up at me. I love they
way his hands kneed into me when he’s tired. I love the way he
yawns so big. I love the way he makes me feel so loved when
he’s known me for such a short time. I love him.

Our 2 month checkup went well today. Lex
is (no surprise) a happy, healthy baby. He now weighs 13lbs
3oz, and is 22 3/4″ long. His head is 41 1/2cm. All well within
normal ranges. I think she said he’s in the 56th percential for
height and 81st percential for weight. All very good. He was on
his best behavior and smiling and charming the pediatrician. He
was watching her so closely the whole time she kept commenting
that he must be listening well to her. He also got three shots
today, which he handled like a champ. He screamed during them
(of course), but recovered well and is sleeping now. We got him
some baby Tylenol to take the edge off. Seems to be working. I
gotta do some work now that he’s asleep. More later.

At 9 weeks old Lex has given
his first hickey. He’s quite the ladies man :) Alan and I went
out and left him with our Good
Beginnings volunteer. We come home and she has a
hickey on her arm!! He’s been sucking on stuff a lot lately
(arms, hands, fingers, clothes, basically anything he can get
his mouth on!). She said that he was sucking on her arm and it
didn’t hurt so she let him do it. When she took him off she
noticed that he left a mark. Crazy boy.

We go for his 2 month check up first thing tomorrow
morning. Wish us luck. He’s going to get his first round of
shots and I’m a little nervous. I’ve heard very mixed reviews
on what to expect, but I’m sure there will be lots of crying.
I’ll let you all know how it goes.

I posted a whole bunch of new
pictures to photos.datdec.com. I think I’m all
caught up now. I’m also getting confused with the weeks and
days and whatnot, so I think I’m going to start posting them
some other way (instead of weeks). I’m not sure how exactly,
but I’ll think of something. I’m probably posting way more
photos than anyone actually cares to see either. However, it’s
easier for me to slap them all up there instead of going
through and selectively picking and choosing… so you’ll just
have to pick and choose the ones you want to see instead :)
Enjoy!

My tiny baby is 2 months old today. Seems
like time is going by so fast.

So I’ve been meaning to post again since
Thursday. Every day I’ve got thought formulating in my brain
and I have every intention of writing them down, however, time
seems to slip away and the writing doesn’t happen. Now I’ve got
a few minutes of quite time as Lex sleeps in the swing beside
me. I should be paying bills, but I’ll do this real quick
first.

Overall things are going pretty
good these days. We are still having some trouble nursing, but
he’s still gaining weight, so I guess that’s ok. About one
third of the time he will nurse well, but the other two thirds
he cries, pulls away, etc. But as soon as he’s off he starts
rooting around again. I tried pumping once after a bad nursing
session and there was very little milk, so I guess he’s
managing to get it in him. Just not a pleasurable experience
for either of us. Parenting can be really hard sometimes.
Thursday night he cried for two hours solid. We tried nursing,
a bottle, swaddling, etc. Nothing worked. When we tried nursing
again (about two hours after he started screaming), he settled
right down and nursed long and hard. He then slept long and
hard!! It pretty much was the beginning of him sleeping for 4
hours straight each night. He’s since done it every night. Last
night he slept for 5 hours straight!

On Friday we went down to
Nashua (always with the last minute business errands) and met
Ron and Laura for dinner. It was fun seeing their baby, now 1
year old, and how active he is. He was eating real food, moving
all around, and grabbign at everything – very fun kid :) Lex
won at the “who can cry more” game, but Andy won at the
“clearing off the table” game :) Lex is still working on that
one.

Yesterday Jim and Julie came
to visit. We put up the new jumper we got for Lex and he looks
absolutely adorable even though he is way too small for it. His
arms fell through the leg hole. It was too funny. We ended up
propping him up with the towel rolls from the car seat. They at
least kept him upright. I think he’ll enjoy the jumper soon.

Lex also, for
the first time, reached for and successfully grabbed a
toy. Julie was holding him and a
little yellow toy in her hand. Lex reached out for the toy,
closed his hand around it, and brought it back to him. It was
great! We couldn’t get him to do it again, but oh well.

I just noticed that I’m pretty far behind on
posting photos to the web site. I really have to pay bills now,
but I’ll see if I can get to that soon. Sometimes I wonder
where the heck all my time goes. It’s crazy how time consuming
a baby can be. Then, sometimes when he’s calm, I put him down
and I end up feeling guilty for not paying attention to him and
stimulating his little mind. Alan is good at reminding me that
just about anything stimulates his little mind, even watching
us walk around the kitchen making dinner. I try not to let
myself feel guilty about too much. Whew… parenting can be
hard! :)

Little Lex is 8 weeks old today – going on
2 months :)

We went walking today with
some women from the 4th trimester group (technically I walked
and Lex rode). It was really nice. There were 8 or 9 of us
total, all pushing strollers and babies. We walked for about 45
minutes around this pond and afterwards we hung out and
chatted/nursed. Lex wanted no part of nursing though. He was
much more interested in looking around at everything going on.
He was hungry by the time I got back to the car though
:)

And here I am, updating this
blog, like a goober. I’m tired, but I need to feed the baby
before bed. He is sleeping in his swing now. He likes the
swing. He’s been sleeping so good this evening. I think he had
a bellyache or something, but it seemed to start getting better
this afternoon. Hopefully he will be fully happy again in the
morning.

I’ve also started co-sleeping,
which is making my nights easier. Before he was born I thought
the whole idea was crazy, but now I definitely see the merit.
I’m not sure I’ll want to do it long term, but right now I
think it’s what we both need to get a good night’s sleep. We
also need me to go to bed when I’m done doing what needs to be
done and not do silly things like this.
Lex is so
awake and alert these days. He smiles when you smile at him, he
loves his changing table, he can hold his head up very well,
and stand for awhile. He’s even walking with support (his
balance isn’t great yet, but he is very strong). He has also
started reaching for toys, batting at things, and looking at
himself in the mirror. And yet, after almost two months, I’m
still amazed that we actually have a baby. It’s such an
incredible thing! When he hurts all I want to do is make things
better. And when he smiles his big gummy smile, my heart melts.
Aww…. I love him!

Lex is so cranky tonight. I think he has a
stomach problem. He seems ok for a few minutes then starts
wailing like he’s in horrible pain. I feel so bad for him. He
won’t even nurse for more than a few minutes at a time. I wish
I could make it all better so he didn’t hurt. I also wish I
knew why he hurts so we won’t let it happen again. Wish me luck
for a peaceful night :)

What a fun family weekend.
Mandy and Andrea came up on Saturday for an afternoon visit. We
chopped up lots of veggies and had stir-fry for lunch. They
also brought strawberry rubarb pie for dessert. The farmstand
on the way to our house apparently has alluring strawberry
rubarb pie. She hasn’t seen Lex in many weeks – since he was
just a tiny baby ;) He slept most of the time, but I’m sure he
was happy to see her too.

On Sunday
Alan’s parents came to visit. His mom’s birthday was last
Thursday so we had a little birthday celebration. We went out
to a very tasty lunch at one of those restaurants that only has
six items on the menu. They always make me nervous becuause
it’s rare I find anything I like. This time I found a soup and
a salad that were excellent. Then we all got desserts to share
too. We ate *very* well for lunch :) We also did some shopping
and poking around the little shops. It was great. Then we came
home, watched a movie, made dinner, and just hung out. Overall
an excellent weekend.

On a quick baby
update, Lex is doing well. We’re working on different sleeping
methods because I’m a tired momma. Hopefully we’ll find
something that allows us both to get a good night’s sleep. And
on that note, I’m going to bed ’cause Lex just fell asleep.
G’night all!

I’ve been meaning to post this all day and
just now am getting the chance. Actually, I should get my butt
in bed since Lex just fell asleep, but oh well, I’ll try to
write quickly :)

Lex is the most
expressive baby I know. He makes so many different faces and
all within minutes of each other. He had Alan and I in tears
(of laughter) last night just watching him go. He was smiling
and gurgling and cooing at us. Then, suddenly, he started
making funny bug-eyed faces – which cracked us up. Then, just
as suddenly, back to the smiles. One face was a huge frown (a
perfect, huge, upside-down U) that lasted for about a second
then right back to the smiles. I almost think he was doing them
on purpose because they made us laugh so hard. What a
baby.

He’s also started crying like a
baby, not a newborn. For the first time yesterday he had a cry
that sounded very different. We were concerned at first, but
then we realized it’s just a baby cry instead of a newborn cry.
Of course we aim to keep the crying to a minimum :) Now we need
to work on the sleeping. He currently is aiming to keep the
sleeping to a minimum – which I’m not so pleased about. On that
note, he’s crying again so I’m outta here.