Alden's Second Month

Our second month as a family of three was wonderful. Nick & I are finally feel like we're getting in a groove with the baby and even though Alden is totally not on a schedule yet, it's definitely easier than it was.

We love to cuddle with our little man in the mornings when he's wide awake and really alert. We get a ton of smiles and have great conversations full of coos and squeals :) Going out into the world is getting easier by the day, especially now that Alden is enjoying being "worn" more often. I have a Boba wrap that is taking some getting used to (for the baby) and we also have a Boba carrier that he seems to really like. It's not surprising that he's wary of being in the wrap since it holds him tight like a swaddle and the boy has been fighting swaddles since he was two hours old :) I think he will really take to being worn for longer periods of time when he's big enough to have his legs out and he can hold up his head. He is so interested in the world, anything that keeps him from interacting with it is simply not acceptable; and he lets us know!

my favorite picture :)

first nap in the Boba wrap

Alden has started sleeping for longer stretches at night (normally between 4 and 5 hours, which at this age is pretty much as "through the night" as you're going to get) which has made getting back into real life a little bit easier :) Little man is still sleeping in his bassinet in our room at night but we've transitioned into him sleeping in his crib for naps during the day. We have a foldable travel bassinet that we set in his crib so that he's more "contained" and he's been sleeping in it pretty well. When we lay him down in the crib without the bassinet, he freaks out with all the extra space. He throws his arms out around him and wakes himself up- it's funny and frustrating at the same time :)

We had his 2 month check up at the doctor last week and the report was great! He weighs 11 pounds 8 ounces and is 24 inches long. He grew 2 inches in 6 weeks. Crazytown. He has outgrown most of his newborn clothes and is even too long for his 0-3 month footed pajamas and pants. He's long and lean so, right now, he's either wearing newborn clothes that are a little too tight or 0-3 month clothes that are the right length but too baggy around his body. It makes us laugh that he either looks like a sausage or a clown :)

lumberjack baby! 

such a cute little belly :)

Alden got his first round of vaccinations last week and I'm super proud of both of us. Him because he barely cried and myself because I stayed in the room and didn't cry :) Although it was pretty miserable seeing my little boy in pain.

Breastfeeding is going really well. Alden is, obviously, gaining weight at a good speed and is perfectly healthy so far. He's gotten much more efficient with his feedings so that when he eats he's only nursing for about 10 minutes total. This is good news since one feeding took about 45 minutes when we first brought him home! We've only had to nurse outside of home a few times and each time it's gone smoothly. I know this is one of the things that make a lot of new moms nervous, myself included. One thing that has made me less intimidated about nursing out in public is that Georgia has a statute protecting breastfeeding mothers from harassment. Breastfeeding in public is such a polarizing issue and I'm happy that we live somewhere that supports this natural, healthy way of nurturing our babies.

A couple weeks ago we took advantage of an event a local baby shop hosted and got Alden's silhouette cut by a silhouette artist. It was so fun and I'm so happy we had it done. My mom had silhouettes of me and my brother and I'm excited to continue the little tradition :)

Here are some photos of our outing to ReBlossom for his sitting.

We started daycare this week and (only two days in), it seems to be going beautifully. Alden likes his teacher (evidenced by his smiles and coos in her direction) and seems to be pretty happy throughout the day. We are lucky to have a teacher that keeps in contact with us through text messages and photos during the day. It makes me feel so much less disconnected from what he's doing and makes us feel very secure leaving him there every day. Yesterday, his first day, Sylvene (his teacher) sent me 3 photos and lots of little updates without me even having to ask :) I'm sure she was worried that I was going to be in tears all day since there were definitely tears when I left him that morning...

He had a great day, slept in his crib by himself, without white noise, without a swaddle, in the middle of the day, in a noisy room (can you tell that this is a big deal?!) for over an hour and had three bottles. He was in a great mood when we picked him up and since he was so tired (the kid never wants to take naps...), he slept from 7:00 last night until 2:00 am when he ate for 10 minutes and went back to sleep until 7:00 this morning. It was probably the most sleep I've had in one night since I was 6 months pregnant!

dropping him off for his first day!

hanging out with his teacher

sleeping in his big bed!

playing at "school"

First day= success!

Some of Alden's favorite things to do:

stare at ceiling fans and lights

sleep...

or sitting straight up.

especially while cuddling :)

play on his Boppy

and suck on his arm :)

Overall, month two was great and we are both excited and a little sad to see our boy grow up so fast. You never really understand what your parents mean when they say it went by in the blink of an eye, but now I get it. I really get it. I already get a little teary when I look back at photos of Alden in those first bleary days at home and realize how tiny and precious he was. We barely knew each other but we already loved him so much- and to see him change every day only makes it better. He is the coolest kid on the planet. Seriously, so cool :)

much love, L&N