Dear Asa,

At your two month old appointment, Daddy and I complained to your pediatrician that you cry for hours every single night. That’s colic, he explained, and encouraged  us to continue consoling you by any means possible. Since you seemed content to swing during the day, we begrudgingly moved the Fisher-Price monstrosity from the basement to the living room. I was hoping the smaller, more modern-looking mamaRoo would be an acceptable alternative, but you just haven’t been able to fall asleep in it.

So the Fisher-Price swing is where you hang out most evenings while Daddy and I watch TV. A couple of nights we tried leaving you swaddled in your bassinet when we put Levi to bed but quickly realized the error of our ways. And once or twice this month we tried putting you in your crib for a nap, but you kept waking yourself up crying. You’re just happiest when you’re swinging, staring up at the illuminated sheep mobile overhead.

Since you aren’t swaddled while swinging, you tightly grab your new smaller-sized security blanket and hold it up to your face when you attempt to self-soothe. (We actually think you prefer blankies to pacifiers; you’re terrible at keeping pacifiers in your mouth.) You’d probably sleep better at night if you could snuggle with a blankie, but that doesn’t seem safe to me. Besides, your arms still flail about somewhat uncontrollably, so I don’t think you’d be happy not to be swaddled.

Asa, nighttime is so stressful. We haven’t figured out the best time for your last feeding or what time to put you down to bed. I nurse you every three to four hours during the day, trying to make the last feeding around 10-11pm, but you still wake to eat every three hours (or less!) overnight. There have even been several nights this month when you’ve eaten four times between midnight and 7AM.

YAWN!

Thankfully, when you aren’t fussing in the evening hours, you have a generally easy disposition. You’re starting to smile more frequently, though you’re still a pretty serious baby, and you’re becoming more generous with your little laughs. I’ll also catch you cooing to yourself at times. Your favorite toy is the Whoozit, and you’re starting to reach for the bar of toys attached to the BABYBJORN Babysitter Balance.

When you were nine weeks old, you started wearing size 2 diapers, and we moved you into 3-6 month clothing around the same time. Peanut, you’re now a big round-faced baby instead of a wrinkly, old man-looking newborn! Your still-blond hair (love!) is starting to get longer, and unlike Levi’s baby hair, yours is growing in evenly.

You’re still not a fan of the Ergobaby carrier; we even brought it with us to Hilton Head this month so that Aunt Rachel could confirm that we were using it correctly. Thankfully, you allowed me to wear you in the Baby K’tan while we traveled, making it so much easier to maneuver through multiple airports. Our vacation marked your first time flying, and you were a champ on all four flights on that trip, crying only briefly when you needed a diaper or to be fed. You even slept a little bit! (Wish your brother would’ve done the same…)

In Hilton Head, you slept in a pack ‘n play on the opposite side of the room from our bed — and you did great! Seeing you in the pack ‘n play really drove home the fact that you had outgrown your bassinet, so when we returned to Omaha, we moved you into your crib. Unfortunately, you didn’t sleep well for the first couple of nights. You cried more and went shorter in between feedings.

Here’s hoping we figure out this nighttime sleeping stuff pretty quickly. I’m so tired I can’t think clearly anymore!

Love,
Mommy

***

Asa turned three months old on May 26, 2014. I’ll be taking a monthly baby photo of him next to his Blabla doll on his birthday to document his growth the first year.

PS – Asa at one month old and two months old. Also, Levi when he was Asa’s age.

Dear Asa,

Your brother was a skinny baby. In fact, we had to help him gain weight by adding butter to his food when he started eating solids. He never developed those adorable baby fat rolls on his thighs and arms that everybody loves to squeeze and bite.

But you, Peanut, are on course to become a deliciously chubby baby. According to your pediatrician, you’re the size of a four month old — and you’re just two months old! You weigh 13 lb. 7 oz. and measure 24.5 in., putting you in the 90th percentile for weight and the 97th percentile for height. The doctor remarked that if you’re still wearing 0-3 month clothing (which you are), they must be sized incorrectly!

(It’s probably also time to move into size 2 diapers. Because blowouts.)

It makes sense that you’ve gained 4 lb. 5 oz. in six weeks because you’ve been taking longer and longer to breastfeed. Last month you averaged 15 minutes per session; now you take approximately 20 minutes. However, it could be that you’re just become a lazy eater and aren’t actually consuming that much more milk.

The only upside to such long nursing sessions is that I’m able to get a good amount of reading done on my Kindle app while you’re eating (seven times a day). I just finished The Husband’s Secret.

Halfway through the month you smiled for the first time. Honestly, we weren’t sure that your first smiles weren’t really gas, but now we can make you smile by getting close to your face and making silly sounds and gestures. Usually. You’re a pretty serious baby otherwise, and you absolutely refuse to smile in pictures! Instead, you tilt your head down, which produces multiple chins and makes you look like an old man. A serious old man.

You now cry real heartbreaking tears when you’re sad and make the sweetest cooing sounds when you babble to yourself. You once made a noise in response to Daddy laughing that suggested laughter (the intent was definitely there!).

We don’t do tummy time with you as often as we should, but your head and neck control is getting better nevertheless. You enjoy laying on your back and observing the lights, sounds, and toys dangling above your playmat. You’re content to sit in the BABYBJORN BabySitter Balance and occasionally take a swing at the toys in front of you. Sadly, you’re not a big fan of the ultra-modern mamaRoo swing yet, but you’ll fall fast asleep in the Fisher-Price one (which I keep in the basement playroom because it’s an eyesore).

And you still aren’t happy to be carried in a wrap. Sigh. So much for me becoming one of those hip babywearing mamas.

Here’s a quick rundown of our ever-evolving schedule: You start eating between 6:30-7am and usually stay awake until about 8:15, when we get in the car to drive Levi to school. You frequently stay asleep in your car seat until it’s time to eat again around 9:30. Then it’s another round of awake for an hour, asleep for two.

I try to feed you again either at 12:30pm while Levi is watching Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood or at 1pm after he goes down for his nap. We play in the living room together while I eat my lunch on the floor next to you. You take your afternoon nap in the basement swing around 2pm and won’t wake up until I turn off the motion — which I do around 3:30 or 4pm so you can eat again. You usually take a short disco nap before your next feeding at 7pm, and then you are wide awake for the evening.

Wide awake and screaming.

Every night.

That’s right: you have colic!

If we’re lucky, you’ll fall asleep in daddy’s arms around 9:30pm, but we wake you up to feed you one last time between 10-10:30pm. Then one last diaper change before changing you into your pajamas and saying goodnight. (You still sleep in the bassinet next to our bed, although you’re nearly the length of the basket!) It would be amazing if you slept the night, but you wake up around 3:30am to eat. I can’t really complain about getting a four and a half hour chunk of sleep!

I love you and your furry little head.

Love,
Mommy

***

Asa turned two months old on April 26, 2014. I’ll be taking a monthly baby photo of him next to his Blabla doll on his birthday to document his growth during the first year.

PS – Last month’s photo, and Levi at two months old.