Dear Vivienne,
Say goodbye to month two… onward to month #3!
As expected, you’ve changed dramatically this month. You’re bigger, you’re more alert, you’re doing new things.
So, speaking of being bigger… we’ll find out your current stats at your well baby doctor’s appointment on Friday, but two weeks ago (at 6.5 weeks old), you were already tipping the scales at 10 lbs., 4 oz. You gained three pounds in like four weeks! Needless to say, you are a good eater. Your little arm and leg rolls are a testament to that.
You can still squeeze into newborn clothes—some are definitely more snug than others!—but you’re definitely into the 0-3 month sizes now. The weather has been warm again lately, so we’ve had to make do with some newborn stuff, and the very few short-sleeved things we have in 0-3 month sizes. Your wardrobe will expand exponentially once the weather cools off again. We have so many hand-me-downs from Nora, and you’ve also been gifted a bunch of new stuff, too! (And yes, Mommy has been shopping for a few things for you as well… I can’t help it.)
Earlier this month, we had reason to believe you might be experiencing some discomfort due to reflux. You were grunting and whining through your sleep, waking up frequently for seemingly no reason, and just generally seemed unhappy a lot of the time. We went ahead and tried you on some meds, and wow, they made a difference pretty much right away. You no longer spend the nights making noise the entire way through—which I think has resulted in more restful sleep for the BOTH of us. You’ve started pulling longer stretches, too. Currently, you are sleeping pretty consistently from 9:30-10:30 p.m. to 5-6 a.m. You eat, then sleep again until about 9-9:30 a.m. Of course, I’M not sleeping until 9 a.m., though. :)
Even though you’ve been doing wonderfully with the sleeping, I don’t think we’ve completely figured out the right routine for you yet. We’re working on it. But come the evening hours… 7-9 p.m.? You are MISERABLE a lot of the time. Nothing we do seems to make you happy during those hours. I don’t know if we need to make adjustments to your reflux meds (by that time, you’ve gone 10-12 hours since your last dose, so maybe you’re uncomfortable again?), if we need to try to put you to bed earlier (you always seem SO tired), or if it’s just a phase and these are your “witching hours.” We’re going to play around with the bedtime hypothesis first and see if we can find a solution. We’ll see.
Although you are obviously a good, WONDERFUL baby in some areas (I’m loving the nighttime sleep!), you seem to be a fairly needy baby overall. During the day lately, I’ve had a really hard time with you allowing me to put you down. You want to be held all of the time, and “naps” are sometimes laughable. Today, for instance, your longest nap stretch was 25 minutes. I didn’t have time to do ANYTHING, which is why I’m sitting here, still not showered. And just to get some food into my body, I had to let you cry in your mamaroo in order to have some lunch. Not fun. :( I try to remember that this will not last forever… and my only real “job” on maternity leave is to take care of you, so I should relish in that while I can. It’s hard, though, to sometimes feel like I don’t have any time for myself—and that you must always be practically attached to me. I love you like crazy, but mama feels like she’s losing her mind some days! Still, I know I will severely miss the good moments at home with you when I have to go back to work, so I try to balance the good with the bad and not wish it away.
There were a lot of firsts this month. We had our first weekend away as a family of four, which meant that you had your first nights sleeping away from home. We went to the Poconos for a wedding. And since we didn’t bring you to the wedding, it also meant that it was the first time you had a babysitter! You did well with all of it, except for the babysitter. You basically cried for two hours straight during the time we were gone, which I think was actually a product of your reflux (we hadn’t yet started meds) coupled with being overtired. As soon as we got back, Daddy and I were able to get you settled down pretty quickly. Poor baby!
Also… you’ve started smiling. You often will even stick your tongue out a little with your smile. It is awesome. You were about 6.5 weeks old, and we had just started reflux meds the day before. Coincidence? I don’t know. Maybe once we were able to make you more comfortable, you felt you had a reason to smile, huh? :) I am obviously in love with your smile, and every day, I stoop to new levels to try to get one out of you. I hope no one is secretly recording me, because I sound like a buffoon. But whatever it takes! You don’t give them up too easily at this point; you make us work for them. You’ve also started cooing at us, which is ridiculously adorable. Nora was never much of a “talker” as a baby, so it’s fun to see this with you!
Nora is still crazy about you. Every morning before she leaves for daycare, she insists on giving you a kiss goodbye. She has a special, extremely high-pitched voice she uses only to talk to you. “Hi Vivienne! I looove you!” she shrieks. It’s so cute. She finally got over her weird fear/aversion to touching your binky so now she will pop it into your mouth for you if you’re crying. Such a good little helper!
You seem to really love music. A few nights within the past week or so, when you’ve been fussy, we’ve been able to calm you with music on our phones. I love that. It’s just one of the things we’ve learned about you so far… one of many more to come. You also love walks in the stroller outside. You usually stay awake during them, just staring at me as I push you, at the sky, or who knows what else. You love baths with your big sister. She “helps” wash you and you just lie there in the baby bath seat, relaxing. You do get mad when we start draining the water or remove you, though—too cold, I guess! Anyway, I love all of the little discoveries we get to make about who you’re going to be as a person, at least in the beginning.
There is no question about it: You are growing. You are thriving. Let’s see what this next month brings.
You have my heart.
Love you forever and ever,
Mommy
8 Responses to Vivienne at Two Months
Leave a Reply
About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
Two months already…wow! She’s beautiful. It sounds like the sleep is going great! I was going to post in your reflux post but didn’t get to it. We had Alivia on, yikes! I’m blanking on the name. It’s a PPI and starts with a p. anyway she started it at about 2 months and we were able to stop it this last month at 9 months. She basically out free the dose. And she’s better now. Glad to hear Zantqx is working for you , our pedi said it doesn’t work long for a lot of babies and they end up on the PPI. I hope that’s not the case for you.
I don’t know if you remember this but I emailed you about Nora’s newborn sleeping habits about 6/7 months ago. My baby wasn’t sleeping ever, naps were TWENTY mins every time. It was maddening. Well she’s 9.5 months now and except for a sleep regression the last 2 weeks , the naps have been better. Sleep at night….eh, mostly bad lol. Be great flu that you’re getting great sleep at night! :)
As for the 7-9 witching hour, it’s so common with newborns but it is HIGHLY possible her bed time needs moved up. When do you put her down? Over the last 8 months I’ve read so much on baby sleep I could open up a practice. Start moving it up by 30 mins each night. Generally newborns/infants need to be alseep between 6 and 7 (8 at the absolute latest). But don’t do it drastically. And still set a routine. See if that helps. Especially if you say she seems “SO tired”. I’ve been told that if the baby is acting really tired they should have been down already. Not always easy…trust me I know.
Alivia also wanted (still does) me to hold her all. The. Time. I think we talked about that a little bit too back then. Do you have a baby sling/carrier? I wish I would have experimented with more when she was a newborn. I’m just now getting into the habit of popping her in the carrier around the house. It’s a little claustrophobic at times isn’t it? I just keep reminding myself that someday she won’t want me to hold her…so I’m soaking up every minute of it now. Even when I’m feeling like I can’t breath without her hanging on me lol.
What I wouldn’t give to be back on maternity leave. Enjoy it :) you’re little ones are lucky to have such a great momma.
Right now we’ve been putting her down between 9:30-10 mostly. Last night I tried to put her down shortly after 8, and it didn’t go well. It took me until 8:45 to get her to sleep, then once I put her down, she only slept for about 45 minutes, then woke up… and wouldn’t go back down. Took until 11:00ish for her to sleep again, it sucked! That was probably too drastic of a change, I’m thinking. Should probably try to move it up more gradually. We’ll see what happens. She also napped like crap yesterday, and I’m a big believer in the “sleep begets sleep” philosophy, so who knows, maybe that played a role. We’ll have to keep experimenting. By this age with Nora, she was going down at 8:15 and sleeping through until like 6 a.m.—then eating, then sleeping for another couple of hours. I know I can’t compare them since Nora was a freak of nature, though.
We have an Ergo and a Moby, but like you say, it just gets claustrophobic at times. I just want to have some time at some point during the day when NO ONE IS TOUCHING ME. :)
I’ll also have to talk to the pediatrician on Friday about the reflux stuff. Interested to see what she weighs and if that justifies an adjustment in her dosage or what.
Thanks for the note!
Good luck with the sleep. On going battle here. But sounds like a more gradual change might help. And I agree with “sleep begets sleep”. It might take a few nights at the new sleep time before you up it another 15-30 mins.
Prevacid is what she was on. And with our ped, if I just called and said she was acting “refluxy” again he’d ask her weight and adjust the meds. No apt!
WOW, 2 months! That’s crazy. She really took a turn this month from looking like a wrinkly froggy newborn to a baby. She is adorable.
I know I’m her mama, but I agree! So much cuter now. Newborns are cute in their own way, of course, but once they start filling out a little bit, their eyes focus, the baby acne goes away, etc… adorable! I could eat her. :)
I’m sure the pediatrician informed you that the dosage for Zantac is weight dependent. So that stinks if they go through a major growth spurt because they may outgrow their dosage. It will be interesting to see if she wants you to come in for a weight check next month, since there is usually a 2-3 month gap between well baby visits.
I had the same problem about naps (sleeping at night too) and not wanting to be put down with my youngest who had reflux. Alls I can say is it somehow just got better. Our youngest didn’t sleep through the night until he was at least 6 months old. We would get a long stretch from him at night, but never fail he would wake up around 2 or 3 every morning. This poor napping, constantly wanting to be held, and poor night sleeping was a huge adjustment for me because my oldest (Nora’s age) was just like Nora…a dream baby when it came to sleep…and not very needy at all. Thankfully we survived and now the baby is a great sleeper!
Good luck with all of the reflux stuff…it can be very overwhelming.
Wow two months time flies. But I just cant get over how much she looks like Nora. At first I though that you posted Nora’s two months pictures.
I learned that the witching hour is a bedtime thing….with Avery I had no idea and we kept her up later than we should have (hindsight is 20/20 right?) and every night 7-9 was terrible. When Cassandra was born and got to roughly this age, she started the same thing-so one night at like 7 she was just inconsolable. So I decided she was going up to bed. Took her up, nursed her and she was out like a light and slept! Since then, whenever she started to fuss, up to bed she went. And it has worked like a dream! If only I figured that out when Avery was a baby! That kid had the worst sleep tendencies! Cassandra also wouldn’t let me put her down for the first 3 months-if I did, her nap would be like 15min. I wore her a lot, but like you said, wanted to be left alone sometimes too…but then that meant I got nothing done. Eventually it worked out though!