bao: two months
Bao is two months old today, and no longer just a sleepy newborn, she now has longer periods of alertness where she's keen to look around, interact, and smile. Her best times are in the morning and just before bedtime - her eyes are bright and happy and she gurgles excitedly in response to your chatter.
Babies this age are really quite sweet, and I'm loving it even more because I know now how fast this phase passes. Bao has already lost her newborn look and is starting to uncurl and fatten up. She was 5.1kg at her last doctor's visit a week ago. Her cheeks and her shock of gravity-defying hair are conversational starters for anyone who sees her. The hair on the top of her head is almost two inches long and they stand straight up, giving her a cool baby mohawk look. I don't know if she'll eventually start shedding this baby hair, like The Bun did when he was around three or four months old, but I'm enjoying her hair while it lasts. Her side profile never fails to amuse me.
Poor kid has been to the paediatrician twice in the last month - the first for a viral fever, the second a week later because she developed a runny nose, which still lingers. We have nasal drops but they don't do much, so I guess we can only wait for it to run its course and go. Her breathing sort of affects her sleep, especially in the day, but mostly she has been coping quite well. It hasn't affected her feeding so I'm thankful enough for that. Her baby acne has finally cleared up and she sometimes looks like she has a lovely peaches and cream complexion. Yesterday I also finally cleared up some of her cradle cap after lathering her scalp with baby oil. She had developed a pretty thick case of it and it looked really unsightly. I hope it doesn't recur.
We're still feeling our way around as far as her natural rhythms go, especially for naptime. She still feeds about every two or two-and-a-half hours but manages to stretch that a bit at night. On a good night she will wake once around 3am for a feed, then again at 6 or 7am, after which she will usually sleep a bit more while the rest of the household slowly wakes up and gets going with the day. I'm encouraging her sleeping in because it really helps make our mornings a bit less hectic. Besides, she goes to bed pretty late for a baby - like around 8.30pm or 9pm, so she does need her sleep.
Naps-wise she is a little less of a Velcro baby than she was last month. I think she has figured out who she can get to hold her all day while she naps - J! When he babysits she is pretty much Barnacle Baby and can't be put down at all. Once I take over from him she does sleep in the crib fairly well and sometimes without too much fuss. It took a few days of constant picking up and putting down and with a little help from a pacifier, but at least I don't always have to hold her for hours for her naps. Those are the good days. On her fussy days there's not much to do except build your arm muscles and patience levels. Last weekend I literally held her from 4pm - 8pm and she would scream if she was put in the crib. I've realised that when I see her sleep cues (eye rubbing, yawning, etc) I had better get her into bed asap - if I get the timing right, she will quietly fall asleep on her own. It's all a work in progress.
Like her brother, Bao loves being in a baby carrier. Why wouldn't she? It's a comfy place right next to Mom and she gets to nap or look around as she likes. We're using a Baby Bjorn at the moment, and when her neck gets a little stronger I'll transition her to the Beco, which is easier on my shoulders and back. Sometimes when we're out we don't bother with a stroller since it's so much more convenient to carry her in the Bjorn, and anyway if the stroller stops moving (e.g. when we're at a restaurant), she will cry to be held and rocked anyway. I sometimes eat meals with her still in the Bjorn - a light shower of pizza crumbs can't hurt, right?
How fast two months go by. Pregnancy and delivery feel like a distant memory (which is nature's way, isn't it?) and sometimes I look at the bundle snuggled in my arms and wonder how she got there. This time last year we were still a family of three, with no concrete plans for another child, and now we are four, and not only have the dynamics shifted, but also the way I view myself as a mother. The other day I commented to J that I can't quite believe I am now able to say the phrase 'my children' because it sounds so grown up and responsible. It's the same way I sometimes look at the kids, like really look, and can't believe that they are mine, let alone that they grew inside me and will grow into separate beings - children, teenagers, adults; and that I actually produced and raised them. One moment they're tiny enough to hold in one arm, the next they're walking on their own and refusing to hold hands. All the more reason to savour that precious babyness, to bottle up that distinctive smell, to enjoy the earnest innocence in their eyes now.
[Why do these posts always end up so maudlin?]
Babies this age are really quite sweet, and I'm loving it even more because I know now how fast this phase passes. Bao has already lost her newborn look and is starting to uncurl and fatten up. She was 5.1kg at her last doctor's visit a week ago. Her cheeks and her shock of gravity-defying hair are conversational starters for anyone who sees her. The hair on the top of her head is almost two inches long and they stand straight up, giving her a cool baby mohawk look. I don't know if she'll eventually start shedding this baby hair, like The Bun did when he was around three or four months old, but I'm enjoying her hair while it lasts. Her side profile never fails to amuse me.
Poor kid has been to the paediatrician twice in the last month - the first for a viral fever, the second a week later because she developed a runny nose, which still lingers. We have nasal drops but they don't do much, so I guess we can only wait for it to run its course and go. Her breathing sort of affects her sleep, especially in the day, but mostly she has been coping quite well. It hasn't affected her feeding so I'm thankful enough for that. Her baby acne has finally cleared up and she sometimes looks like she has a lovely peaches and cream complexion. Yesterday I also finally cleared up some of her cradle cap after lathering her scalp with baby oil. She had developed a pretty thick case of it and it looked really unsightly. I hope it doesn't recur.
We're still feeling our way around as far as her natural rhythms go, especially for naptime. She still feeds about every two or two-and-a-half hours but manages to stretch that a bit at night. On a good night she will wake once around 3am for a feed, then again at 6 or 7am, after which she will usually sleep a bit more while the rest of the household slowly wakes up and gets going with the day. I'm encouraging her sleeping in because it really helps make our mornings a bit less hectic. Besides, she goes to bed pretty late for a baby - like around 8.30pm or 9pm, so she does need her sleep.
Naps-wise she is a little less of a Velcro baby than she was last month. I think she has figured out who she can get to hold her all day while she naps - J! When he babysits she is pretty much Barnacle Baby and can't be put down at all. Once I take over from him she does sleep in the crib fairly well and sometimes without too much fuss. It took a few days of constant picking up and putting down and with a little help from a pacifier, but at least I don't always have to hold her for hours for her naps. Those are the good days. On her fussy days there's not much to do except build your arm muscles and patience levels. Last weekend I literally held her from 4pm - 8pm and she would scream if she was put in the crib. I've realised that when I see her sleep cues (eye rubbing, yawning, etc) I had better get her into bed asap - if I get the timing right, she will quietly fall asleep on her own. It's all a work in progress.
Like her brother, Bao loves being in a baby carrier. Why wouldn't she? It's a comfy place right next to Mom and she gets to nap or look around as she likes. We're using a Baby Bjorn at the moment, and when her neck gets a little stronger I'll transition her to the Beco, which is easier on my shoulders and back. Sometimes when we're out we don't bother with a stroller since it's so much more convenient to carry her in the Bjorn, and anyway if the stroller stops moving (e.g. when we're at a restaurant), she will cry to be held and rocked anyway. I sometimes eat meals with her still in the Bjorn - a light shower of pizza crumbs can't hurt, right?
How fast two months go by. Pregnancy and delivery feel like a distant memory (which is nature's way, isn't it?) and sometimes I look at the bundle snuggled in my arms and wonder how she got there. This time last year we were still a family of three, with no concrete plans for another child, and now we are four, and not only have the dynamics shifted, but also the way I view myself as a mother. The other day I commented to J that I can't quite believe I am now able to say the phrase 'my children' because it sounds so grown up and responsible. It's the same way I sometimes look at the kids, like really look, and can't believe that they are mine, let alone that they grew inside me and will grow into separate beings - children, teenagers, adults; and that I actually produced and raised them. One moment they're tiny enough to hold in one arm, the next they're walking on their own and refusing to hold hands. All the more reason to savour that precious babyness, to bottle up that distinctive smell, to enjoy the earnest innocence in their eyes now.
[Why do these posts always end up so maudlin?]