2 Months

I just posted my little girl's birth story (which you can catch up on here if you missed it) and now in the blink of an eye she is two months old! I can't believe how quickly time flies. Or how much I have yet to blog about. I have a running list of posts I have been writing in my head and another list of topics that I still need to write in my head and then eventually here, on my actual blog. It's amazing how little I seem to get done in a day lately. I have so much respect for full time mommy bloggers! It takes a lot of energy and commitment for me to just write personal updates, I don't know how they do it! One day I hope my list will get written, but if I'm honest there were a million infertility and pregnancy topics I have yet to write so I am not incredibly hopeful. Especially considering I have gotten worse not better about writing new posts.

I am trying not to wait too long to write milestone posts though, which is why even though I am dying to turn on the TV and veg out, I am going to write about Snow Pea's 2nd month of life first. I know that years from now I won't be able to even remember what TV show I thought was so important but I will cherish re-reading these simple memories of my daughter's babyhood.

The thing about writing this stuff down is that there really are no words that sufficiently describe what I want to say. I keep trying to put how I feel about each new smile, coo and cry into some tangible form but it's just not possible. The mere fact that she simply exists blows me away every single second, and then the realization that she is my child hits me and it's too much, I can't compute. It's like trying to truly understand how vast the universe is and how small we are in it. Trying to fathom that this perfect little person that I wake up to every day is really here and really my daughter is just too big to fully process. And if that's impossible for me to wrap my mind around, I know I will never be able to comprehend, let alone explain, just how much I love her.

Now that she's two months old so much has changed, and at the same time not much at all has. She is too young for any of the huge, obvious milestones that my friends keep asking about. It will be a while before she crawls or talks or even picks things up on her own, and to most people she is still in the "boring" stage. But to me, every turn of her head and curl of her lip is exciting and fascinating. It just amazes me because there is so much I see her do. For the very first time! In her life! I mean that is incredible! Things we do every day and take for granted I get to witness a new person learn to do for the first time ever! It is nothing short of amazing.

This month she has been smiling more and more at me and Chad. Especially when we get her up in the morning. She is happy to see us and nothing melts your heart more than a baby whose face lights up once you make eye contact, no matter how exhausted you are. And (very) luckily, we aren't even all that exhausted anymore. At exactly 6 weeks, she slept through the night for the first time! From about 10pm to 6am she was out like a light. At first we thought it might have been a fluke, but 2 weeks later she is still doing it. I'm excited because not only is great to get a full night's sleep, but it is another way that she is growing. And she is definitely growing! At 2 months she is 12.5lbs and 23.5in, which puts her in the 95th percentile for weight and the 90th for height. I have a strong feeling I am going to be the shortest person in my house one day.

Now that she has hit the 2 month mark, it is also time for the dreaded S word- shots! She had hers today and I have to admit I was incredibly nervous. I scheduled the appointment for first thing in the morning and had Chad go in to work late so that he could come with me for support. I was just so worried she would be hysterically and that if she was, I would be. The visit with the pediatrician went very well. She was smiling and happy and didn't even fuss at the cold stethoscope. When the nurse came in with the tray of needles and vaccines, Eliana was laying on the table turned toward me with a happy look on her face that seemed to say, "Hey, Mom, this is a fun, new place. Look at all the fun things to see!" Which is why I felt tears welling up as soon as the nurse began the oral vaccine and Eliana's face went from happy to confused about this weird new taste in her mouth. She wasn't upset about it, just unsure.

Then came the first injection. She was definitely caught off guard by it and it took a little while before her face dropped and she started to cry. It wasn't too a terrible of a cry, I have heard worse when she is cranky or hungry, but it was definitely a different kind of cry, one that said she was shocked and hurt by what this new person and just done to her poor leg. Then came shots two and three and her screams got a lot louder. It was so hard seeing my baby upset like that but really the worst part was the seeing it surprise her like it did. There she was just minding her own business, smiling at me and making little squeaky noises and BAM! needle in the leg. Honestly though, she didn't react that badly and even though my tears welled up in the beginning, they never spilled out. And although she cried real tears, she was smiling again by the time we got into the car. (I credit Chad for that, he has a magic touch and sometimes I swear she likes him more than me- a post for another time). I was so proud of her and me for getting through the first injections relatively easily.

Now as we embark on month 3, Chad and I are anxiously awaiting her first laugh. We think she came really close tonight. We were putting her in her car seat to leave the house for dinner this evening and she looked me right in the eye with a smile on her face and did a 5 second giggle. Chad and I turned to each other with eyes and mouths wide open in disbelief and excitement. Did that really just happen?! Was that a real laugh? I turned back to her to see if I could get her to do it again and as soon as I made eye contact and smiled at her, she repeated the same noise that made us so excited the first time. We high-fived in utter shock and joy. Then she started crying. Loudly. So we aren't calling it yet, because that "giggle" sounded a lot like a pre-cry noise too, but she is definitely getting close and I think a genuine laugh is just around the corner, if tonight wasn't in fact the real deal. Either way, just hearing and seeing her make that new noise for the very first time, whether a cry or a laugh or something in between, was yet another reminder of how amazing each and every second of witnessing and being a part of my daughter's life really is.