Dear Daniel, (two months!)

On Saturday you turned two months old! I can't believe it's been that long since I gave birth to you. Time really flies! You are such a delight to be around and I'm certainly enjoying being your momma.

You have lots of smiles now and we've even been able to catch a couple on camera! Your grandparents (your dad's parents) have been visiting, so you're getting tons of playtime and cuddles. Eddie also loves to play with and lie next to you. It's often a challenge to keep him from getting too close!

Earlier this month you had craniosacral therapy the same day you had your hearing screening (you passed in both ears). You seemed to enjoy the therapy and it also seemed to help some with your evening fussiness. You have a new friend who was born recently, little Bennett Clear, who is finally back home from his stay in the NICU! I'm really looking forward to you two getting to play together as you grow.

you sleep just like your dad:
with your eyes half-open and your mouth gaping

This month you also slept through the night for the first time. We've gotten into a nice pattern over the past couple of weeks of you going to bed around 10 and sleeping for between 4.5 and 6 hours. Then we wake up to nurse and go back to sleep for another few hours. You are starting to take up much more of the bed, because you can spread out a lot more now. If you're not sleeping with your arms and legs spread wide, you're sleeping cuddled right up next to me or your dad. It's pretty darn sweet.

In the last couple of days, you've been putting your fingers and hands in your mouth more frequently and with more intention. You put your fist in there and gnaw on it, then take it out and look at it, then repeat. It's so fun to see you discovering your world! When you have your hand in a fist you almost always have your thumb tucked in-between your first and middle fingers (in the "got your nose" position). It's so funny that you prefer to have your hands that way!

One of your favorite places these days is the mei tai. You've been to church, farmers' markets, restaurants, etc., and on countless walks in there, and none of it phases you. You really like to sleep in there, but you enjoy being worn in any of the carriers we have. I'm so glad you love babywearing as much as I do. It's nice to have you close while we're out and about, and you like to be up high and close to all the action. I can tell you're going to be a handful once you're able to move around more!

When you nurse you like to grab onto my shirt or hold my thumb with your top hand. Actually, if I don't hold your hand, sometimes you will slap or punch me in the chest, which isn't fun for me. (Someday I'll teach you about that whole "bite the hand that feeds you" adage.) I think you're just getting frustrated that you can't find something to grab onto, because once I hold your hand you're much more content. When you're getting close to being finished with your meal, you do this thing I call "messing around" where you bob your head around and generally seem to be playing with your food. I tell you, "Stop messing around!" and you respond with vigorous nursing, as if to prove to me that you're getting down to business.

You had your first shots this month and you did great. (I, on the other hand, had a hard time with it.) You cried when the actual injections were happening, but after we nursed you got very sleepy and seemed to have recovered from the initial trauma. You were a bit cranky for the rest of the day and you had a fever when we went to bed, but the next morning you were back to your normal self. I'm sorry that sometimes you'll have to do things that aren't fun (or sometimes even hurt) for their long-term benefits. Your dad and I will be here for you through it all.

You're playing and talking a lot more, and you've started to have some great interactions with your play mat. You have figured out how to kick the toys to make noise, so when we lay you down there, you begin to kick to see what will happen. Sometimes you even grab onto one of the toys and shake it around. You stop to listen and look in the direction of the sound when the music plays, and you coo at us when we talk to you and at whatever you're seeing in the funny mirror.



I'm really enjoying our time together, Little One. You get more fun every day as your body gets stronger and you learn to do more things. It's really great to be able to show the world to you, and I know it will only get more fun as time goes on. You are amazing.

I love you too.

Love,
Momma