Gerrit: Two Months

Merry Christmas to everyone! Gerrit turned 2 months two days after his first Christmas.

Look at that serious face! I can’t wait until he can smile for the camera! 🙂

Age:  2 months on 27 December 2014
Weight: 13 lbs 10 oz
Height: 23.23″
Teeth: none
Clothing Size: 0-3 month & 3 month
Diaper Size: size 1, but probably not for much longer
Milestones: Sleeping “through the night” (a 5 hour stretch) at 7 weeks, a couple of little smiles, and more head control

Sleeping: At 6 weeks, Gerrit usually had two 3-hour stretches of sleep at night plus a slightly shorter one (2 or 2-1/2 hours). He tended to take a long nap in the morning (2-3 hours) and another one in the late afternoon (3 hours). Besides that he took several catnaps that ranged from 15 minutes to an hour. According to a chart I found online, he was supposed to be getting 14-18 hours of sleep a day, and I think he was on the low end of that, although it’s hard to keep track of all those short little naps! But by the end of that week, he was only taking catnaps… and sleeping barely 2 hours at a time at night. Ugh, Andrew and I were tired and frustrated. All 3 of us ended up sleeping well into the daytime hours to try to make up for the lack of sleep at night. But then in the early morning hours the day he turned 7 weeks, he slept 5 WHOLE HOURS STRAIGHT! I was so excited, I almost woke Andrew up to tell him (which I quickly realized would defeat the whole thing). And then we went back to waking every couple of hours again. Oh well. By the time he turned 2 months, he was going to sleep around 11 or 12pm and sleeping about 4 hours at a time with 2 more nights with 5+ hours.

Eating: Gerrit is getting more efficient at eating! He still sometimes struggles with my strong letdown of milk (choking and sputtering), but it’s getting better. I often try nursing leaning back (almost laying down on my back) to help with the strong flow, and it really helps a lot! He also is better with burping. During his first month, I would try and try to burp him, and nothing would come out. Then he would cry and cry because of gas from the other end! He still gets really upset when he has lower gas, but it’s getting better. During that I-don’t-want-to-sleep phase at the end of 6 weeks, Gerrit was only eating a few minutes a time and being very fussy. I wasn’t that worried that he wasn’t getting enough to eat (still had plenty of poopy diapers), but my poor boobs were getting so full!

The weekend that he turned 2 months, my milk seemed to finally regulate. I wasn’t nearly as full, and Gerrit was having good 15-20 minute long feedings. It seemed like he was finally not being so overwhelmed by an overabundance of milk and could take his time to eat.

Gerrit hasn’t had a bottle for the whole 2nd month, mostly because we haven’t needed to use one. I’m not sure how I feel about using bottles right now. I love not having to pump, not having to wash bottle parts, and knowing that Gerrit is controlling my milk supply. But I do worry that I’ll want to have someone else feed him at some point, and he won’t want to take a bottle.

Mommy Update: My weight has pretty much leveled out at 15 lbs under my pre-pregnancy weight. I’m not on any diet or exercise routine, but I’m hoping that when our stroller comes we can start getting out for some walks… and later jogs! It’s one thing to have lost weight, but I’m not thrilled with how flubby my belly is. Yeah, I may have just made that word up. I’m hoping to tone my “soft parts” eventually, but it’s not high on my priority list right now.

My mood has been good for the most part! I do feel a little down when I’m sleep-deprived, but I just remind myself that it won’t be like this forever. I also seem to be a little depressed at the end of the week. I think it just wears on me to be stuck at home day after day doing the same things. I always worried about making it though the newborn phase, since I don’t consider myself a “baby person.” I feel bad saying that I don’t enjoy every moment of motherhood so far, but I think I’ll feel happier when Gerrit is more interactive.

The week before Gerrit turned 2 months was probably my best week yet. I felt a lot more “in tune” with him and was really enjoying just snuggling with him more than I had in the past. I don’t know if I was more relaxed (and not stressing about housework) or if I was just less depressed. It was wonderful though!

Best Moments: Seeing Gerrit become more alert! He usually has an alert period in the morning. He and I will hang out in the guest room (we still have the air mattress set up from my mom’s visit) during this time so Andrew can sleep. Gerrit will lay on the mattress and just stare out the window. He loves it!

Gerrit also enjoys his play mat when he’s in the right mood. He doesn’t intentionally hit or reach for the toys yet.

I forget to do tummy time as often as I’d like to do it, but part of that is because of all of Gerrit’s short little naps! He’s not a big fan of tummy time either. He will tolerate it for a few minutes, but then he starts to get frustrated and fussy.

Gerrit also celebrated his first Christmas! I’m really glad he won’t remember this Christmas, because it was very low-key. I usually do quite a bit to celebrate my favorite holiday, but with a newborn and a very big move coming up, Andrew talked me into keeping things simple. I am already excited to do things big next year to make up for it!
Opening presents Christmas morning:

After dinner at our friends’ house:

I can definitely say that Gerrit’s 2nd month was much better than his 1st month (for both of us)! I’m excited to see what Month 3 and the new year bring!