2 Months!

As of the 10th of this month, James turned two months old!  I am shocked with how much he changes on a daily basis.  He makes me smile and laugh each day.  We just love how he is growing right before our eyes.  James went to the doctor for his two month check-up and he's doing great.  When we went for his one month check-up, he was not even back up to his birth weight.  He was just 9 pounds, 1 ounce at one month.  At his two month check-up, he weighed in at 12 pounds, 14 ounces.  I think that he made for his lack of weight gain in month one in his second month of life.  After some breastfeeding challenges in the beginning, I think that it's safe to say that we are doing very well right now.  His cheeks are here to stay for at least a little while longer!

Here's what is new this month:

• James LOVES to get his diaper changed.  He hated it when he was first born, but that was because he had a pretty bad rash for the first month.  We thought that it was due to one thing but then we realized that it was just a plain old diaper rash and since we started treating it like that, it's cleared up.  Now my baby has a beautiful bottom and he loves getting it cleaned.  He just kicks, talks to us, and smiles when he's on the changing table.  
• Speaking of smiling, he's been doing a lot of that recently.  He started smiling around 5 weeks and has not stopped.  He smiles quite a bit and we love smiling back and taking back to him in his baby language.
• He still doesn't like tummy time, but I try to convince him that it's good for him.  He tolerates it much better when there is a mirror in front of him.  I guess he likes looking at himself.
• He still loves to be carried in a wrap or carrier.  We got a Boba carrier and we love it just as much as the wrap.  
• James is sleeping better and better at night (I am knocking on wood).  For the past week or so, he has been sleeping 5-6 hour stretches at night.  Occasionally he falls back to the 2-3 hour pattern though.  He's figuring it out and we are too.
• He does not love to nap in the day, however.  He just loves to look at everything and be involved.  I am learning to catch him before he gets over-tired and try to help him sleep.  If he is really fighting sleep or if I just want to make life easier for myself, I put him in the Boba and we go for a walk.  He's usually out within 10 minutes.
• Because it's winter, going on a walk is not always an option, so when that happens, we go for a walk on the elliptical.  The elliptical knocks him out even faster.  I guess it's not a bad thing that I get to burn major calories while my kid is napping. 
• He likes playing under his jungle gym play mat.  He throws his arms and legs a lot and he laughs and smiles while looking at the lights.

Here he is at exactly two months -

And then he fell... We're not quite sitting on our own yet!

And here are some pictures from the past month -

Getting ready to eat dinner with mom and dad - 

Getting ready to go to church.  Yep - we're wearing jeans because that's how we roll -

Taking a nap while I get a work out in.  Let's be real though - It's not like I really want to work out.  It's more like I want him to sleep and sometimes it's easiest to get him to sleep if I am working out.  I guess he's trying to help me get rid of the baby weight.  I sure can't blame him for not giving me enough time to exercise! 

Playing with dad in the mirror.  James loves to make funny faces at us.  This is our free entertainment these days :)

Reading with mom before going to bed.  I sure hope James is a little bookworm! 

Look at the cute smiles!  I just want to pinch his cheeks!  But I kiss them instead -

He was talking to me here.  So much cuteness -

Trying to look cool in his hat that's too big -

Playing in his rainforest -

And one last thing to note because I want to be real here - We have had our challenges with him.  He is not always perfectly peaceful like he is in all of the above pictures.  So here is a picture of what reality does look like at times -

Thankfully, these times are less and less as we figure him out.  As we learn more about him, he learns more about us and we're all happier :) 

We just love this little man so much!  We know he is going to grow and change so much more in the next month.  All I know is that time needs to slow way way down.