Two Month Review

Now that we realize our baby is already two-months old, Alex and I have frequently been pausing to reflect on her changes. She has outgrown her newborn clothes, probably the saddest realization for me, because some of those outfits were so darn cute. She can hold her head up for increasing amounts of time and with an increasing amount of sturdiness. Addie loves to smile and will smile at almost any silly song or dance we create. My guess is she is laughing at us as we both hop around and reach the squeakiest and highest pitch either of our voices can muster. (Add in the fact that we are both hopping up and down, clapping, and smiling wide open-mouthed grins she probably thinks she's in the ape house at the zoo... although she hasn't been there yet). The best new development by far is hearing her "talk" for the first time. For the past 9-weeks we have been chatting away at her, telling her all sorts of useless information. Then finally, three days ago, as soon as we shut our mouths, she opened hers and let out a long stream of "oh"s and "ah"s and all sorts of vowel combinations. Her statement was followed by a huge toothless grin that just melted our hearts. It was such a surprise at the time, but now we will talk to her, read to her, etc. then pause and inevitably she will let out her response. It's just so darn cute.
The two-month doctor's visit... not so cute. Watching that lower lip stick out and start to quiver, it quite literally made my stomach turn in knots. It took all of my strength to not rip her away from the nurse and cuddle her. And yes... I cried much longer than she did.

Our First Cold

It was bound to happen, but Addie has gotten her first cold. It is my fault really, dragging her halfway across the country in the middle of flu season when she is still so little. But she is being really good about the whole experience still, which is amazing. She can't breath out of her nose without a struggle. We keep trying to use the saline drops and that disgusting nosesucker (and by "we" of course I mean Alex because she hates to have it done and I just can't stand it). She is constantly coughing too, which sounds incredibly pitiful. I found no reassurance after talking to the doctor, who said they can do nothing unless she has a fever (the one thing that she doesn't have).
If anything, I suppose I have learned the hard way that travelling + babies + wintertime = no good results. Hopefully she will get over this cold before she has to go get her 2 month shots... a whole other round of feeling crappy!

First Day Back

Today is my first day back at work after being home with Addison for 6 weeks. Already the day feels so much longer which I am taking as a good & bad thing. Good because I feel like I have more time now... that my days can once again be filled with a variety of activities vs. all things relating to baby. But the day does seem to drag on without her and I have found myself already calculating the minutes until I get to see her again. It's funny, I need her to be away from me to actually realize I miss her and like to be around her. BUT, if she is always around, I need a break. The human psyche is just twisted... or maybe it's just me.
Either way, she was perfect this morning, we woke up and she ate and got dressed without fuss and then went right back to sleep and I got ready for work with 20 minutes to spare. (This is even better than pre-baby when I was somehow always 20 minutes late). I explained where we were going and what the day was going to be like while we drove to daycare, just in case she was curious. When I took her in and dropped her off she was all smiles and even started cooing. Of course that tugged on the heartstrings a bit. As Ms. Margaret, her new teacher, took her Addie tucked her arms in and went right to sleep... perfectly content. I will admit that a small part of me wanted her to react negatively in some way, show me just a tiny bit that she preferred me over her new teacher. But in reality, I am glad that right now she doesn't know the difference because she will be content all day long.
Only 5 more hours to go...