Theo :: Two Months

Ugh--totally forgot to put in Theo's official two month pic and stats from his two month appointment!

14 lbs, 4 oz = 97th percentile - giant baby!

23.5 inches = 75th percentile 

I know it's cliche and I know I'll be saying it every month, but--two months already!!?? Pure craziness. 

Our little Theo is such a fantastic baby. When all is right in his world (i.e. well rested with a clean diaper and full belly) he is just the calmest and happiest guy. However, if any of those things require attention? Watch out. Also, even if allis right but we have been mean, horrible, safety-conscious parents who have buckled him into his carseat? World War 3. Thats right, Theo is officially a carseat hater. He has screamed entire car rides before and we have all gotten very good at ignoring it, because it's the only thing you can do. The crying is only remedied by taking him out of the carseat and holding him. Someone tell me this doesn't last forever. Please. But I can forgive this because a: he's adorable and b: this is what babies do. 

About halfway through this month he finally started staying awake and alert for longer periods of time, which everyone is loving. Noelle wants so badly for him to be more interactive and playful. These two will be best buddies, I'm sure of it. Theo absolutely loves watching Noelle. She is an entertainer and loves to dance and sing. Theo will just watch her and if she leaves his line of sight he starts to look all over for her!

He also likes to lay on his play mat and kick the octopus and turtle rattles that hang from it. Theo also loves looking at himself in the mat's mirror and gives big, gummy smiles to himself!

During Theo's second month we got out and enjoyed lots of things the area and summer have to offer. Although admittedly, Theo slept through most things :) Which is why many of these pictures don't always include him!

We celebrated my birthday at the end of July. 

We had Ott Family Field Trip Day. We went to Possibility Playground in Port Washington,

Bookworm Gardens (one of my favorite places) in Sheboygan,

and the beach at Kohler-Andrae State Parks. 

Theo had his first trip to the State Fair, followed a few days later by his second! He did not enjoy these outings (as if any infant would). It was too hot and noisy for his delicate sensibilities :) But his big sister sure had a blast!

Theo (and Noelle) took their first trip to Mimi and Papa's (my parents) up north house. Theo did a lot of this:

And a lot of this:

Throw in a few trips to the zoo, Discovery World and a restaurant here and there and Theo had a very busy second month!

Nursing is still going incredibly well. Theo nursed at all of the above places and it's amazing how relaxed we've been. Unfortunately that relaxed feeling does not always last. That gas/reflux issue I mentioned last month? It was back with a vengeance this month. After ruling out foods and before a call to the doctor, I really started to pay attention to our feedings. (TMI ahead) Since Theo was a few weeks old my letdown has been really forceful. I've had to cover the non-feeding breast with a cloth because milk would drip out like crazy and sometimes even spray while Theo was eating on the other and the same thing was happening. It was getting progressively worse and I finally put two and two together and realized my overactive letdown was causing Theo to gulp his milk really fast. Doing so would cause him to also cough, choke and gulp down a lot of air. A little Googling and some feeding time adjustments have pretty much solved our issue. And thank goodness because dealing with a screaming baby every night was really starting to get old. I give huge props to parents who have to deal with true reflux and colicky babies. 

As far as physical developments go, Theo is holding his own during tummy time. His neck strength is really great and I think that's partly because he hates to be held in a laying down position. He m.u.s.t. be held upright or he will start yelling. Noelle was the same way and I sometimes wonder if it's gas that's hurting or if they just like the view better that way. 

Theo has always liked standing and he his legs can "support" his body weight for about 3-5 seconds before going back to jelly. 

One of our favorite developments this month has been Theo's full blown smiles and his silent laughing. He gets this big open mouth grin and you can just tell he wants to give a big ole belly laugh! There has also been a lot of cooing and babbling and he really likes to talk to the ceilings and his playmat.

Life with two kids is still going really well and I'm truly surprised at how easy things have been. Not to say that it hasnt been hard and stressful at times, because it absolutely has. Nothing makes you feel as frazzled as when both kids are screaming at once but you can only help one at a time. Noelle's age and the fact that she is pretty independent and a great helper have been big reasons things are pretty smooth most days. But I'm definitely not naive to the fact that things will not be this easy as Theo gets older and becomes more demanding of our attention. For now though, we love seeing our family of four grow and develop!