First Smile

Lydia is getting so big. I could literally put myself in a puddle of tears right here in my kitchen floor thinking about how quickly she is growing. I can already tell that I am going to baby her a bit more than Anderson. With him I was always concerned about hitting the next milestone (rolling over, sitting up, crawing, etc...), but with her I have barely put her down for tummy time and she will be two months old next week!

So here is an update on all things Lydia:

***She isn't sleeping through the night, but does have stretches of about 5 hours of sleep, so I think we are starting to build up to sleeping all night. Right now she goes down after her feeding at about 10:30 and is up again around 3:30 to eat again and then goes back to sleep until about 7:30 or so. It's not ideal, but compared to the few weeks where she woke up twice a night to feed...hey I'll take it any day!

***She is in her room now. We started putting her in her crib at about 5 weeks old. I still freak out and check the video monitor all the time. SIDS is pretty much my worst fear at this point.

***I am still nursing almost exclusively. A lot of nights Jeff will give her some formula (2-3 oz) before we go to bed. It gives me a break and allows him to bond with her too. I am so glad that I stuck with it. I love nursing her It really forces me to slow down and focus on just her at least 7 or 8 times a day. Besides the emotional benefits, it is so nice not having to wash bottles and pay for a ton of formula. All of you moms out there that couldn't nurse the first time around....there is hope. This time it was much easier! I guess every child is different. Anderson was a barracuda which was super painful, but that hasn't been an issue with Lydia. Also this book helped a lot. I recommend it wholeheartedly! Bre#$%feeding Made Simple: Seven Natural Laws for nursing Mothers

***Her little personality is so laid back- she is like Anderson in that manner. I think they have the same disposition for now. She only cries when she is hungry or is having her clothes or diaper changed. Even then her cry is almost like a little alarm...waaahhh...breath...waaahhh...breath. Since she does it so few times it really breaks your heart when she does...especially Jeff. He can not handle hearing her cry for more than 2 seconds! Anderson is the same way. We were in the car the other night when she started to cry a little because it was time to eat. Anderson from his car seat was reaching across the back seat trying to hold her hand and saying "It's okay baby sister...don't be scared". He thought she was scared because it was dark outside.

***She is strong...I mean super strong. She has been holding her head up since the day after she was born. None of us could believe how strong her little neck muscles are. She also constantly pushes her legs down on your lap and "stands". Daddy is holding out hope that she will be very athletic. I envision pom poms and tutus while he is focused on soccer balls! We'll see what we get when she gets older...maybe we will both win! :-)

***She loves to be swaddled, but just like her brother at this age only from the upper chest down. She hates when you put her arms in the blanket. What a weird little quirk, huh? I find it very odd that they both had that preference almost immediately.

***She has reflux. It is a very mild case, much more mild than Anderson's at this age. She does spit up after almost every feeding, but it is a "happy spit"- she doesn't look to be in pain. We tried Zantac and she hated the taste. Then we flavored it with grape at the pharmacy and she still hated it. Today we started cherry flavored Prilosec...hopefully it will stop the spitting up. We are also letting her sleep in her swing upright to help her ease any discomfort she might be feeling.