Julia Rose at 2 Months Old

 

I was skyping with Tabby on Sunday and we can't believe that Rose is only 2 months old.  It seems like it was so long ago that we were all at the hospital together for her birth.  We sure love this little girl and feel so grateful that she is a part of our family.  I took these photos in front of our big sliding glass door which has the best photography lighting in our house and I was so caught up in catching all her little expressions and baby-talking to her that I didn't even notice that the painters who were painting the exterior of our house had become our audience on the other side of the glass and were all grinning down at Rose as she gazed up at me while I clicked away over her (part of the time I was standing over her on a chair to get the angle I wanted).  What you also don't see in these photos is Clara and her stuffed zebra who were sitting ready at the side of the quilt to "make Rose smile" if she got fussy.  I kept having to remind Clara to scoot back and give Rose some space so I could take her picture because whenever Rose is just laying on the floor like this Clara likes to get right up in her face and entertain her.   

At 2 months old Rose is really starting to exhibit a personality.  She has found her little voice and her gurgles and baby talk is so, so darling.  She does it most in the morning when she first wakes up and in the late afternoon around 5 or so.  Mostly it is the "goo" or "gah" sound.  We are loving her increased alertness and longer stretches of wakefulness because it means more time to interact with her and also it seems to help her be a happier baby (probably because it is easier for mom to understand her schedule and start putting her on a routine, something that has been sorely lacking around here). 

Rose sleeps really pretty well at night, going down around 6:30 or 7:00 and waking up twice - first around 12:00 or 1:00 and then again around 4:00.  Her daytime sleeping habits are not as easy, most likely because of the levels of noise that big sister makes which we think are interrupting Rose's snoozing.  We have yet to figure out how to convince Clara that there is a volume level between whisper and shout.  But basically Rose takes 2 morning naps, each roughly an hour long (on good days) or 15-20 minutes long (on the bad days) and 2 afternoon naps (the first one is almost always her best daytime nap and on really good days lasts 3-4 hours, while the second nap is more of a chaser nap that is anywhere from 20 minutes up to about 45 minutes). 

 

After church this past Sunday I was playing with the girls in Clara's bedroom and set Rose down on the bed for a second while I ran to grab something in the other room.  When I came back I saw Clara on the bed with her pink blanket pinned around her waist to be her "Elsa skirt" (from "Frozen") talking to Rose and it was such a cute picture that I grabbed the camera and captured it from the doorway before Clara realized what I was doing and got silly about posing (or not posing and just running away so I couldn't take her picture). 

 

This picture of Rose sleeping so peacefully is sort of deceptive because (1) she doesn't actually love the pacifier and the times when she falls asleep with it in her mouth and keeps it in there are rare, and (2) she almost never falls asleep unswaddled, flat on her back in her crib.  Rose seems to be a bit of a picky sleeper and doesn't seem to like to sleep the same way very many times in a row and will fuss and fuss while I shift her position until I hit on just the one that works for her that day.  Sometimes she wants to be tightly swaddled and rocked to sleep (and other times she fights and fights and acts like it is the worst thing in the world), other times she wants to be unswaddled and laying on her stomach (I don't blame her - I sleep this way too but I only let her do this for naps when I can check on her constantly because I worry to much about her breathing to let her sleep this way at night while I am also asleep).  Sometimes she likes to fall asleep in the baby swing, swaddled tightly, and other times she wants to swing with her arms loose.  Sleeping in the car isn't really her thing (in fact, she kind of still hates her carseat although it is getting a little bit better as long as she has just been fed, changed, and woken up from a nap.  If she is already tired, you would think that she would just nod off with the car's vibrations but this almost never happens with Rose.  Maybe because Clara constantly narrates in her loudest voice what is going on with Rose (e.g. "She's awake!  Her eyes are open!" or "She's crying!  It's okay Rose!  Calm down Rose!  We're almost there Rose!"). 

 

I fully plan to weigh Rose at the gym today and measure her but I figure I will have to update this post later with those stats because if I don't post it before the girls wake up I won't get the chance until much later.  But she is definitely getting bigger.  I pulled out all the 0-3 month jammies because she just doesn't fit in them anymore and she looks so much more comfy in the 3-6 month sizes.  A few of the 0-3 month outfits still fit but most of them are too small and even some of the 3-6 month stuff is looking tight on her.  Baby Gap and Naartje sizes seem to be smaller than Gymboree and Carter's sizes (which seem fairly standard), which seem to be smaller than Janie & Jack sizes.  Has anyone else seen this?  Anyway, she is mostly in 3-6 months sizes now and I would guess that she is about 12 1/2 pounds.  

 

Rose LOVES being held against the chest with her head snuggled right up under my chin or against my cheek.  It is her very favorite spot and I love what a cuddlebug she is.  Some other loves include having her hair stroked or her face caressed (which is what usually elicits her biggest smiles) and being talked to.  She really seems to enjoy our walks outside, especially since this past week I have been turning her around in the Baby Bjorn to face forward now that she has got such good control over her little noggin so it isn't flopping around.  A friend mentioned on an instagram post that it looked like I had multiple baby carriers, which is true, and I have found that I like having them for different stages.  A friend lent me her Moby wrap, which I LOVED that first month and a half with Rose because it snugged her up so tight against me and she immediately zonked out.  It also gives the most freedom of movement for me that I have felt with any of the carriers as far as being able to do chores around the house, play with Clara while wearing Rose, etc.  But once the girls got big enough to hold up their heads and pay attention to the world around them, I like the Baby Bjorn for ease of getting in and out of and for giving them a view, etc.  Then I also have the Ergo Baby carrier that is better once they get a little bigger and the Bjorn isn't cutting it. 

And incidentally, while I'm talking product placement, I saw these newborn stickers that identify Rose's age by month on Etsy at a shop called Lucy Darling (she has loads of other designs that are so cute - it was hard to decide which ones I liked best).  I wish I had thought about something like this for Clara because they are just the right size and have such cute designs and I just stick them on whatever outfit I want to dress Rose in and voila, I have a customized look for that month's portrait.

Rose does really well with tummy time still, which is probably why she seems to be getting so strong so fast.  She doesn't last longer than 10 minutes at a time or so but for those ten minutes she babbles and plays and we do it multiple times a day.  Clara is dying for Rose to be able to roll over and is constantly asking me whether she can help her with that. 

Rose also really likes the baby play mat, which was also a hit for Clara at this stage.  This past month she has started really swatting at the objects that dangle down for her.  I'm still not sure that any of that is intentional or that she is just excited, but it delights her when she makes contact.  The music on this toy goes off after about 15 minutes and Rose starts squawking if I don't realize it quickly enough and turn it back on for her.  This toy is a lifesaver when it comes to keeping Rose entertained on her own long enough for me to throw dinner together or give Clara some one-on-one time to prevent a meltdown on big sister's part. 

Rose likes to have me hold her hands and pull her up into a sitting position, and then up into a standing position.  I can't believe how strong her little legs are that she can totally stand for 5-10 seconds while I provide the balance and stability for her and she seems to love the exercise.  The other night just after her bath she was in such a good mood and Paul took these photos while I was playing with her on our bed.

Isn't she just the most beautiful little thing?  Her face was so scrunchy at birth but all of her features have really filled out (she is such a cute little chub-a-lub and has these great rolls on her thighs that I just adore) and smoothed.  Her hair is growing in little by little too and she hasn't lost any of it from when she was born. 

 

And that's the update on Rose at 2 months old!  We are excited to see what new things she learns and experiences over the next month, which will include her first time flying on an airplane and meeting more relatives as I am going to take the girls to Utah during the week when our house is being shown (we are really hoping it sells in less than a week - our agent has recently had houses sell in as little as 4 hours from the time they were listed because the market here has been so nuts).