Bella - Month 2

Weight 11 lbs 6 oz (45th percentile)

Length 22 1/2 inches (50th percentile)

Head 40 1/2 cm (80th percentile) 

Clothes:  0-3 months

Diapers: Size 1

Health:

You are a very happy and healthy baby.  We had your 2 month well check and Dr.Fink is very pleased with your progress.  You are eating, sleeping, and growing right on schedule!  At your appointment you got your first set of immunizations and although I know they are completely necessary, it breaks my heart to hear you scream.  Luckily, you quickly bounced back after an extra long nap and were back to your normal smiley self.  Our next appointment is at 4 months.

Diet:

Not much has changed here, you continue to love mommy's milk!  You still eat about 8 times a day, with only 1 night time feeding...which makes for a very happy mommy. 

Sleep:

On a typical day you wake up around 8ish and sometimes you take a cat nap when we are out in the mornings in your car seat.  When we get home around lunch time you are ready to eat and then typically mid-afternoon is when I can get you to take a longer nap (most days!), which is amazing because that's when your sister naps.  Then you take another short nap late evening and you are usually ready for bed around 8:30-9ish.  I wake you up to feed you around 10:30 then we go to bed and you sleep until 5-6ish.

We are working on Addie's big girl room and hope to move her into it next week, which means you will finally have your very own room.  We will transition you to your crib and I'm hoping to start being able to put you down for naps and start a bedtime routine with you as well.

Likes:

The swing is one of your favorite spots these days, it's where you take your long nap for the day (terrible habit I know, but if it gets you to sleep I'll take it for now!)  Momma's milk continues to be high on the list of likes as well.  This month you've also enjoyed kicking around on your play mat.  You still love to be swaddled or cuddled up close next to mommy or daddy when you sleep.  

Dislikes:

Being hungry or tired are the only things that seem to make you upset.  

Milestones:

You smiled at us for the first time at 6 weeks and you have been smiling ever since then!  You are much more alert and like to work on holding your head up and looking around.  You can recognize mommy, daddy, and even Addie's voices and light up when you know that we are close by.  You've started babbling and "talking", when your big sis lets you get a word in!  I have a really cute video of you "talking" but every time you start making a noise, your sister talks over top of you.  The look on your face every time you get interrupted is priceless and I think you will quickly learned that your going to have to hold your own with your big sis.

Personality:

I feel like you've changed so much over the last month.  You've gone from being a newborn to being a baby.  You are much more alert and aware of what's going on around you these days.  There's personality in your facial expressions and the conversations you have with us are adorable.  You are such an easy baby and continue to just go with the flow.  I'm looking forward to watching you become your own little person and see your personality shine through as you get older.  I'm also looking forward to watch you and your sister interact with each other, the two of you are absolutely adorable together!

Visitors:   

This has been a busy month because we took our first road trip and we had a ton of visitors in for your Baptism.  We went to Raleigh when you were 6 weeks old and you met your cousins Samantha, Rylan, and Maddox for the first time.  Then, we had both sides of your family in town for your Baptism and you met your great-grandparents, Uncle David and Janine, and Carla for the the first time.  We just got back from Pittsburgh and we had fun showing you off to more of our family and friends.

Bella's Baptism

We celebrated a very special milestone last weekend in our house, Bella was baptized!  She was baptized on Sunday, October 11th at Prince of Peace Church and she was lucky enough to celebrate such a special moment with lots of special people in her life.  We had family members from SIX different cities  drive down to help us celebrate (SIX! How crazy is that?!)  Kristen flew in on Thursday night from Oxford, Ohio.  My parents and grandparents drove on Friday from Pittsburgh and Akron.  On Saturday Brian and Carla came from DC, David and Janine came from Ft. Lauderdale and Pittsburgh, and Kristie, Keith, and the kids came from Raleigh.

On Friday, Kristen and I took the girls to the park and then Eric joined us for a Mexican dinner at our favorite spot.  My parents and grandparents arrived later that evening and we just hung out at the house.  On Saturday, we took another outing to the park (Addie is very energetic these days and sitting around at home just doesn't cut it - she needs to run!)  After the park we grabbed some lunch at Panera and spent the rest of the day watching football and eating good food.  David, Janine, Brian, and Carla got here and we had not 1, but 2 birthdays to celebrate as well.  Janine's birthday was on Friday and Brian's birthday was on Saturday.  

Sunday was the big day and we celebrated at the 11am mass.  Surprisingly, both girls were on their best behavior.  Bella slept most of the time and Addie sat in the back with the rest of the family.  During the Baptism, Father invites all of the kids to come and sit around the font so they can see what's happening.  Addie did just that and as I stood up front and watched her I could not believe how grown up she looked mixed in with all of the other kids.  It's only been a little over a year since she was baptized at that very spot and she's grown leaps and bounds since then.  Where did my baby go?  It's only a matter of time before Bella will be old enough to sit with her big sister...time needs to slow down!  After mass we had a reception at a local restaurant.  We enjoyed lunch and some yummy cake, but importantly, time together with our family.  

Overall, it was a beautiful weekend full of beautiful people who all are so special to Eric, the girls, and I.  We couldn't imagine celebrating this milestone without our families and we are very thankful that they all made the trip to join us.  Needless to say it was a very memorable (and busy) weekend - I think the girls are still recovering from all of the craziness! But, craziness and all, it's a weekend that I will never forget!

I love that Addie ran up to us and joined us for Bella's big moment.

Holding my pretty girl before mass.  Bella wore the same dress as Addie did and she looked equally as adorable as Addie did on her big day.  I'm very lucky to have such beautiful little girls.

Proud parents with our beautiful Bella.

Bella's Godparents are her Aunt Kristie and Uncle David (I think he's actually her Great Uncle if he's my Uncle)

A quick picture at the church with the whole family.

Enjoying lunch and cake at Kelly's.

Addie was a trooper as this was way past her usual nap time!   

Addie loves her cousin Maddox.  He can always make her laugh!

Used a little sugar to boost her spirits..and it worked!

This is what happens when you wait too long to get a family picture.  This is the ONLY picture I have of the 4 of us from Bella's Baptism.

Bella's First Smile

Nothing is sweeter than your beautiful baby girl looking you in the eye and smiling for the first time.  And no I'm not talking about the smiles where they may or may not have gas or the smiles they have when they are in a deep sleep and you are wondering what they are thinking about.  I'm talking about the pure joy and love written all over their face when they truly look at you and smile.  Bella smiled for the very first time the day before she turned 6 weeks old and has been smiling ever sense.  Look at that beautiful smile, it doesn't get much better than that!

Our New Normal

It's crazy to think that Bella is almost 2 months old.  It seems like just yesterday she was still in my belly and we were anxiously awaiting her arrival.  On August 18th we welcomed our beautiful Bella into this world and in the blink of an eye her first 2 months have flown by.  It's hard for me to even think about life before Bella because she fits so perfectly into our family that it just seems like she's been with us forever.  Our new normal may be a little more chaotic and a lot nosier, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.  Our girls are the center of our world and Eric and I wouldn't have it any other way.  I love our new normal!

With that being said, it's been a while since I've posted - so here is a little bit about what we have been up to lately.  During the week, the girls and I have definitely settled in.  I wouldn't say we have a "schedule" because Bella's sleeping during the day is still unpredictable, but we've gotten into our own little routine and I use that term lightly.  Being a mom of 2 under 2 means that any routine needs to have flexibility, some days may not go at all how I thought they would, but I'm okay with that.  I've mastered leaving the house with both girls by myself and we leave the house almost every morning now.  Some of our favorite things to do involve going to the park, on a play date with Addie's buddies and their moms, or even just out to run a few errands.  We all need a change of environment, so even if it is more work, it's worth it.  Addie is full of energy these days so leaving the house in the morning allows her to get out some of her "sugar" as her cousin Bryan would say.  Luckily, Bella is so easy going and is very happy in her stroller or car seat.  She is such a happy baby and is a trooper when it comes to keeping up with her sister.

The weekends is what we live for in our house - because that means Daddy is home!  Addie is a daddy's girl and with Eric being super busy with work and parent nights right now, she loves when the weekend rolls around.  We have actually been pretty busy on the weekends lately, just about every other weekend we are traveling or have visitors in town.  We spent a weekend in Raleigh a few weekends ago introducing Bella to her cousins and just hanging out, this past weekend we had our family in town to help us celebrate Bella's baptism, and we are getting ready for a trip to Pittsburgh next week.  Add in some fun family activities (with a quite a few having to be indoors due to all of the rain Joaquin , playing with choo-choo trains (as Addie would say), and lots of football and that's pretty much what we have been up to.  It's our new normal and I love every second of it!