Month Two: Check

I don't plan on doing a post for each month of Timothy's life, but it's going to work out that way for at least the first two. I guess when you start thinking of your life in months instead of years, that's what happens. And if I thought the first month went fast, it was nothing compared to the month we just completed.

So I'm back to work as of Monday. I enjoyed my 9 weeks off, but I'll be honest: in some ways, it was the hardest two months of my life. Although we love Timothy to pieces, he was a little colic-y, and it got worse before it got better (but thankfully it did get better). For a while, it seemed like he was either eating or crying. There wasn't really a lot of sleeping involved. And definitely no just sitting contentedly. Unless he was being held. He had to be held constantly and was sure to let you know when he wasn't in someone's arms. This was whether he was awake or sleeping. And as soon as he got put down, he was very vocal about his opinion on the matter.

After many attempted solutions, I discovered that the only way he would sleep for any length of time was in the Boppy (a nursing pillow for those not in the know). I was guilt-ridden about this because this pillow comes with a huge tag with great big, red letters that say WARNING!!!!!!! (Ok...so the exclamation points are my own emphasis, but they might as well be there.) This is to get your attention so you read the stern lecture about never, ever letting your baby fall asleep in the Boppy. And I can see their concern when he managed to get himself into this position one afternoon:

Now let me be very clear: I was watching him the entire time while he was folded up like that. But he slept in the Boppy at night, too. I was always super careful to position him so he didn't end up like that and I never walked into his room with reason to worry. Until a couple nights ago when he wiggled off enough to head plant into the crib bumper (another big no-no, really...how do kids survive at all?) He wasn't close enough to the bumper to be in any real danger of injury, but I decided we'd no longer be using the Boppy for sleeping.

After a few more attempts at sleeping in his crib, I finally settled on putting him to sleep in his bouncy chair. He rocked that for a few nights, but last night, I was actually able to put him in his crib, on his back, without the Boppy and he SLEPT. For several HOURS. I was amazed. Of course, now that I've broadcast this to the world, it will never happen again. Ever.

Nighttime issues aside, when he's awake and has a full belly, he's pretty darn cute. He seems to concentrate extremely hard on taking in everything. He has this stare that makes you wonder just what he's making of the world around him. And of course we now get this periodically:

That right there makes those sleepless nights fade from my memory. Well, at the very least, it makes me willing to keep dealing with them.

With my return to work, Lily got to go back to daycare. She missed her friends and the lady who watches them, so she was happy to go. I think she's adjusted well to the new addition. She's still very helpful, but she's getting better and backing off when we ask her to. Sometimes it can be a little too much help. She still loves to hold Timothy and gives him lots of kisses and hugs. I do think, though, that there is still some lingering disappointment that Timothy wasn't a girl. Last week she told me that her sister isn't here yet. We would need to take Timothy back to the doctor where we got him and then her sister could come out of her belly. (While I was pregnant, I had a boy in my belly and she had a girl.). Hopefully she won't be too upset when Timothy never goes back and the sister never materializes. :)

Here's a few more pictures from the month.