2 months, peak of fussiness

Tomorrow marks your two month birthday! I am writing this entry a day early because we are going to Wisconsin tomorrow to spend the weekend with Nanny, Gramps and the dogs. We have been anxiously awaiting this weekend for awhile because we cannot wait for you to meet Marty (Mara), one of the 5 Springer Spaniels that my parents own, the one which will become ours as soon as we get you sleeping in your own bed. And so of course this week has not been the smoothest and countless things have emerged testing our ability as parents. A few days ago I noticed that you had what I would call an eye booger in your right eye, so I wiped it away. Within the next hour another one appeared and I noticed that your eyelashes were goopey. I read that it is common for infants to get blocked tear ducts and after talking to a couple friends and the ped. nurse it seems like this is what it is. So we are now massaging your tear ducts using warm compresses and wiping away the gunk with wash cloths. The eye got better within 12 hours, thankfully, and is not infected.

Then last night you had the worst night of sleeping ever. We put you down for an evening nap around 6 p.m., lasting just long enough for us to eat dinner together - note, this never happens because evenings is when little Eddie is fussiest so we take turns eating and holding him. Then we went to bed at 9 p.m. and you woke up at 10 p.m. not happy. Our usual methods of soothing you didn't work and Daddy Eddie was awakened from his slumber to help me try to console you, taking turns holding you and walking you throughout the house. At one point you were so wide awake starring at the shadows in our living room and getting so excited, kicking and wheelbarrowing your arms around. The rest of the time you just cried and cried. We didn't fall back asleep until around 2 a.m. I read in various books that colic and fussiness in the evenings peaks at 8 weeks and then tapers off after 12...looks like we have 4 more weeks of this.

Anyway, that being said, we are enjoying you more and more each day with your new skills and personality. Here is a quick monthly breakdown of developments:

physical: as stated in the last blog entry, you have tremendous gross motor skills - your legs are so strong that your position of choice now is assisted standing. When we assist you to sit up, you pull your head forward, though it sort of bobs into a downward facing position and so you stare at your feet in wonderment and drool all over yourself. Yes, your other major change is blowing bubbles and drooling.

language: your noises have officially turned into language. The "errs" and "ooohs" are mostly present in the mornings and while getting changed. You also get excited when we sing certain songs and seem to attempt to sing with us. We recently watched E.T. (they've been showing it on HBO lately) and we realized that sometimes you make "E.T." noises.

expressions: you are smiling more and more...too many times a day to count...every time you wake up from sleep and when we sing songs. It is hard to get good photos of it though because you smile mostly when we make eye contact and when the camera is in front of our faces you don't smile as easily.

personality: you have pulled a 180 on a changing table in terms of your temperament - used to abhor it, now love it and it is where we are sure to see your beautiful smile. The bath is still something you are tentative about, but that too is getting better and last time you hardly whimpered at all. You like commotion, whether it is the busy streets with trucks and fast cars, or rooms filled with people...it seems to intrigue and calm you in a way. But there is a very fine line as you can get overstimulated and uncomfortable - usually you will spit up, then cry. I have discovered this because you rarely spit up on Mom, only other people and it usually proceeds some fussiness. You are a Mama's boy, that's for sure.

books we've read: Giraffes Can't Dance (from our friend Emily and daughter Mia) and Green Eggs and Ham

toys we play with: still not into toys but recently have re-introduced what we call "Red Dog" which is a black and red dog that duels as a soft book filled with cute pictures of types of dogs. And introduced a hand puppet of a monkey/bear from Nanny. Yesterday we also introduced the blocks with the alphabet.

songs we sing: still the favorites are "Old McDonald" and "Wheels on the Bus." Daddy sings and plays music from Roger Miller - you like "Dang me" and "You Can't Rollerskate in a Buffalo Heard." On the changing table, Mommy sings "Hole in the Bucket" and you seem to like it. Daddy sings "Yes, we have no Bananas." Also just started singing "Ears Hang Low" and the "Alphabet Song"