Smiles (Weeks 8-12)

Well, two months have gone by and our little one does not seem quite so tiny any more. While I do hate how quickly the new born stage passes, I love all the fun that comes with growing. Asher's 2nd month was full of smiles...smiles that quite literally steal my heart. When he gets really excited he opens his mouth in a grin, pulls his hand up, and squints one eye closed. Precious I tell you! He is so aware of everyone in the room and loves attention. His favorite activity is for us to talk or play with him while he lays flat on his back. By the end of the month he was starting to really engage with Avery and starting to giggle just a little.

At his 2 month appointment, he weighed 12.5 lb. (50%) and was 23 inches long (30%). He wears 3-6 month clothes and continues to wear size 1 diapers. He is doing great with a schedule and started sleeping through the night (10:00-6:30) on the same day as his 2 month checkup. By the end of month 2 he was sleeping from 9:00-7:00. Throughout the day he nurses every 3.5 to 4 hours and stays awake a little more than an hour before going back down for a nap. If we have to go out to run errands, his sleep is not restful. He has a hard time going to sleep in his car seat and doesn't have a problem letting us know it. Avery and I have started singing to him in the car (Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves the Little Children, and You are My Sunshine) and that helps a lot. Once he finally falls asleep all is good!

Nursing is going great again. At around 9 weeks, I took a short weekend hiatus from nursing and exclusively pumped. I definitely needed some TLC. So far, my milk supply is pretty insane and for this I am so thankful. I have about 350 oz. in the freezer and am out of room. I think a deep freezer may be in our future! I pump in the morning first thing, but nurse each time he eats throughout the day, then I usually pump right before bed. With Avery, since I was working, we were able to cycle through the frozen milk and put away new each day. Now that I am staying at home and actually feeding Asher, we are not using the milk I put up nearly as quickly.

Asher is now sleeping only in his crib. I started putting him in it for naps around 7 weeks, but we moved him permanently at 9 weeks. We were putting the co-sleeper up a couple of weeks ago and Levi said happily "Well, we did it again!" Yes, we did! Once again, we made it through the really exhausting newborn stage and feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to experience it. We are still swaddling him for almost all naps. If we do not do it just right, he breaks out pretty easily, but still sleeps pretty soundly even with his arms and feet out.

At 11 weeks, my maternity leave ended and I am very excited to say that I resigned from my position at Auburn. Levi and I, with a huge amount of grace and guidance from God, have worked incredibly hard to prepare financially, for me to stay at home. My heart is filled with joy, as I know this is the best decision for our family. Getting to put Avery down for her nap, laughing and talking with her about whatever is on her mind, hearing her say "Mommy will you lay with me?" is wonderful. I know she will not always want me to lay with her, so I better take advantage of her requests now! I hope to write a lot more about staying at home and the blessing it is. Once I have a few months in, I also want to write about my experience as a working mother and how it compares to being at home.

Time is fleeting and I am trying to get in as much cuddle time with my precious little boy as possible. What I want to remember most about this stage is just how happy he is! We love life right now. It is busy and exhausting, but it is also precious and undeserved. I am working on loving it all, even the hard moments of parenting. I can sense God working so much in my heart, gently molding and shaping me into a better wife and mother each day.