This is a little late, but I really wanted to have Merida's 2 month appointment before I posted. Our baby peanut is growing fast and although we were given tough news about a heart murmur at the 6 week appointment, we were so excited to get the cardiologists a-ok! Basically Merida has a very tiny hole in the bottom of her heart and they think that it will heal itself within the year. So we have another cardiologist appointment after Merida turns 1. But the doctor reassured us over and over again that she looks very healthy and the EKG came back normal so there really isn't anything for us to worry about. Anyway, on to a normal monthly post!
Merida had her two month doctor's appointment the day after the cardiologist appointment. Yes, the poor girl had a rough couple of days. We didn't get to see our regular doctor, but that was fine because this doctor was super nice and just had his first baby girl 5 days before Merida was born. He loved cooing along with our Mer Bear and told us she looked excellent. She also got her first round of shots this day. She handled them pretty well but I was secretly glad I didn't have to help hold her down for the nurse. The nurse asked Daddy to help and since I started tearing up after hearing her respond to the first shot, I think I would've completely lost it for the second and third. Daddy is a brave, brave man. She calmed down after we picked her up and held her. She had the big tears running down her cheeks which made it that much more sad.
Weight: At the last doctor's appointment, Merida weight 12 pounds and 14 ounces. Yes, she's a chubby baby. But from what I've read through other posts online, she's a normal weight for a formula fed child. I am sure by the time I post this, she will be over 13 lbs. She now wears 3-6 month clothing. We are forgoing shoes for now since there is no need for her to wear them. She also wears size two diapers as of 9 weeks old.
Height: The nurse measured our baby girl at 23.5 inches long! And if you could measure her feet it would definitely add to the length a lot! The poor girl is going to have big feet like her Daddy. And it shows in the sock department. We already packed up all of our 0-3 month socks and even some of the 3-6 month socks don't fit her very well anymore.
Sleeping:
Merida has been sleeping around 6 hours per night since she was about 6 weeks old. However, we tried to transition her to her crib around 8 weeks old and she started only sleeping 4 hours per night.
So, we went back to co-sleeping in our room and within one night she went back to 6 hours a night. We will try to transition her into her own room again when she is about 12 weeks old and see how she does then. By starting a consistent bedtime routine at around 6 weeks, we have been able to help Merida nap more frequently by using some of the bedtime routines to lull her to sleep. For naps we wait for the second or third yawn to take her to be swaddled. We then sing a short lullaby while offering her a pacifier and kiss her and put her down in her rock and play to sleep. We used to let her do some naps in her crib, but after walking in and her Houdini tricks have the swaddle blanket dangerously close to choking or smothering her, we have decided not to do that anymore. Her bedtime routine starts at 9:30 with a bottle, then diaper change/massage, then a book (not that I make it through the whole book most of the time), and then swaddle. After the swaddle, I sing to her and give her a kiss goodnight. She's normally ready to pass out by this point and doesn't fight going to sleep.
Eating:
Merida is consistently taking 4 ounces of formula at each feeding which we try to space out every three hours except her last two feedings which I am trying to cluster at two hours. I am doing this to get her fuller so she can sleep little longer during the night. Who knows if it's that or our bedroom or the massage that we added back into the bedtime routine that is allowing her to sleep 6 hours a night?! But either way, something is working so I don't want to screw it up! Occasionally she'll take 3 ounces if she's really tired or if she's had a bottle within the last two hours. And she has now taken 5 ounces once a day for several days in a row. So I am thinking that will be a trend soon. Due to a breast infection, I have lost my milk supply completely. I let Merida comfort suck after her two month shots and I believe that is how I developed the mastitis. After crying about it, I decided that I did the best I could do and she had the most breast milk I could give her for as long as I could give it to her. And that would have to be enough. A good friend of mine told me, "Feel like you're a failure? Welcome to motherhood." I'm sure this won't be the first thing I can't or don't do as well as other mothers. That won't stop me from trying to do the best I can though.
Milestones & Other Things I Want to Remember:
Merida is smiling and cooing now. She is a pro at holding up her head and can easily push up to a 45 degree angle while on her tummy. She has done a 90ish degree angle before, but doesn't like tummy time most days so she's not consistent.
Merida loves to when we hold a rattle in her hand and shake it. She like the song "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" and smiles big time when we sing it while tapping her body parts as we sing. We normally sing Over the Rainbow at night as her lullaby. 9 times out of 10, her eyes are closed completely by the end of the song.
She can now recognize Mommy and Daddy and Meme. When Daddy comes home from work, she gets a big smile and sometimes squeals in delight. We facetimed with Meme the other day and Merida actually watched the screen and gave my Mom a lot of smiles as Meme talked to her. She also loves the dogs and will try to call them over so she can look at them. She can be entertained by them playing for 20 minutes straight.
David and I have invested in Disney movies and some musicals and have them playing during the day for background noise. Merida will watch some movies while she's being fed, but then gets tired of them quickly and moves on to more exciting things like Mommy's polka dot pajama pants. She smiles at every thing that has polka dots on it.
Merida's coos are becoming more and more like a baby language. She and I can carry on little conversations this way. She especially loves to talk to people while on her changing pad or activity mat.
She is practicing more and more how to move her mouth to make different sounds. It's really cute to see her try so hard to talk back.
I have slowly been able to recognize different cries from Merida. She has a repetitive and monotone cry for when she's hungry, a whiny higher pitched cry for when she's tired or overstimulated, and high pitched almost screams when she wants to be held or comforted. It's taken me a long time to decode these and I know I don't always get them right. But at least this helps me determine what's wrong most of the time.
Merida loves taking showers with Mommy or Daddy but really hates getting out of the shower. She cries until fully dressed and held. It's very stressful to hear her cry for the 10 minutes it takes to dry her off, diaper, and clothe her.
Merida's eyes are still a dark grey color but I can see more and more brown coming through. She has the longest lashes I've ever seen. And everywhere we go, everyone talks about her hair. Yes she has a lot of it and yes, it's curly like Mommy's.
Here are some more pictures of our big girl:
