Judson - 2 months

Age: 2 months

Height: 23.75"

Weight: 12lbs. 5oz.

Nicknames: Judd, JudderBug

 

Milestones: We have smiles!! He's still pretty hard to impress, but when he sees me for the first time after nap or in the morning, he gives me huge gummy smiles that absolutely melt my heart! Judd found his hands this month and loves sucking on them, which are now usually open (he never really had "clubs" as hands like Jacob did though). He loves laying under his playmat, kicking his little legs and batting at the toys. He tracks with his eyes more smoothly now, and can definitely hear my voice in the room and will move his head to find me. Judd is also very vocal, he's always "talking" to us, which is seriously the cutest! Judd loves sitting in his bouncy seat, hitting the little toys and kicking his legs. Sometimes he kicks so much that he actually bounces himself, which I think is the point of the chair...big brother never did that though!

Sleep: We moved Judd into his own room on his 1mo birthday, and my goodness- what a good decision! He's such a noisy sleeper, so now we can't hear most of his moaning and whining. He's still in his rock & play, until we can figure out his reflux. Overall he's a much better sleeper than his brother (knock on wood), but I think that's in part to starting good sleep habits early with him (i.e. putting him down drowsy but awake). He can soothe himself to sleep for naps and bedtime with little to no crying. Yay! Here's our current schedule. 

Eating: We're still exclusively breastfeeding every 3 hours during the day and anywhere from 4-8 hours at night. Judd is such a different nurser than Jacob- Judd will not latch if he's not hungry and eats only what he wants, as soon as he's done he pops off and if you attempt to re-latch him he will cry!

Clothes size: 3mo

Diaper size: just upgraded to size 2!

 

Teeth: none

Favorite toy: he's been loving this zebra

Likes: His favorite thing to do is sit on my lap, looking at me, and talk and suck on his hands. I could do it for hours! He also loves diaper changes and going for walks.

Dislikes: being overtired, overstimulated, hungry or wet 

Personality: I'm still trying to figure out if he's easy going or high maintenance. Maybe a little in between, but definitely easier than Jacob.

Best moment: we've had some warmer temps recently, so just getting outside!!

Worst moment: Poor buddy got another cold this month, he's actually still recovering. Breaks my heart!

Looking forward to: warmer weather and lots of time outdoors!

How is Jacob adjusting?: Jacob has really started to warm up to his brother. He has always loved his baby brother, but he's just sooo sweet now! Always giving kisses and telling us how much he loves Judd. It's really cute! He always insists on going to get Judd after his naps or sitting next to me while I nurse him. He's still acting out a little bit, but not quite as much I think.

A few more pictures from the month...
 

 

Our Schedule - toddler + 2 month old

Something I always enjoy reading are sample schedules or other people's daily schedules, so I want to share that with you today.

I started a pretty strict schedule with Judd around 1 month, because I could not function without it. Jacob and I have grown so used to knowing what to expect that it was strange and, quite frankly, not working for us to not have a schedule anymore.

I also felt like I was spending all my days rocking Judd to sleep for naps and only getting 30-45 minute naps out of him. That wasn't working either, mostly because I cannot spend 30 minutes rocking him to sleep while Jacob plays in the living room by himself. God only knows what he could (and did) get into! Plus I'm a firm believer in the effects of overstimulation and overtiredness.

I had already done loads of sleep research with Jacob, so I kinda refreshed myself and decided what path we were going to take.

I love the adjustable schedules from Moms on Call and have heard tons of success stories of babies sleeping through the night by like 9 weeks, so I knew I wanted to go with that schedule. And I respect and understand the sleep training methods of Babywise, especially since I saw firsthand what bad sleep habits can do to a baby (ahem, Jacob). 

So with that little background, here's our current schedule. This is best case scenario. Some days we follow this to a T and other days I'm tapping out when dad gets home at 4:30. I've also noticed that Judd is ready to extend his feeding times to 3.5 hours, so we'll be changing things up very soon.

2am: Judd wakes up for the first time to eat. I feed him, change his diaper, re-swaddle him and put him back down.

6am: Judd wakes up again to eat. Like before, I feed him, change his diaper, re-swaddle him and put him back down.
7:30-8am: Jacob wakes up. After waking up myself, cleaning up and changing clothes, I go in and get Jacob up, change his diaper and clothes and bring him out to the living room for breakfast and milk.
8-8:30am: Judd wakes up. I change his diaper and bring him out to the living room.
(If Jacob has school, I try to feed Judd a little bit during this time before we leave. Otherwise, we play with Judd for a bit.)

9am: feed Judd while we watch cartoons (I try very hard to keep Judd on a 3-hour feed schedule)

9:30-10am: playtime with big brother, either on the playmat or in my arms

10am: Judd goes down for his first nap. I always change his diaper and put on lots of butt paste before naps. Swaddle + white noise + dark room = recipe for success!

10:10am: I pump, get Jacob to finish his breakfast, and clean up breakfast

11-12am: one-on-one playtime with Jacob. I also try to make Jacob's lunch at the end of this time, so he can graze on it for the hour.

12pm: Judd wakes up (or I wake him up, I only allow naps to go 2 hours). Diaper change and bring him out to the living room. 

12:05pm: feed Judd while we watch cartoons and Jacob eats lunch

12:30-1pm: playtime with big brother

1pm: Judd goes down for another nap. Diaper, swaddle, white noise, dark room. 

1:10-1:30pm: Jacob and I watch Thomas while he finishes his lunch. This is something we've done for almost a year now, good cuddle time!

1:30pm: Jacob goes down for his nap.

1:35pm: I make lunch for myself and do anything I need to do that can't be done while Jacob is awake (crafts, blog, etc.)

2:15pm: Jacob is usually up after 45-60 minutes, so I get him up, change his diaper and we come back out to the living room. I continue doing things I need to do (laundry, cleaning, etc.) and then make him a snack. 

3pm: Judd wakes up. I change his diaper and bring him out to the living room. 

3:05pm: feed Judd while we watch cartoons

3:30-4pm: playtime with big brother

4pm: Judd goes down for his afternoon nap

4:10-4:30pm: I am usually drained by this point, so I'll throw the iPad at Jacob or attempt to clean up all his toys.

4:30pm: dad gets home! Party! Jacob usually tags along with Josh for awhile and I sit on the couch and recover from the day. Haha!

5:30pm: I wake up Judd for his "supper" feed. Josh usually starts dinner. 

6-6:30pm: playtime with big brother and daddy while mom finishes dinner and plates it. Jacob starts eating dinner. 

6:30pm: Judd goes down for his last nap of the day, this is usually a catnap (unless he's slept bad all day).

6:30pm: we eat dinner 

7pm: start a Bubble Guppies episode with Jacob while he drinks a little smoothie (we've been doing this for over a year)
7:30pm: Judd wakes up
8pm: both boys start bathtime (I bathe Judd in the kitchen sink, while Josh bathes Jacob in the tub)
8:15pm: bedtime feeding in Judd's room
8:45pm: both boys are down, and Josh and I clean up the house
9pm: I take a shower and get in bed...e x h a u s t e d

I'm exhausted just reading this! Gah! This really puts things in perspective.

Jacob - 2 months

At around 6 weeks, I was at my wits end.  I was exhausted from getting no sleep, upset because Jacob screamed when nursing, and his poops were turning green (sign something is up with baby).  I took Jacob into the pediatrician and expressed all my concerns.  Our sweet doctor (who is around my age with a 9mo old son) listened to me ramble for 30 minutes, and finally said "I think he has reflux."  My initial reaction - thank GOD it's not me!!  I'm not a terrible mother after all! :)  Jacob has been on Zantac since this time, and I have to say - he's done a complete 180 and I am now a happy mama. Most of my below recap is based on the "after Zantac Jacob."

Age: 2 months
Height: 23.25"
Weight: 14lbs 2oz
Milestones: We have smiles and laughs! Jacob is such a happy baby, especially after he eats - we spend 20 minutes just laughing and smiling at each other while I burp him (will post separately with a video).  He also really loves to get his diaper and clothes changed.  Not sure if its just the changing table/pad, or if he really likes it...but we've had some really great conversations on the changing table! :)  He's holding his head up better when on his tummy.  For the longest time Jacob hated tummy time, so we strengthened his neck on our chests or just holding him in our arms.  Now he's able to lift his head almost 90 degrees when laying on his belly (for short periods of time).  Jacob has also found his hands recently, and is constantly sucking on them.  Speaking of hands, he's slowly starting to open his little hands, which means he's started grabbing things and holding on.  Prior to this, his hands were more like paws.  He also spends lots of time on his playmat.  When in the right mood, he can spend upwards of an hour laying under there swatting at all the hanging toys and staring at himself in the mirror.  Occasionally I'll hold him in front of a wall mirror and he just stares and smiles.  I think he thinks he's interacting with another baby.  He even acts shy when he laughs, and he'll hide in my chest.  Sooo cute!!  Jacob still looooves bathtime - he just sits there and stares at me.  Then I wrap him up real tight and warm after his bath and we get ready for bed time.
Sleep: Ever since he started taking his medicine for reflux, Jacob has been sleeping GREAT!  He spent most of his 2nd month in the Rock & Play Sleeper in our room.  He would sleep 9-2 / 2:30-5:30 most nights.  Then we get up around this time and start our day.  Josh happens to get up at 5:30 for work, so it worked out pretty good.  Now that we had him on a pretty good sleep schedule, Josh and I were able to stay up after putting him down and watch some tv in peace, drink vino, unwind and just enjoy a little "us" time.  However, having him in our room was starting to cramp our style.  We always had to be so quiet in our room, we couldn't shower before bed for fear of waking him up and I was constantly yelling at the dogs because they sleep with us and are always growling at each other or making noises.  Since this was a growing issue, and since I was only getting up once a night to nurse, I decided it was time to transition him into his own room.  He spent his first night in his crib this past Friday, and slept great!  I think he slept better than me...I'm still getting used to the monitor and of course, I'm constantly worried about him.  However, I have to say - it's great to have our room back!  Now Josh and I have to figure out a routine with him in a separate room, and I need to figure out how to get him on a daytime nap schedule.
Eating: Jacob continues to eat like a CHAMP.  He still nurses every 2 hours, so I live my life in 2 hour blocks. :) Now that he's taking medicine for his reflux, he doesn't scream on the boob, which is such a blessing!  In fact, often times he falls asleep while nursing.  He was getting pretty gassy, which was effecting his sleep, so I'm now avoiding - dairy, beans, spicy foods and broccoli.  It's made a huge difference, and is definitely worth it!
Clothes size: He's shaped weird right now - he's short and fat.  Haha!  He fits in 0-3 for the length, but needs 6 month for the waist.  Sweet chubster. Most days are spent in 0-3 month onesies though.
Diaper size: Size 2
Best Moment: I'd have to say when he was finally diagnosed and we started the medicine.  I just can't explain how thankful I am for that.  His first smile and laugh were, obviously, amazing too.
Worst Moment: Right around the 6 week mark, I had a total meltdown - Josh actually had to stay home from work one day because I was such a wreck.  Things are definitely looking up.
Teeth: None, although right around 5 weeks I thought he was teething.  Turned out it was the reflux, and he happened to have 4 cysts on his gums right where his canines will eventually be.  So strange.
Looking forward to: I'm really looking forward to the age when he doesn't cry quite as much.  Not to say that he cries THAT much - he's really a good baby.  He just starts crying at the drop of a hat with little heads-up.  Because of this, I'm terrified to take him out for long periods of time.  I can't wait to take him to restaurants more, and to church!  Maybe around 4 months?