Baby L is 2 months old!

Baby L turns 2 months old today, and I just can't believe how much she has grown! People still tell me she's teeny tiny, and to me she seems huge. She also doesn't seem nearly as fragile as she did when she was first born - she weighs 50% more, and definitely feels more solid.

Couldn't get her to smile, so settled for getting her to sleep!

She's started smiling real full-gums-showing smiles at us where her whole face lights up, she's started cooing at us and having little coo coo conversations, and she's started making this weird clicking sound with her tongue - I think she learned it from Thuzar from housekeeping. She also (mostly) sleeps through the night! I usually get a good stretch from 7 or 8pm to midnight, and then she'll wake up to eat roughly every 2-3 hours after that. G and I suspect that she is actually awake for parts of the night, and that since we keep the room dark, she knows it's nighttime and puts herself back to sleep until she's hungry. She is definitely most cheerful in the morning - if there is any sunlight in the bathroom when I change her diaper, it's over, she's wide awake, grinning and cooing like there's no tomorrow.

Her whole face lights up when she smiles!

We've started trying to bottle train her with a little more consistency - previously, we only gave her a bottle if either I left her for a certain period of time (massage, errands, date night, whatever), or if my nipples went on strike from her biting them with her gums. Thankfully the latter is happening less and less! She is not fond of the bottle, and I honestly wish we'd started bottle training her sooner - I was so nervous about nipple confusion and wanting to breastfeed her that we're running into the opposite problem - she fights the bottle. We're hoping that a daily bottle will help her get used to it so G doesn't have to spend literally all day trying to feed her.

G has also discovered the magic of the Ergobaby carrier. He was commenting on how carrying her around the house to try to soothe her into a nap was hard on his shoulder, so I suggested he put her in the carrier - and sure enough she was out like a light in minutes. His current challenge is getting her from the carrier into the bassinet without waking her up!

G, going about his day with Baby L fast asleep on his chest!

We have a long list of nicknames we call her...

• Sweetpea
• Sunshine
• Peanut
• Super Pooper
• Poop Shooter
• Spider Monkey
• Turd Monkey
• Stinker
• Whah-mobile (when she's crying)
• Poonami
• Wiggles
• Squeaks
• Sea Turtle
• #grumpybaby

She still flails her arms and legs quite a bit, and she still hates tummy time. I try to find alternatives to tummy time on the floor and most of them still end in tears. We'll keep trying, and we've decided it's ok if her physical milestones like crawling and walking are slightly delayed. There's a little clip of her flailing and squealing below.

Interestingly enough, her doula suggested that I try letting her sleep on her tummy when she's sitting next to me so I can keep an eye on her head position. It's not quite as beneficial as awake tummy time, but it might help her get a little more accustomed to being on her stomach. Apparently babies also sleep better on their tummies - I tried it, and she had the longest nap she's ever taken without either being held by someone or being in a carseat! She startles a lot less on her tummy, so I can definitely see why in the 80's and 90's parents were told to lay infants on their stomach to sleep. It was also fun to watch her lift up her head in her sleep to change positions without crying - a nice change from the tears!

Does tummy time count if you're asleep?!?

Things we're NOT looking forward to are her 2-month checkup and vaccinations. I'm bringing G with me to the appointment because her doctor is definitely LESS overbearing when he's with us - it's our last appointment with her anyway before we find Baby L a new doctor in Dubai. We're bracing ourselves for an unhappy Baby L when she gets her shots later this week.

We're enjoying these last few weeks in where we're all home as a family in Abu Dhabi before we move to Dubai and I go back to work. I'll definitely be bummed that I can't just walk downstairs to buy delicious little cakes for her monthly photographs! I'm feeling almost fully recovered - my hemogloblin is up, and I'm walking for 20-30 minutes 2-3 times per week. I'm back to pre-Baby L weight, although I put on some pounds with our pre-Baby L miscarriage that I've yet to work off. I'm targeting to shed those pounds by the end of the year. Of course now that G and I finally have a routine down to accommodate both our workout schedules and his schoolwork, it will all change - such is life, especially with a baby!

Look Mommy, I can grip it with two hands!