Wanted to pop in to give a two month update on our adventure as new parents! Asher is growing at lightspeed it seems. He easily crested the 12 pound mark a week before his two month check-up. He’s holding up his head like a champ and talking up a storm. His sweet coos have turned into half chuckles and other sounds. It’s been so fun turning this corner in his development where he recognizes us and smiles often!
Now that his reflux is under control with medicine, Asher is generally a happy baby, except of course when he has a growth spurt, mental leap, shots, or something else like that comes up. Having a baby is just always a bag full of surprises and they sure do keep you on your toes.
He started smiling and cooing pretty early on in his first few weeks, but now he is babbling like crazy, making tons of little noises. He coos, oohs, grunts, uhns, and of course cries. He gives us tons of adorable toothless grins letting us know that he recognizes us and can spot us from farther away in the room now.
Asher discovered his hands around 8 weeks and immediately started trying to cram them both in his mouth at the same time. Because he also started producing a ton of drool, his hands end up soaked with slobber. We have to keep mittens on his hands already to prevent him from scratching the crap out of his face, but they are handy to prevent his hands from staying soaking wet.
The playmat that was given to him as a baby shower gift by Rem’s aunt and uncle has become his favorite spot to pass the time. Now that he can register all of animals and shapes on the arch above his playmat, he’s in love with it and thinks it is so much fun. A dancing fox that moves to any sound that is situated on one end is his favorite.
He has also noticed the baby in the mirror a few times and thinks making faces at it is the greatest thing ever.
By about 7 -8 weeks, Ash started to hit a stride getting into what appeared to be a routine of three big naps during the day (then of course he had his first round of vaccines at his check-up, which gave him a nasty case of fussy britches for a week). He’d go down around 10:00, 2:00-3:00 and then again in the evening. He also started sleeping for longer stretches at night going for 5 or 6 hours, occasionally even 7 hours. The first night he didn’t wake us up until 3:30 we were in shock. At 7 weeks, he slept “through the night” going for his first big 7 hour stretch. Now it’s become the norm and we are constantly surprised by later wake-ups from him like this morning at 5:08am.
He has slept in his crib in his own room from day 1. We decided that was the best thing for us. With his nursery right next to our bedroom, he’s not very far away and our video monitor makes it super easy to check on him. The dogs sleep on the floor in our room and this way I’m not disturbing the norm too much or waking everyone up when I get up with him. Since he’s gotten on somewhat of a schedule of waking up around 7am for the day, often on Saturdays that’s earlier than I’m ready to be up and at ’em. I’m not a morning person by any stretch and need time to be ready for the day, so I’ve gotten in the habit of bringing him in bed with me on the weekends to nurse him and take time to wake up. Remington being more of a morning person always wakes up way before me on the weekends and will take baby duty so I can try to sleep in, but a hungry baby can only be kept calm for so long.
Despite the groundhog predicting 6 more weeks of winter, we’ve had unseasonably warm weather around here lately. Having two corgis makes evening walks important when the weather permits to keep their energy in check. Herding dogs can get pent up and need to expel some energy, but they have been great with Ash so far. We don’t keep them away from him other than to teach them not to get in his face with a bone or toy and to be easy with him. They are allowed in his room and on the couch with us still because it’s important to us that they still feel like they are a part of the family. Ash has been enjoying going for strolls around the neighborhood while we walk the dogs. He loves checking out the world. And Dash is his fiercest protector on walks, trying to jump up and see in the stroller if lil’ bro even thinks about crying.
Some days it really does feel like this is all flying by so fast.
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