Two Pooches and A Baby: What a difference a week makes

Elliott had a pretty great week this week… so mom and dad had a great week too!

He turned two months old and went for his first round of immunizations on Tuesday. He weighed in at 12 pounds, 2 ounces. He was very brave for the three shots – I think it was worse for me and Dana than it was for Elliott. I was sure that we were in for a challenging few days after that since a lot of kids have a reaction to the vaccines. But, we got lucky this time. His legs were a little sore that evening, but he slept well overnight, napped well the next day and then slept more than he has EVER slept the next night. Hurray! By Thursday, I felt so rested I didn’t know what to do with myself! It’s been two months since I’ve gotten four hours of sleep at a time and, let me tell you, it feels great. I can’t even remember what it feels like to sleep an entire night…

The bad news, it seems the dairy in my diet likely was the culprit – so no more pizza or ice cream for me for a while. Of course it’s totally worth it. I’m so relieved that he seems to be getting better. And, when he’s not in pain, he is the cutest, happiest little guy in the world. He smiles, and coos, and looks with great interest at the world around him.

Before this week he was never really much interested in the little “toys” hanging from his bouncy seat. But, he is very entertained by them this week – swinging his arms around and knocking into them, then smiling when the movement triggers the music and lights on the seat to turn on. As soon as the music stops, he swings his arms out to hit the hanging animals and turn it on again. Does he really understand what he’s doing? Not sure. But, he loves it and I think it’s hysterical watching him.

I’ve also discovered this week that Elliott now likes to be swaddled when he sleeps. For the first several weeks, he hated it. He liked to have his arms up around his head when he slept. But, I noticed that the arms have been out at his sides recently and that he was startling himself awake a lot. So, I tried it. And he slept so soundly. So, being the obsessive internet “researcher” that I am, I set out to find the perfect swaddling blanket. I didn’t want the traditional blanket, I wanted one of the easy shortcut blankets where you just wrap and Velcro so that I can get him into it while he’s asleep without waking him. There are so many to choose from. I looked at the Miracle Blanket, the Snug and Tug, the Woombie, the Bonkie, and several others (aren’t the names great!?!) and ultimately settled on the Kiddopotamus blanket because it’s lightweight for summer and looks super easy to wrap without jostling the baby around. It’s supposed to arrive next week so I’ll let you know how it turns out!

Who knew that a baby who didn’t have colic early on, could get it at eight weeks. And a baby that didn’t like to be swaddled early on, could love it at two months. Go figure. I’m sure we’re not done with our tummy pain or sleep challenges. And there are certainly many other challenges out there that we haven’t even though of yet. For someone like me, who likes to do lots of research and find an “answer” to everything, this is hard to cope with. There is simply no way to know what’s coming next. I’m trying hard to tame my inner control freak and just go with the flow. It’s like Elliott’s Grammi told me – you have to take it one day at a time. To which I responded, right now I’m taking it one HOUR at a time. This hour, Elliott is sleeping, swaddled up in his bed.