Dear Alyssa,
You turned 2 months old yesterday and I can’t even believe it! I wrote these letters to your brother during his first year so I’m going to do the same for you. We took you to the doctor yesterday and you weighed 12 pounds 12 ounces and were 24 1/4 inches long. That’s 87th percentile for weight and 99th percentile for height.
I looked back at Squish’s 2 month recap and you’re not quite as big as he was….he was wearing 6 month clothes at this point and you’re still in 3 month and a few 3-6 month…but you’re holding your own! He was also on formula at this point and you’re still successfully solely breastfeeding! I had a lot of trouble with your brother and I’m thrilled it’s going so well this time around – even if it is a lot of work! You look just like Squish did as a baby…it’s crazy.
They say every kid is different and that couldn’t be more true in our house. Your brother was sleeping 4 hour stretches at night soon after he was born and didn’t cry all that much unless he was hungry. You’ve been a bit more work. For the first six weeks, you never slept more than 2 hours at a time. You would eat at 12, 2 and 4 and your brother was getting up at 5, which made for one tired mama. Luckily, just when I was about to reach my breaking point at 6 weeks, you started sleeping a 6-8 hour stretch at night. Thank you!
If we had to describe you in one word, it would be dramatic. You’re demanding, you’re loud and you cry ALL THE TIME. All the time. Especially the first 6 weeks. If you were not sleeping or eating, you were fussing, crying or screaming. And nothing helped. We tried walking, bouncing, pacifier, swinging, loud noises, soft music, reflux medication and more.
Luckily for us again, at the six week mark things got a little better. You still scream a lot every day, but there are at least a few periods where you’ll sit quietly. Things are best in the morning or worst in the evening but we’re working on it. We’ve found a few things that are starting to calm you down, like the Ergo, bouncing on an exercise ball and the hairdryer.
You love sitting up and facing out and you like to be moving. You hate pacifiers. For the most part you do pretty well in your carseat since car rides usually put you to sleep. You’re not on much of a schedule, partly because I really just let you do your thing…and partly because your brother kinda runs the show. You do a lot of sleeping in your carseat in the kitchen or at the gym, in your swing or just on the floor while your brother is playing.
You’ve celebrated your first Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years.
You’re officially 2 months old and at this point you tend to nurse yourself to sleep around 11 or midnight and sleep until anywhere between 5-7 am. You’re usually asleep again by 9 or 9:30 and tend to take a pretty good morning nap. Afternoon naps are sporadic but typically you sleep from 3-4 until about 6. Your witching hours are 7-11pm and you also tend to clusterfeed. During the day you can easily go 3-4 hours without eating but at night you want to eat constantly from 6-11ish. I do my best to follow your lead and just let you do your thing.
Despite being a bit overly dramatic, you’re a very sweet girl. You like to snuggle with me and you’re starting to smile and coo. You’ve got very good neck control for your age and are very strong. When you arch your back and cry you can almost flip yourself right out of your carseat or swing if you’re not belted in. You love watching your brother and although he doesn’t show a ton of interest in you, he has held you a couple times and will tell me to pick you up if you’re crying.
Your hair is still dark so we’ll see if it turns blond like your brother’s or not.
I can’t wait to watch you keep growing, sweet girl! Mama loves you!
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Tarayn says
I love your honesty!!!! Hehe….girls sure are dramatic!!! I have a 2 and 4 year old girls and they are rough little cookies. Hang in there you are doing a great job handling it. 🙂
Louise says
Oh absolutely gorgeous both the post & your beautiful daughter. Thankyou so much for sharing her with us .My heart goes out to you on her crying & sleeping. I too had problems when my son was born I got told all newborns did was sleep, huh not my son! The most my son slept in the first 36 hours was a stretch of two hours. He constantly amazed midwives with his lack of sleep & cries. He also wanted feeding every half hour which was breast. Hated a dummy (pacifier) as we call them in the UK so constantly wanted me instead. He was my first baby & due to problems of immaturity from his father who left shortly before my first scan,I was now totally on my own. I was never at all maternal but I bonded so strongly with my bump that when he was born I actually missed my bump lol.It was so hard & I can barely remember those first 4months before he was diagnosed with Reflux & was made to have the bottle. I tried to be positive about the smallest of things he gave me & slowly I began to treasure our special moments. I was so severely depressed by that time tho that looking back makes me so sad & guilty. I always hoped that I’d have that chance again but to treasure it differently & in a more relaxed way 2nd time around maybe with another child but it wasn’t to be . He’s now 12 & I love him dearly he makes me so proud every single day that im his mum. We are still on our own but it has made us both stronger & more positive in our outlook of life. We have a bond that I hope will be as strong throughout the years to come. Stay strong keep faith & love in your heart & before you know it those days of struggling will soon be passed. You’ve accomplished so much with your life & family & I hope your immensely proud of yourself as you should be. Looking forward to your future posts love & prayers to you & yours xxx
Digna I Cassens, MHA, RDN, CLT says
Lindsay, you really warm my heart with your babies and brings me back 50 years when mine were just like that. How you find time to cook and blog is beyond me! I couldn’t wait for mine to start school so I could regain control over my own time. Besides, time in the kitchen became torture with 3 underfoot at all times and I had more than one accident because of that. Congratulations. I look forward to your posts.
Elke says
Lindsay, your blog brought back memories of our two daughters (now 18 & 21). Both of our daughters were very unsettled as babies. You’re doing a great job and it will become easier. Alyssa is divine! xx
Pauline says
Loved reading about your sweet baby. She is so adorable❣
The tantrum photo of you two was LoL Thx for sharing Lindsey