happy 2 Months to Mikkel!

1. love her little curled body stretches after getting off of the carrier. Arched back, bum sticking out, knees bent, 2 arms erect, fisted hands, scrunched up facial expression...super super cute
2. i love how I lay her down about a 10" away from me, only to find her pressed against me and touching me with some body part a few hours later. Sometimes she's on her right side, we're face to face with her left hand touching my breast. Sometimes she's on her tummy, left side pressed against me, head turned to the right. Sometimes her back is pressed against my front and she's facing away from me. All these positions towards me maneuvered all by herself
3. love watching her attempts to move near me in the dim light at the wee hours of the morning (when she's noisy enough to wake me up) usually after a feed. lots of grunting, squeaking, wriggling, stretching, jerking of arms and legs, kicking out of arms and legs, and many breaks in between to get as close as possible
4. i love when she makes a little O with her mouth like she's saying "ooooooo" but no sound comes out. small, little, red feminine lips. fragile, darling, sweet, baby girl
5. love her toothless reflex smiles when she's about to fall asleep. Her first purposeful smile that i actually noticed was on October 19! Now when she smiles, there's a brief chuckle included, excuse me while i melt!
6. i love that she only sleeps on the carrier because it allows me to share our time with my toddler. Even though my left trapezius is in pain, it's all worth it to be able to go on food dates with my son, go shopping, take him to the park, and carry on with high energy toddler needs. My second pre-baby mommy guilt is gone as i've found some balance between the two
7. i love how she sleeps with her arms up, totally an infant trademark that will sadly go away as she grows
8. love our bedtime routine of me giving her a sponge bath and then holding her in the dim light in the bedroom. minimal outside noise (fan is on for white noise) and just her and I in peace. In the 45-50 mins it takes for her to fall asleep, I can watch her subtly change from awake to asleep (associated facial expressions), her general appearance changes and growth, and appreciate the little healthy being in front of me without distraction. it's our only 1:1 time in the day
9. i love how it only took cornstarch to rid her of her stinky cheese smell! dang those cute rolls of hers; trapping moisture, brewing bacteria, making her stinky. Those rolls though make her so yummy, enough that i want to take a nibble of her often
10. love how good of a sleeper she is compared to Max. No swaddle, no pacifier, no sleep sac, no rocking, no constant googling for advice. just a onesie and sleeper for sleep because she doesn't like hindered range of motion. I can leave the room within a 5 minutes of her falling asleep (vs. at least 15 minutes for Max). she stirs awake and soothes herself to sleep with some coos, grunts and repositioning. Sometimes a snack feed is needed to help her get back to sleep when Max and I aren't ready for sleep, but more often than not she's soothed herself with NO tears involved
11. i love how she is such a chill baby. thankfully we haven't experienced the "just because," PURPLE type of crying with her. She gives warning yelps which escalate over 30 minutes or so if we haven't met her needs. Cries are usually because she's hungry, she's sleepy, she wants to be held, she wants a repositioning, she wants to poop or has already pooped on the carrier but something is making her uncomfortable. Maybe it was first time parent ignorance, but I recall Max going from 0-10 if he wasn't comfy! 
12. love how she isn't phased by other people holding her (vs. Max who cried instantly if anyone but me was holding him even at a young age) 
13. I love how she appears to be genuinely interested in Max. she's always looking at him when he's near her; paying attention to whatever he's doing. And because I'm saying "Max stay with her for a second," or "Max rock the bouncer," or "Max wind up her toy and play music," more often than not, i think she knows he's here to stay and that he loves her so much and will teach her so many things (he is such a good kid)
14. what i don't love though is how she hates the car seat. Doesn't fall asleep for long, stirs awake at a stop light, cries cries cries. She is not a good travel companion! i don't have a stroller that you can click a car seat onto, but at this point, there's no point in getting one because she just can't tolerate the bucket seat
15. what i can put up with but don't love is that she needs to be on the carrier (hopefully asleep) if i were to eat out at a restaurant- essentially related to the car seat issue. imagine eating with your food about a foot away and you have to turn half your body to the side so you can put food in your mouth! imagine not being able to order what you want because (things like hot soup) food can spill on your child's head! imagine having to eat standing up intermittently, dancing on the spot, or having to hold the plate over your child's head and rocking on the spot so she doesn't stir awake and I can carry on socializing with friends! 

^^ can turn head side to side every now and then. loathes tummy time like all babies do! ^^

^^ escalating! tired little girl and wants to go on the carrier to sleep ^^

love my girl! 

I've said this before, but I thought i couldn't love any one more than I do my first born, but this girl shows me that I have more love to give, and more to me than what I thought was possible. I can't imagine our family without her (of course it doesn't hurt that she is SUCH A GOOD BABY)!