2 months old!

Sweet Hannah is two months old! How is that even possible?!  Although it feels like she's always been here, it's so hard to remember life without her.  She now weighs 10 pounds 8 ounces (41st percentile), is 22 inches tall (36th percentile), and her head circumference is 38.5 centimeters (47th percentile.)  She took her shots like a champ at her well-baby check-up and then proceeded to sleep constantly for the two days following (I was starting to get a little worried, but then she woke up.)  Everything looks great!  We learned that she does have an oblong hemangioma measuring about an inch and a half by half an inch on her lower back.  It is a bright red, slightly raised lesion that will raise a little more by her first birthday.  By her second birthday, it will begin to shrink and should be gone by the time she goes to kindergarten. Dr. Seawell assured me that it causes her no discomfort when she lies on her back, which brought great relief!  How very special it is that she has tangible proof of where God kissed her.

As for sleep, we moved her into her nursery two weeks ago and the transition has, luckily, been a smooth one!  Poor baby was having trouble resting peacefully in our room during the day with all of the hustle and bustle going on around her.  It's been really nice not to have to tip-toe around our room for fear of waking the baby.  We have begun the "Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child" sleep training program that we did with our world-class sleeper, Emmy, and so far, it's gone pretty well.  Hannah's notorious for cat naps during the day while we are at home, but sleeps exceptionally well for long periods of time in her carseat carrier while we run errands on Emmy's school days.  I can't be sure, but I'm fairly certain that Emmy banging on Hannah's bedroom door and violently jiggling the door knob might have something to do with the abbreviated naps.  We might need to focus more on training our eldest...  Nighttime sleep is going very well.  In the last week, I have been putting Hannah down to sleep around 8 or 8:30 and she will sleep until 6!!! After her first feeding of the day, she's usually back down for another couple of hours!  I am so grateful that we are falling into a sleep routine! I'm sure I've just jinxed it by making that statement.

Emmy has been a bit more gentle with Hannah lately, which is a huge relief to us.  She still can't be trusted to be near Hannah without close supervision being that her latest fascination is to attempt to pick Hannah up. :-/  Since Hannah's reliable sleep pattern is developing, Emmy and I have been able to share significantly more quality time together, which is a really good thing.  She is trying her very hardest to "play" with Hannah, whether that be coloring pictures, playing dress-up, baby dolls, or teaching her to clap and sing songs.  It's funny to watch.  Especially the coloring.  Emmy, very confidently, grabs Hannah's hand, stuffs a marker in her grip and then proceeds to guide her hand on paper.  Hannah has been completely entranced watching her big sister, not to mention throwing some big grins her way.  I think they like each other already. :)

Developmentally, Hannah started smiling a couple of weeks ago!  I first got her going by saying "Hellllllloooooo Hannah!" Now, all I have to do is smile at her and she offers one up easily (provided she's rested and in a good mood.)  She has also begun cooing and making squawking noises! It's music to my ears!  She's had fun passing the time by moving all of her extremities around with great enthusiasm and likes to "push off" my hands when I press against her feet.  She is now more aware of her grip as well and, I have, inconsistently, found her "holding" things.  Yesterday, I found her clinging to her pacifier, and today she was holding up her skirt. :-P  She's doing a wonderful job holding up her head, and gets a look of great satisfaction when I pull her to a sitting position while we play on the floor.  Now we're just working on her stamina! She's rapidly morphing from a newborn into a playful baby...

                                       

Trying to take more self-portraits with the girls so that they don't think they grew up without a mother.

Same outfit, pose and age... :-P