(Picture by: Alycia)
Disposition:
- Incredibly sweet and snuggly
- Extremely happy and content
- Surprisingly good at communicating his preferences in subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) ways (or maybe I’m better at understanding “newborn speech” this time around?)
- Easygoing and predictable
- Gentle and alert
- Loving and easily comforted
- Hearty appetite, champion at spitting up and sucking
- Very strong and solid
Statistics:
- Birth:
- Weight: 9 pounds, 6 ounces (90-95th %ile)
- Height: 20.5 inches (50-65th %ile)
- Head circumference: 15.25 inches (38.74 cm) (>97th %ile)
- One week:
- Weight: 9 pounds, 7 ounces (90th %ile)
- Height: 21.5 inches (90th %ile)
- Head circumference: 38 cm (80th %ile)
- One month:
- Weight: 11 pounds, 14 ounces (95th %ile) (Holy toledo! Way bigger than we expected!)
- Height: 22.25 inches (75th %ile)
- Head circumference: 39 cm (75th %ile)
- Two months:
- Weight: 14 pounds, 10 ounces (97th %ile) (Holy guacamole!! Way, way bigger than we expected!!)
- Height: 24.5 inches (95th %ile)
- Head circumference: 42 cm (90th %ile)
New Developments:
- First smile ever!!! (at one month, three days old)
- Many, many, many smiles every day after that!!
- Cooing and gooing and melting all our hearts!
- Staring at and tracking his right fist (at 2 months, 6 days old)
- Sucking his right thumb (at 2 months, 9 days old)
- Laughing!!! (starting in earnest at 2 months, 11 days old)
What he’s doing right now:
- Sleeping soundly in his crib upstairs; wearing a blue and white onesie and swaddled in his blue swaddle blanket with his blackout drapes closed and the overhead fan running
Teeth watch:
- None
What he’s wearing:
- Clothes:
- Newborn (for his first week of life)
- 0-3 months (for the next month of life)
- 3-6 months (currently)
- Diapers:
- Newborn (for his first week of life)
- Size 1 (for his next two weeks of life)
- Size 2 (from one month on; currently)
How he’s sleeping:
- He’s a fantastic sleeper
- During his first month of life:
- Slept through the night from day one
- Slept 4-8 hour stretches at night from day one
- During his second month of life:
- Currently sleeps 9-12 hour stretches at night
- Sleeps approximately 17-19 total hours a day
Falling asleep:
- At night: falls asleep on his own in his crib
- During the day: prefers to be swaddled and held in the nursing position while having his back lightly patted and sucking on a binky to fall asleep -OR- being in “the pouch” while sucking on a binky and having his back lightly patted as I walk around
Bedtime Routine:
- Accompany us as we go through Bubbers’ bedtime routine and say our night family prayer
- Say goodnight to his big brother by laying on him, getting a kiss and singing songs
- Move to his own room and nurse, get a diaper change and then another burping/spitting up session
- Get no-scratch mittens put on and be swaddled
- Get placed in his bed and sung to
- Either fall asleep on own, or get patted/binked/rocked as needed
His Favorites:
- Being held!!!!!
- “Talking” to us with coos and goos and silently articulating lips while earnestly looking at us with those big, bright blue eyes of his
- Being in “the pouch”
- When his brother talks to him
- Sucking (on binkies, arms, fists, thumbs, etc.)
His Not-So-Favorites:
- The dreaded car seat (or at least, being tired and not able to fall asleep in the dreaded car seat)
- Cold things touching his skin (baby wipes were not okay at first, but, fortunately, he adjusted to those quickly)
- Not being held when he wants to fall asleep during the day
Bubbers’ Favorites:
- Walking into a room and finding his brother there and awake!!
- Giving Snuggles his pacifier when he fusses (and sometimes when he isn’t fussing)
- Showing his brother his toys and telling Snuggles about them
- “Covering him up” with blankets (with firm reminders by Mommy that we only cover his feet–not his face)
- Saying “Hi!!!” to his brother
- Showing his brother funny things he makes up (like silly make-believe words combined with foot movements and kicks)
- Holding his brother while giggling and squealing and exclaiming, “I’m holding Snuggles!!!”
- Giggling up a storm when Snuggles “says goodnight” to Bubbers by being placed on top of Bubbers in his crib (by his funny Daddy)
- Running upstairs with me and calling out “We’re coming! We’re coming, Snuggles!!” when we hear him wake up
- Telling me, “Snuggles said, “Goooo!”” and giving a perfect imitation!
- When we’re all together as a “faminy” (family)
- Just being with his brother!
Bubbers’ Not-So-Favorites:
- Seeing his little brother get his first two immunization shots
Things He’s Looking Forward to:
- The next time he wakes up! :)
- Playing with him more
Daddy’s Favorites:
- His laugh
- When he almost sneezes but doesn’t
- His Sir Snuggly-ness
- His chubby rolls
- His big head
- His love affair with his thumb
- His smile
- His smile when he first sees me
- Him
Daddy’s Not-So-Favorites:
- Explosions
- Leakage
- Fluids
- Spit-up
- The mess
- His startled cry when he’s placed on a cold surface (cold defined as any amount less than his body temperature)
Things He’s Looking Forward to:
- More of him
Mommy’s Favorites:
- Holding him while he sleeps (and sleeping myself, when possible)
- “Talking” to me! (He made me cry the first few times he did it, because he was so incredibly sweet and cute!)
- Nursing him
- His fantastic smiles!
- His delightful laughs!
- His beautiful eyes
- His coughs
- His sneezes
- His almost-sneezes that turn into the sweetest “ah-oooo”
- What a dream baby he is
- How he emanates sweetness from his open, happy face
- How eagerly and easily I savor each moment with him, because I’m not as uptight and inexperienced as I was with Bubbers, and because I know these stages move quickly; so I happily indulge myself without any guilt trips
- How much I miss him when he’s asleep in his room
- How excited I am to hold him when he wakes up
- How much he looooooves to sleep in my arms
- The squeaky sound he makes when sleepily sucking his pacifier at night in his crib
- How he immediately relaxes when I put him in “the pouch” and then melts into me when he falls asleep
- How he looks like Han Solo frozen in carbonite when I take him out of “the pouch” when he’s still asleep
- When I open the door to his room and he immediately stops crying and greets me with a big smile and sweet coos
- His big stretches when he wakes up and I undo his swaddle or after he’s done nursing
- The feel and smell of his soft, sleeping breath
- When he smiles and/or laughs in his sleep
- That he never cries when we bathe him, change his diaper or his clothes
- How much he loves to be with me
- How well I understand him and what he wants
- How much he likes our routines
- Kissing his chubby cheeks and pinching all the chub on his whole body
- Passing him back and forth with Daddy over the dinner table or during bedtime routines as we manage affairs :)
- The smell of spit-up (because it reminds me of him and of Bubbers when he was a baby)
- Hugging him tight when he’s extra snuggly right after he wakes up in the morning
- How much easier it is for me to know how to care for a baby the second time around and how much more confident and easygoing I am about it
Mommy’s Not-So-Favorites:
- When he suddenly shrieks if something cold touches him
- When gas bubbles wake him up and give him pain :(
- At first, not being able to focus 100% of my attention on him all day long like I had been able to at the hospital and how I did with Bubbers when he was a baby. Then I felt guilty that neither Snuggles nor Bubbers got 100% 1:1 time with me. But over time I adapted to the new status quo and now I’m happy and content. :)
- One unexpected day after coming home from the hospital when I had the feeling come over me that Bubbers was a threat to baby Snuggles and I had to protect the baby from him. I had irrational thoughts that Bubbers had malicious intentions toward the baby and I saw everything that Bubbers did in that light. But it wasn’t true at all and I was shocked by the strength of the feeling. I hated feeling that way toward my dear Bubbers, but couldn’t make it go away. Fortunately, the feeling soon subsided on its own and I felt like myself again and was able to see Bubbers and his kind intentions in their true light again. It was very, very strange.
- When he’s crying and I can’t get to him right away
Things I’m Looking Forward to:
- Continuing to savor each and every moment
Heidi, thanks for posting my picture. Everyone’s going to wonder who that strange baby is in the background. ;) I love all of your snapshot in time posts, I need to get better at doing them again, I want to be able to remember everything and I know I won’t. I hope you’re doing well and Bubbers is starting to feel better. I told Preston he was sick so he remembered him in his prayers last night. He was also worried that you and Snuggles were sick, I told him that you weren’t… yet. That’s probably why he prayed. :)
What a big boy he is! I’m glad to hear that Bubbers is loving him and not showing any animocity. I know how you feel about the “protecting” snuggles from bubbers. IT’s natural for most 2 year olds to be a little rough with babies, so you just had your guard up!
Wow, that’s an amazing chronology of Sir Snuggle’s short life and Bubbers interaction with his beloved baby brother. I think you have a picture chronology to match. You’ve wanted to preserve information and facts since you were little and it’s great.
So interesting that you mention that intense fear of Bubbers harming Snuggles. With my first, I had irrational anxiety about innocuous things causing him deadly harm. Strangely, the thoughts went away on their own after a few weeks. And then with the second it was repeated, only a bit more intense. It took me repeating it again – except again a bit worse – after my third was born to realize that this anxiety/OCD/irrational fear thing is my version of the baby blues. It’s interesting to hear someone else talk about feeling that way!
Anyhow, Snuggles is adorable! Thanks for the update!
I know what you mean about feeling the bigger kid is a threat. I hate how much I get angry at my kids after a new one comes home,and most if it stems from the fear that they’ll hurt him!
Thats amazing how much your baby sleeps…I would be so sore! OUr baby sleeps as well as Elora did at night…which is not well at all.
You’re so lucky that he’s so good natured!
I love all the detail you get down about each of your boys. You are such a good momma! You will love looking back on all of this years from now and remember each and every detail! I wish I was better at capturing the details like that! Oh well, it’s all in my mommy memory bank! ~;o)
We had such a good time with you guys this morning, the kids are still talking about the fun time they had at Bubbers’ house! I had such a fun time with “Sir Snuggles!” He is such a cuddle bug, we had a bunch of wonderful conversations, he told me many stories of his life so far, so much to say for such a young man! Love that little guy! Thanks for my baby fix! hehe, look forward to getting together again soon!