Daphne is 2 months as of Tuesday! 13 pounds, 14 ounces, 23 1/2 inches. In addition to getting her stats, Daphne also got her first round of shots yesterday at her 2 month check-up. I completely forgot about the trick of giving tylenol before the shots so she was pretty inconsolable after the epic shots-induced afternoon nap. Man, that stuff takes awhile to kick in, doesn't it?! She was a little fussier than usual yesterday evening, conked out a bit earlier than usual, which was surprising considering she was about 1/2 hour shy of being able to get a second dose of tylenol, and had a pretty decent night, all things considered.
Speaking of sleep, it seems like our evenings/nights are settling down a bit. Between weeks 5 and 8, roughly, she was pretty fussy in the evening but difficult to get to bed "for the night" until between 8 and 9, despite being seemingly done with the day much, much earlier. Most nights she does a relatively long stretch then wakes up a couple of times after that but she continued to be a bit difficult to lull back to sleep after those night feedings and each stretch of sleep would be increasingly restless. This week she's conked out a little earlier and a little easier than previous weeks and for several nights she's only woken up once to eat, around 3:30 am. Getting her back to sleep hasn't been too difficult but she is incredibly restless until I usually either feed her again and/or bring her into bed with me, at which point she usually falls into a deep sleep. What's up with that? If only sleeping flat on your back was as soothing as snuggled up next to mama, with mama breathing on your little head. Anyway, on the one hand I hope I don't jinx the good sleep I've been getting but on the other hand I can't say I don't hope for even more improvement and a little more sleep from 3:30 on. I honestly wouldn't mind waking up more frequently if she went right back to sleep and slept a little more soundly/quietly. As it is I'm still going to bed as soon as I get her down for the night so that I maximize the sleep I get during that first stretch (and of course the few nights I've stayed up a bit she's woken up much earlier for that first middle of the night feeding). I miss my evenings, I have to admit, but hopefully I'll have a little evening time back to myself before my favorite show begins next month. I also have one order to wrap up this month and a fundraiser to work on for Eli's preschool next month and it's been nearly impossible to do so during the day. As it is I'm lucky to tidy up the house, get a load of laundry done, and feed and shower myself. If I could get a little of that extra stuff done each evening, I think I'd enjoy my unproductive baby days a little more.
As far as daytime sleep goes, Daphne is currently working on one of a handful of naps this week in the co-sleeper, unswaddled in a sleep sack. Very exciting. She's an incredibly restless sleeper but maybe all babies are at this stage? We have a video monitor this time around so I try to keep that in mind when I'm seeing a lot of restless movement but hearing nothing. I'm trying to embrace what I think is an at least slightly better sleeper than big brother while not making the mistakes we made with him. We'll see if it works. I don't dare throw out the swaddle for night sleep just yet. Of course my dream, some point during the 4 to 7 month window, is to have her taking a couple of naps and sleeping through the night (with a dream feed or maybe just waking once?) in her crib, in her own room. But, like with everything else, I'm trying to be patient with this newborn stuff, which I have to admit I'm finding harder to do this time around.
Otherwise, Daphne has been smiling and cooing up a storm. She seems to be a bit more expressive than Elias was. While he was either fussy or wide-eyed and taking it all in, she tends to be a little more serious at times and gets this inquisitive, almost frowning look on her face before she breaks out into a big smile. She's incredibly vocal and her favorite place for small talk seems to be on her changing table. I keep trying to get it on video but every time I turn on the camera she seems distracted by the phone. This is one of several things I miss about having Neal work from home, as he did during Eli's first year. If something new was unfolding I could usually holler at him to grab the camera. We captured so many firsts that way. It's a lot harder when you're home alone!
In the spit-up department, Daphne definitely has reflux although it still, knock on wood, seems to be milder than Eli's various digestive woes. I've been avoiding dairy as well but I'm really hoping the handful of possible indicators (baby acne/rash, green poop, and of course the reflux) were all coincidental as the only thing that's cleared up since going off dairy has been her baby acne which very well may have cleared up by now anyway. She still has green poop from time to time which I've been told is not a big deal. I've tried reintroducing hidden and obvious dairy a couple of times but the timing always seems to be bad, coinciding with something else that makes her extra cranky or extra spitty. She's yet to have any blood in her stool, as Eli did. So we'll see but I just don't think I have it in me to stay on some crazy elimination diet much longer. Hopefully she's just one of those babies who's sensitive to mama's diet and will react less to what I eat and drink as she gets bigger and older. Nursing is going well - so much better this time around, even nursing in public - so I'd hate for anything to compromise that. On the other hand, especially with another kid to take care of and a house to maintain this time around, I can only take on so many extra challenges. This two kids things is hard enough!
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