Larkin Turns Two Months Old

Our sweet girl, at two months:

• Is holding her head up like a champ, and loves to look around.
• Prefers a vertical position when awake-- no cradling her! Help her to sit and watch life, or hold her on your shoulder, and she's pretty content.
• Has begun "worrying" my shirt or skin when she nurses.. her sweet busy little hands absentmindedly moving and stroking and holding onto what she can find.
• Went through a pretty fussy stage at the classic 6-8week stretch, but now, at almost 10 weeks, is easing out of it (I think? I hope? Who ever really knows?)
• Loves her swaddle, loves her MAM binkie, seems to love when Joe plays Hozier for her... 
• Has begun taking an afternoon nap alone!! In her future nursery! She seems to really like/need the opportunity to get herself to sleep alone at these times... So I turn the white noise machine on, feed her til she is sleepyish, then I burp her really well, put her in the rock and play with a binkie "scarved" in, and sneak out. She will often cry for a minute or less, but then gets completely silent, stares around her room for a bit, and drifts off peacefully. I check her constantly since she has that scarf in place... so it's an awesome thing, but I'm not sure how we'll do if I ever take that crutch away....  But for now, it's amazing to me every time. My not-so-newborn is doing so well!! 
•  Still has steel-gray eyes, and they are almost always wide and alert and expressive.
• Loves her bath when the water is deep and warm, with a big warm washcloth on her tummy and both my hands holding onto her. She likes to turn her face to the water, instinctively drawn to the liquid like it's going to feed her. 
• Hates the car still... but if I "scarf" in a binkie, we get a 60% success rate of her calming down and dozing off. 
• Loves her Daddy and is so good to fall asleep for him when he swaddles her, expertly pats her bum, and walks/rocks her til she gives in. 
• Fights me at the breast sometimes, for no apparent reason. But then totally loves her breastfeeding time at other times. *shrug* WHO KNOWS?
• Takes a bottle well-- most of the time it's formula, sometimes its pumped milk.  It's helpful for when she's been fussing at me and won't settle to nurse. I know Joe can take over and she won't starve. 
• Has hints of two dimples when she smiles. I wonder if she'll keep them? 

And we continue to reach out, mostly in the dark, for a new normal... for equilibrium after such a shift in our world. We wouldn't have it any other way: Larkin is a beautiful, joyful gift to us. But for sure, we feel like rookies all over again much of the time.  And that's okay. The absolute best thing to come out of these early weeks, besides our actual sweet baby girl, is the much-needed, much-cherished teamwork that becomes such a well-practiced dance between Joe and I. We are each other's SURVIVAL right now, and though it means we don't actually get much time together, together we are making our family life a good one, and we are handling this crazy season of newest new baby time. I'm really lucky to have Joe. ♥

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(Photos taken on Larkin's amazing bird quilt made by my friend Melanie Hess of Thoroughly Modern Minis, on Etsy. See her 1 month photos HERE.)