We have a routine!! Plus Milestones!

Yay!!!!! After this past weekend I am assured that Xander is now on a set routine. He had been doing awesome about bedtime and sleeping during the week, but on the weekend he seemed to be getting confused because we weren't going to work. The past two weekends his sleep schedule got confused and didn't go back to normal again till we were back at work on monday, but this past weekend, it stuck! He seems to have settled on a bedtime of about 8:00pm and wakes up around 7:15am. Which is like heaven for Mommy, I feel like I'm getting loads of sleep! Yay! In his bedtime bottle I have started giving him 2 tbsp. of rice cereal in his 8oz bottle. I was worried about him sleeping such long stretches and not eating, so that makes me feel a bit better about it. The Dr. said it was really a personal choice but as long as I was using such a small amount it wouldn't really change anything. She wants us to start cereal in a bowl at 4 months and was concerned that he would get used to having it out of the bottle and reject it on a spoon later, but when she heard the amount I was giving she said it wasn't an issue because it's not really enough to even get thick and I could continue doing it if I choose.

So Mommy has been keeping up on baby milestones in books and on websites and I am proud to say Xander is progressing amazingly!!
There are 3 catergories, one is mastered skills, stuff most kids can do by the end of that month, two is emerging skills, stuff about half of kids can do at that age, and three is advnaced skills, a few kids can do this stuff.

2 months skills (by the end of month 2):

First I'll start with the level one skills (this is stuff most kids can do):
~ Vocalizes: gurgles and coo's Check!
~ Follows objects across feild of vision Check!
~ Notices his hands Check!
~ Hold head up for short periods Check!

Level two skills: (about half of kids can do this stuff)
~ Smiles, Laughs Check!
~ Holds head at 45-degree angle Check!
~ Makes smoother movements Check!

Level three skills: (only a few kids can do this stuff!)
~ Holds head steady Check!
~ Can bear some weight on legs Check!
~ Lifts head and shoulders when Check!
lying on tummy (mini pushup)

And he even has started to master some of his 3 month skills early!
~ He already recoginizes Mommy's face and scent
~ And he already recoginizes both Mommy and Daddy's voices, and turns to look for us when he hears us, a Level two 3 months skill (only some kids can do this by the end of the 3rd month and he's not even to the end of month 2 yet!)

Finding his voice...

The past week or so Xander has really found his voice. He went from being a realtively quiet baby who only really made noise when he was hungry, to being a VERY outspoken little man! Xander has a wide vocal range including, cooing, ga's, goo's, and he even seems to purr like a kitten! haha He likes to have conversations with Daddy and Mommy. He'll lay on the couch or sitting on Daddy's lap (which he loves! He sits just like a big boy, it's adorable!) and just talk and talk and talk to us. It's so amazing, he has so much to say! We practice having conversations with him and he loves it. We talk and he goos and purrs and goes on and on. He also has taken to letting us know when he's not happy with what he's doing or wants to change positions. We rotate him between the Swing, his car seat (he likes that chair, ofcourse he doesn't like at all the nice chair great-grandma got for him that vibrates), laying on the couch with mommy and daddy, or sitting on the couch like a big boy. Once he has decided he is done with his current activity mommy and daddy wonder around moving him from place to place trying to figure out what location please's him next, and if we don't figure it out fast enough, boy does he let us know! He has a very specific hungry noise, so we always know when that's what he wants, and you would too if you heard it. Sometimes I think, he thinks he'll starve and we'll never feed him again because we can't get that bottle in his little mouth fast enough! Lately in the evening's he's gotten alot fussier because he is tired after a long day at work with mommy and can't decide what he wants. So Mommy discovered that a bath always does the trick! He LOVES the bath and is always relaxed after. Yesterday he was very fussy and didn't like a thing so I gave him a bath and afterward he sat in his carseat and talked to us for almost an hour before he ate and went to bed. We also experienced several big smiles and laugh's this week. Mommy loved his smile's but it was obvious in the beginning they were just gas, but now we got the real thing! He gives us huge smiles, although we've yet to capture one on camera : ( The other day while on his changing table he had his first laugh, Mommy was changing him and we we're talking and I was showing him the big pooh bear on the new diaper I was about to put on him and suddenly he gave me the biggest smile and laugh! I called Chris in right away and we just stared at him and talked to him while he smiled and laughed at us, it was great!

Lastly, I want to thank everyone for all the amazing clothes that have been given to us, his dresser and closet is overflowing! But please no more newborn or 0-3 months sizes. He has grown so much he's about to have to switch to 3-6 months in the next couple weeks. He has so many adorable outfits Mommy has been trying to put him in a different one everyday and take pictures. We can't believe how fast he has grown! He went from all of his clothes being giant on him at birth to filling out all his clothes very well now, only 2 months later! I worry he won't get to wear everything before he moves up in size and there are a few smaller outfits he never got to wear that now he just won't fit in. Mostly it's the long sleeve, long pants outfits, because it has been, and still is, just too warm for him to wear stuff like that. Since he sleeps swaddled in his miracle blankets he can't sleep in anything but a onsie or he wakes up because he's too hot.

2 months!!! Already???

I can't believe Xander's two months old already! I've been trying to get this blog started for the past two months to keep everyone updated on his progress and our adventures, but mommy has been very very busy! I'm back to work full-time and so is Xander. He LOVES coming to the office with mommy and Grandma Nancy. Since we've been back full-time he's been having such big days he started sleeping all night long! I still can't believe it. I thought it would never happen. It started about 2 weeks ago, we had an expecially big day of work and then went to Great-Grandma June's house to see their new puppy and show off how big he had gotten after work. Well we didn't get home till almost 6:00pm and after eating and his bath my baby boy fell aslepp at 7:30pm and slept until 6:00am! Ofcourse Mommy still woke up at 3am, 4am and 5am wondering why he was still asleep and terrified that he wasn't ok. Ofcourse he was just fine and started sleeping about 9 hours every night since. Mommy and Daddy are grateful to be getting full nights sleep now, who ever thought Chris and I would consider 8 hours ALOT of sleep! ha ha

Yesterday Xander had his 2 month Doctor Appointment and the dreaded first shots! Mommy was especially nervous about the shots. First, the good stuff, Xander is growing growing growing! He's now 10lbs. 10oz and 22.5inches, up almost 5lbs. from birth! She said he was eating great, although Mommy was concerned because he eats 7oz at a time, which is alot more than most babies his age, but the doc said that he was doing great and not to be concerned, escpecially since we were lucky enough to have a baby that was sleeping all night long. Everything else looked great, she checked him all out and said he was coming along perfectly and she had no concerns. Then it was time for the shots. He recieved 3 shots total, in his legs, two in one and one in the other. The nurse was amazing and did one after another really quickly for us. There was a slight delay in his reaction when the first one went in, but then his whole face turned bright red and he made the face that Mommy hates to see, and he cried real tears! He's never done that before! Confirming Daddy's suspicions that he doesn't really cry ever, he just complains a little until he gets what makes him happy, Daddy thinks he's spoiled, but that's ok with me for now, as long as he's happy! ha ha I admit there were tears in my eyes when I saw him in that much pain. It was torture for me. Ofcourse then it was all over and we are stuck in the doctor's office with a baby that was now inconsolable. I quickly took him outside to relax while Daddy made his 4 month appointment. As soon as we got outside in the sunshine Xander started to relax and realize he was going to be ok.