2 Months Old - Dear Cash

Dear Cash,

You've grown so much in this last month! You've gained 3 whole lbs, and are definitely longer. On October 25th, you showed us your first intentional smiles. You don't really understand when we tickle your ribs or feet (you definitely squirm though!). The thing that really gets your smiles going is kisses! You light up when we kiss your face or squish your chin. And sometimes you'll be starring at a particular picture and randomly start smiling at it. You haven't started laughing yet, but you try really, really hard! It's almost there.. I bet it'll be just a couple more weeks before you master your giggles.

You've thrown our napping "routine" out the window in the last couple weeks. You used to nap for a good 1.5 hours either in the laundry basket or in your crib at least once a day.. typically it was for your first nap (between 9:30 and 10:30). You've never been good at having your second nap alone.. I've always resorted to putting you in the sling to sleep during the afternoon.

Now, it's rare that you'll stay sleeping in your crib/laundry basket! You wake up after 15-20 minutes, I calm you down, put you back to bed.. and you're awake again. Eventually I just transfer you into the sling. I figure that it's more important for you to get your sleep than it is for me to have my hands free. I'm sure this is just part of the "fourth trimester" and you'll grow out of it.

What's really weird, is that you sleep just fine in the crib for a portion of the night! Our bedtime routine seems to be working really well...

Around 7 pm, I take you upstairs, change you, and nurse you in your dimly-lit room. You fall asleep while eating. Then Dad comes in and reads you a book (even though you're asleep) and rocks you for 15-20 minutes. I turn on the radio to static (for some white noise), Dad lays you in your crib and turns off the light. Sometimes you open your eyes when he puts you down, but you usually go right back to sleep. There have been a couple nights where, within 20 minutes, you've started crying. One of us rocks you back to sleep and lays you down, and you're good to go. I'd say 5-6 nights a week, you sleep for 4-5 hours straight! Then you half wake up cuz you're hungry. I change your diaper, bring you to our bed for the rest of the night, and feed you. You go right back to sleep, and half-wake up to be fed 2-3 more times during the night. You never cry, and never have any issues going right back to sleep. So why is sleeping during the day so hard?? The only thing I can think of, is that you're really starting to notice your surroundings, so it's hard to shut your mind off during the day. At night, it's pitch black in your room so there's nothing interesting to look at!