Letters to Serene: 2 months

My dear Serene Joy,

You’re two months old, my sweetheart! This month has been replete with milestones in your development despite unforeseen speed bumps for your mama and papa, including my bacterial infection that interrupted our barely established routine when your daddy rushed me to the ER for treatment, and a hullabaloo of a move to a new home. With my recovery and subsequently packing, moving, and unpacking in the weeks following, I witnessed your daddy flourish as the leader of our little family. He did such a good job taking care of us, treating my wounds, taking me to endless doctor’s visits, and coordinating our move. You know it's love when he drives back and forth all week to pick up the remainder of "all your vintage." I am thankful for your dear papa who leads our family with a sacrificial heart like Christ’s – I do hope your future husband will be just like him, although he insists he’ll “kill” any young man who tries to “get at you.”

We have a couple of decades to go before that happens, hopefully. This past second month of life, you’ve gained more control of your head, as your little neck muscles are now able to hold up your head for a few seconds at a time. One of our most favorite highlights of this past month is when, after nursing, I’d hold you vertically against my chest to burp you, and you immediately wiggle your head and upper body, inching diagonally down from my torso so that you literally fall right into my arms into a snug cuddle and a deep slumber. It’s amazing that you trust that my arms are there to catch you. It is the absolute cutest thing and your daddy started calling you a little snake that inches into her snake pit. When you were five and six weeks old, you took great comfort in being as close to your mama as possible. When I put you down for a nap on your side a few inches away from me, you found some way to shuffle your face and body so that you’re snuggled up right against me in the crook of my elbow, armpit, or side. I love that you prefer snuggling close to your mama, but I wonder how you’re able to breathe while you sleep.

Your sleep and feeding schedules are more routinized on the whole, and we are so thankful that there is now a burgeoning rhythm to follow. You’ve distinguished between day and night, staying alert and awake for part of the day, and sleeping three to four and a half hour (five hours twice!) stretches during the night. You also started using a pacifier to put yourself to sleep at seven weeks. You eat every two to four hours, averaging every three hours during the day, and every four hours at night. You’re so sweet when you nurse: your eyes are closed (so I use that time to notice your eyelashes are getting longer and that you’re growing more hair on your head), your little hands are clenched up into fists by your face, and your legs are curled around my waist – all signs of absolute contentment.

Your contentment also translates into smiles. You smile so much now, and we are head over heels in love with your wide-mouthed grins with which you are so generous once you turned six weeks old. Whenever we talk to, smile at, or sing to you, you flash us a heart-melting smile. Nowadays, your gigantic grins take over your entire face so that your eyes smile too. You even beam in your sleep sometimes, and those intermittently morph into wee wheezy laughs. Our presence makes you happy, because you grin so hard every time we’re near you, but howl once we’re out of your sight as if you believe we’ve abandoned you. We can differentiate between your cries now, from your ongoing whine when you crave attention, to your desperately loud wail when you’re hungry. When we answer your call, your cries magically cease and are replaced by a whimpering pout in which your eyebrows and mouth wrinkle up like a prune. Your cries are no longer your only mode of communication. On the day you turned seven weeks, you discovered your voice and have been cooing nonstop since then. Your newfound sounds and gurgles are the other absolute cutest thing and we love how you’re communicating with us in that way.

Not only are you growing in the aforementioned ways, but you’re also growing physically. We ran out of our stash of newborn diapers when you were seven weeks, so now you wear size 1s. You’re outgrowing some of your newborn clothes and are slowly transitioning to your 0-3 month clothing. Your belly is getting rounder, your cheeks are getting fuller, and your thighs are getting creasier. Your daddy calls you his little chub chub sometimes, but when we went to the doctor's for your two month check-up today, the doctor said you're underweight and underheight by American standards. I suppose that means you're just fine at the 25th percentile, weighing 10 lbs 9 oz at 22 1/4 inches long.  Oh, and your facial features are emerging more. We think that so far, you have your daddy’s hair (because I was nearly bald when I was born), my eyebrows, your daddy’s nose, my mouth, your daddy’s ears, and my fingers and toes. You have a cross between both of our eyes, though people keep telling us that could change. We’re biased, but we think you get cuter every day.

You turned eight weeks on Thanksgiving last Thursday, and we were glad to reflect on God’s goodness to us in giving you to us for the time being. We are so incredibly thankful for you.

Love you so,

Mommy

P.S. Serene Joy at 0 and 1 month.