Sprout 2 Months!

As much as I'd like to admit that it doesn't feel like Sprout's been around for 2 months, it doesn't feel that way at all.  It feels much loooonger. Haha.

Sprout is a much different baby than Bean was.  She's making me realize I have no idea what I'm doing and I feel like a first time mom all over again.  I've had to call friends and ask for a ton of advice on her eating habits and she's only 2 months old! I have a feeling this girl is going to give me a run for my money.

She's pretty high maintenance - won't take bottles, refuses pacifiers, and only wants me all the time. She eats every 1-3 hours.  She'll tend to cluster in the mornings, take a long nap in the afternoon, cluster feed again through the evening, and then sleep for up to 5 hours at night.  Some days it is very draining (add Bean's energy and constant desire to learn) and I find myself literally in survival mode.  I have to just live in the moment and pray Sprout will finally nap in her swing and I can either give Bean some attention or take care of items around the house.

(This carrier has gotten quite the workout.  She gets worn A LOT! It's my key to success from grocery shopping to cooking dinner to any other household chore.)

In the past month, she's started to develop a little bit of a personality. I think she's going to be a little bit more serious than Bean, but will sometimes break out in smiles and sweet coos.  She is pretty loud when she cries and has earned the nickname of "Squawks".  She can go from completely quiet to meltdown mode rather quickly.  Maybe it is just her way of being heard over big sister??

(Laughing over gas in her tummy)

Bean is still enthralled with Sprout.  She showed just a few signs of behavioral issues in the first few weeks, but now has accepted Sprout's place in our home.  We've had minimal discipline issues and she's proving to be quite the helper.  She'll happily get wipes and diapers for us when we need them and is constantly asking to give Sprout kisses. She still plays a little rough with her and we can't fully trust her alone with Sprout.  But she isn't rough out of jealousy or anger; I joke that if something happens to Sprout at Bean's doing, it's because she was "loved too much".

("I hug her" - Bean)

(I look forward to watching these two grow up together.  Pretty sure they'll be complete opposites in personality, but hopefully best friends!)

("(Sprout) needs glasses" - Bean.  Poor Sprout has to deal with all sorts of big sister's antics from stickers on her face to random glasses.)

Sprout is gaining weight like a champ (revert back to her eating All.The.Time.) and weighed in at 11 pounds 11 ounces & 23" long at her 2 month check last week.  She had to get 3 shots and was pretty upset by them.  I couldn't get her to calm down and had to just strap her in her car seat sobbing.  She wore herself out and took a long nap while we went grocery shopping.

Her 2 month check marked the first time I was "that mom" at an appointment.  I came in with a written list of questions to ask the doctor.  Sprout has been having lots of digestive issues -- poops only once a week (which can be normal for breastfed babies; however, she gets irritable and grunts a lot around day 5), is super gassy (like tootin' all the time) and it is super smelly (which typically breastfed babies' poop doesn't smell).  The consensus is that we need to get her digestive tract moving more to see if it eliminates all the issues.  If it does, then I'll look into possible diet changes for myself.  So the current regimen is a little bit of mirilax daily.  Since she doesn't do bottles, I always try a bottle at first, but end up feeding it to her in a syringe.  I just started giving it to her and don't have any conclusive data.

(Sprout doesn't typically spit-up; but when she does, it;s quite the production.  She has a sensitive gag reflex - which may be why she wont take bottles/pacifiers.  She also tends to puke when she needs to poop-around day 5 after her last poop.)

(This is what happens when you only poop once a week.  It is out of control!)

(She loves baths! She loves to kick her feet in the water. When Bean was a baby, she got nightly baths, or maybe every other night if we were busy. Sprout is lucky to get 2-3 baths a week, haha.)

When it comes to sleeping, there's good nights and bad nights.  If I'm lucky, she'll go to sleep by 10, wakes between 2-3am, then again around 5-6am, and up around 8am.  However, last night she wouldn't go to sleep until 11pm, then ate at 12am, 3am, 6am, 7am, and up at 8am.  You win some you lose some.  Thankfully, Bean has been a rock star with sleeping going from 9pm to 7:30/8:30am.  When the stars align and both girls are sleeping during nap time, I try to sleep a little myself.

Sprout keeps us on our toes and is very unpredictable, but one look at her smile or listening to her sweet coos makes it all worth while!