A bunny, a roo, and two little beans too.: Matea's Two Months Old!

Two months old. Eight weeks. Wow! Our little girl has changed a lot in the last eight weeks (nine actually at the time of me writing this!). She's grown a lot first of all, which is expected of course, but our little girl isn't so little anymore!

At her doctor's appointment on Monday, her official weight was 10 pounds 4 ounces. She's almost doubled her birth weight! Way to go, Tea. She has also grown to 21 and 3/4 inches long (from the 18 inches she started at). So in just 8 weeks she has gone from 3rd percentile for weight and 5th percentile for height to the 50th percentile for both! She has little chubby cheeks now, and little rolls on her thighs too. Simply adorable.

Everything checked out well at the doctor's, and our doctor said that Matea has excellent head control. She hates being carried on anyone's chest but Daddy's so if I have her in that position she is constantly straining her head back. Nice to know all that straining is paying off in some way!

Matea still eats about every 3 hours, and goes one longer stretch one time a day. I'd like to say that stretch is always at night, but unfortunately it's not. And it's rare that she'll take 4 ounces of a bottle, it's usually 3 ounces or less. She's still packing on the pounds though, so I guess that style of eating is working for her, if not being that great for Mommy at night. :)

She had three shots and one oral vaccine at this visit, and has had the usual fever and uncomfortableness since then. No fever today which is good, but she has slept all day Tuesday and Wednesday and then been up all night those nights. I'm hoping that she'll get back to her regular day and night routine in the next night or two.

It's amazing to me to learn the ways that Matea is different than Eli was as a baby. I knew they would be different, but it's neat to see that she has a different personality and likes and dislikes, even at such a young age. She hates wet or dirty diapers and Eli never (and still doesn't) care, she has a harder time going poopy (I had to write that to embarass her when she's a teenager), she doesn't like to sleep or be held up on your chest (which I miss, since Eli loved to snuggle that way all the time), she is quite vocal when she's unhappy, and has a range and octaves that I've never heard Eli reach, that's for sure! When Matea gets mad you better watch out! Eli, even when fussy, was never this mad I don't think. Matea can really tell you what for. On the plus side, Matea loves her bouncy seat and the swing, which Elijah never really was fond of. She will fall asleep in both and stay asleep, and Elijah never did that. And Matea absolutely loves being outside. It's like flipping a switch - the crying stops instantly! The days we spend the afternoon at the park she is just happy as a clam, awake and alert and looking all around. If I don't know what to do to get her calmed down just going outside will do the trick. Matea also has a favorite spot on the carpet at Aunt Lori and Uncle Jeff's house. You lay her down next to the couch so she can see the couch and the big picture window behind it and she's content to sit and stare at them. I don't know if it's the pattern on the couch or being able to see out a big window to the outside, but she just loves that spot!

The most fun part of the last few weeks is that Matea is now smiling, and it's not just gas or when she's going through that twitchy I'm-falling-asleep-state that babies get in sometimes. These are actual I'm-so-happy-to-see-you-and-love-you-so-much-Mommy big smiles! And she's cooing and making noises back to us as well. We've had some great Mother-daughter conversations already! :) She also is getting in to batting and moving her toys. She's figured out that if she kicks hard in her bouncy seat she bounces too. So when she is awake and alert she is fun to interact with! And those precious smiles (the biggest reserved for Mommy) make all the nights not sleeping totally worth it! We love our little two month old Matea!

Matea posing with her stats!