I cannot believe how quickly time is passing this spring. I treasure this newborn baby stage and very rapidly, Caroline is becoming an infant, not a newborn.

Last Monday, we had her two month check up. She’s right on track developmentally. She coo’s and goo’s all the time. She smiles when she sees a face. She loves watching her mobile going around and cries when it stops. Other times, she cries when we turn it on because she’s figured out that means we are going to leave her and she’d rather look at us and be held. She’s adamant about eating Right Now when she wants to be. She’s strong and eager to try standing and laying on her belly (most of the time).

She was 9 lbs. 8 oz., 22.5 inches long, so in one month she gained a full pound. That still leaves her in between the 10th and 20th percentile. The doctor isn’t concerned “She’s just petite,” he said.

Caroline did not like her first round of shots. She got three shots with a total of five or six immunizations. She had been starting to have a schedule but that really threw it off! I still can’t figure out when she expects naps so she’s not really on a schedule: some days, she sleeps 7 hours at night and then naps for a long three hour stretch, with cat naps through the day. Other times like last night she is up every 2-3 hours at night and doesn’t sleep more than 30 minutes at a time all day.

This no sleeping at night might be somehow related to her growing up and changing body systems: now she no longer poops 10 times a day, but goes two or three days between huge explosion poops, like Paul did when he was an infant. The downside is that I’ve noticed wakes frequently the nights when she has not had a poop for a few days. Personally, I’d really like the 7 hours of sleep at a time to continue. That is very nice when that happens. I feel like a human!

Paul is still very much an attentive big brother. He loves that she is now responding to him, smiling and otherwise excited to see him. She definitely recognizes and loves him already! Paul doesn’t try to take over her care (thank goodness) but simply tells me what she needs as best as he can guess. He occasionally has his own “newborn baby” to take care of, an imaginary one. He pulls the stool over the changing mat to “change” his baby; he lifts his shirt and pretends to feed his baby. His baby is not always around, but appears a few times a week.

Paul has been going through a painful transition phase. Ever since Caroline joined our family, he’s regressed in a number of emotional ways. Things he’d been doing by himself for months (getting dressed, putting on shoes, floating on his back at swim lessons, buckling his belt in the car, carrying the family-sized Book of Mormon) suddenly became “too hard,” inducing tears. He’s also developed a sense of entitlement that results in tantrums when he is does not get what he wants.

This has been trying for me, since I’ve had a newborn to deal with. It’s also a bit worrisome in general, simply because we’d like him to develop into an emotionally mature person, of course. I just reread Awakening Children’s Minds about helping children learn by reaching them at their emotional level, and I’m planning on reading Raising Your Spirited Child next.

Paul also has some speech issues right now. Ryan has mentioned he’s getting harder to understand. Many times I need him to rephrase what he’s saying because I simply can’t understand him. “I’m sart, Mommy!” (Short? No, I’m Smart.) When the preschool teacher also mentioned it to me last week, I decided it’s time to look into intervention. I’m not sure how it will work, but I’m talking to the school district about next year.

Beyond that, he’s still an impressively smart boy, a cheerful boy most of the time, and a very creative individual. We’re still doing some fun “school at home” and I’ve decided to begin doing some kindergarten work with him next year and not send him to preschool. I’m signing him up for a kindergarten class at a local homeschool co-op, and I’m looking forward to getting more one-on-one time with him. It’s exciting to think of all the time we’ll get together. It will be incredibly exhausting to homeschool with a young baby who will be learning to crawl and walk, but I can’t think of anything more exciting and rewarding than watching my son blossom into a critically thinking individual.

Here’s to the next few months of parenting! Right now, I’m loving this journey.

April pictures to come as soon as I get a moment….