Two Months!

June 29, 2010

Dear Riggins,

You are two months old! When I was pregnant, everyone warned me how fast time would fly once you arrived. They were right! Those early days of having you home with us now seem like such a blur, and we are finally finding our groove as a little family of four (including Weber, of course!).

The biggest development of the past month has been your sweet smile. It first crept up at around 6 or 7 weeks, but in the past week you have really started to work the charm! You are particularly happy on your changing table, on your play mat, and with your Daddy. This past weekend as he held you, you gave him smile after smile and I think he just about melted on the spot. And this morning, when I heard you stirring in your cradle and peeked down on you, you made eye contact with me and burst into a grin. What a way to start the day! You have the cutest little dip in the center of your gum line, which makes for an irresistible little smile; I might even be sad when you grow teeth because I will miss this gummy grin!

You are happiest on your changing table, and we'll often spend several minutes there after you've been changed just so that you can kick, coo, and smile. Bath time is still your favorite time of day, and it has become the first step to our bedtime routine each night. You have also started to love your play mat this month and are beginning to kick and bat at the colorful toys that hang above you. Music never fails to capture your attention, and on days when you are fussy we often turn the radio to the oldies station and have a dance party! You instantly chill out at the sound of music and the rhythm of my movement, and we have ourselves a good old time just cutting a rug in the living room! One of my favorite memories was when "We Are Family" came on the radio during one of our dance parties. You have made us a family, Riggs, and I am so thankful.

You still love to be in the Moby Wrap or Baby Bjorn, and those contraptions are such a relief when you are fussy! And just like your Daddy, you adore being outside. We have spent many evenings just walking around the neighborhood or the yard, sitting on the back patio, or swinging on the front porch swing just because all of those things make you so happy. One funny memory with "wearing" you was the time that you continued to cry after being wrapped up in the Moby, which is not normal. I looked down and moved the fabric to see what was wrong, and that was when I saw your foot sticking up by your head! We had wrapped you up with your leg straight up...oops!

You are a loud little guy, always grunting and cooing, and you have impeccable timing for interjecting these noises into moments of silence. When we take you to church, you are completely silent through the praise and worship, but as soon as the pastor says, "Let's pray," you let out a boisterous "Hmmmmmmmm!" that makes everyone in the surrounding aisles giggle. You've done the same in the public library as well, earning us the evil eye from a librarian. Your dad always says that if grown ups made as much noise as you do when going to the bathroom, public restrooms would be pretty awkward places! When you sneeze, you tend to shout, and you often prepare to sneeze and then give a loud "Hooooooo" instead of actually sneezing. It is one of my favorite noises now that you're finding your voice!

At your 2 month appointment you weighed 9 pounds, 15 ounces and measured at 23 inches. You are 80th percentile for height and 22nd percentile for weight, basically making you a string bean baby! Everyone who sees you comments on how long and lean you are, and I'm interested to see if you'll end up being a tall drink of water like your Grampy Mark. Your build makes clothes a bit difficult: your torso is long, making you fit into 0-3 month clothes for length, but then the actual body of the outfit ends up looking big on you! You transitioned into size 1 diapers this month. You are still nursing every 2 1/2 to 4 hours, from one side for about 30 minutes, but you also take bottles (3-4 oz.) from your dad like a champ! At night, you go down around 8 pm, get a bottle from Daddy before we go to bed, eat again at around 5 am, and then sleep til 7:30 or 8 am before getting up for the day. You are a pretty good napper, but when you decide to fight it you can really hold out!

You have been busy this past month! You have been on two road trips to Fort Smith, once to meet your Uncle Ramsey and Aunt Ashley and once to attend my 10 year high school reunion. You travel very well in the car and did great when we left you with my parents for two nights in a row when your dad and I went out for my reunion festivities. You toured my high school and met three of my best friends: Meredith, Julie, and Abby. While in Memphis you have made many trips to the Farmers Market, the U of M, Fellowship church, Levitt Shell, the public library, Target, and SCO to visit Daddy at school. You also helped Daddy celebrate his first Father's Day!

Though we have our hard days when you are fussy and decide that naps are no fun, most days with you feel so easy and natural. I sometimes have a hard time remembering what it was like to get up, go to work, and sit at a computer or in meetings all day. Our days together seem to fly by, so different from the expectations I had as I prepared to stay home. You keep me on my toes, and when I'm not feeding you, changing you, soothing you, or playing with you, I am scrambling around trying to fit as much as I possibly can into a nap time! I feel so blessed to have this opportunity to spend these days with you.

So, baby boy, it has been another great month with you in our lives. I get sad to think that you will never be this small again, but when I see the hints of personality and activity creeping up I get excited to think of the little boy you are becoming. We are going to have some fun, little man!

I love you with all my heart,

Mama