Time sure has flown by since our little angel was born in October! Maybe it’s because I’m so sleep deprived, maybe it’s just because that’s how life goes as a parent. The first month was suuuper hard. I may have been an aunt for most of my life, the first baby coming when I was only 13 years old, but no amount of being an auntie to 16 kiddos could have prepared me for a newborn! I was never there for their newborn stage. I sure as heck never had to endure a “colic” phase of theirs, if they even had it. Everett went through a colic phase when he was about 3-4 weeks old. It was ROUGH. He would scream, blood-red-in-the-face, whole-body-tense, for at least 3-4 hours at night. Nothing I did would soothe him. I tried gas drops, bicycle legs, holding his legs to his tummy, rocking, bouncing, shushing, warm baths, walking 5000 laps around our living room and kitchen, even super late night coffee-induced car rides. It’s heartbreaking when you know it’s colic and there’s really nothing you can do to make it stop. Thankfully, that only lasted for about 2 weeks.
I was also pretty much an emotional wreck the first month after he was born. I had my bout with post partum depression but, thankfully, that didn’t last long. Once you start figuring things out, it gets much easier. It took me a while, honestly up until a few weeks ago, to be even semi accepting of how he came into this world. I still feel some emotional trauma from having to resort to a very unplanned C-section. Sometimes it feels like I didn’t even birth him; he was just ripped right out of me. I think, maybe, because of that I had a hard time bonding with him the first month. I didn’t get to hold him immediately after he was born. He was taken away from me for hours and kept in the nicu/nursery (I was so out of it I don’t even know where he was or who even delivered him) because he had to have antibiotics to make sure the infection I had didn’t pass along to him. I think I talked enough about all that in his birth post. (see here: https://www.darlinglillyphotography.com/blog/the-birth-of-our-son)
The changes from 1 month to 2 months are crazy! He’s so much more fun now and is on a little bit of a routine! He smiles A LOT. He loves to look at the fan and lights. He loves when we say “I love you”, when we make farm animal noises and click our tongues. He also loooves his little jungle gym thing that has toys he can bop around. He’s just started having more hand-eye coordination and can grab a toy and hold onto it. He still hasn’t quite got the hang of sucking his thumb but knows he has to unclench his fist in order to make it happen. The first two fingers are what he sucks on mostly. A paci doesn’t work for him; he gets sad/mad that no milk is coming out of it! Ha!
He is getting better at being in the car. Riding requirements: must go at least 55 mph to stay content or asleep…does not like to go slow or be stopped at a stop light! I think it’s because I had to travel the interstate to and from work (during rush hour traffic) when I was pregnant with him and always had to pee so he probably heard me fuss about that a lot. ;)
He’s starting to sleep a liiiittle longer at night; usually 4 hours. He stopped being a fan of sleeping in his bassinet at night around 1 month old. He just wanted to be on me or close to me at all times. He slept on my chest for a few weeks until I decided to order a Doc-a-tot . He loves that thing now that he can sleep right next to me. Sometimes in his sleep he will scoot his head as close to the side of it as possible so he can feel my breath or my face next to his. It’s pretty much the best feeling ever!
He’s also starting to notice patterns on your shirt and loves to look around rooms. He has always been a fan of his changing table. Most of our conversations and giggles happen there. He’ll just lay there after his diaper change and gabber and smile up a storm! (side note: i'm sure that saying “up a storm” is just a southern thing. it’s strange to think how you can do anything “up a storm”…what does that even mean?!)
I love to buy him these onesies that have little animals on the feet. He’s starting to notice his feet now and I think he really likes to look at those silly animals! You guys might remember when I was pregnant, his nickname was “Littlefoot”. Now that he smiles more, I’ve nicknamed him my “Gummybear” because of his gummy little smiles! :) I just can’t get enough of him! We read about 5-7 books together every day. We have a nightly routine now starting around 7pm with bath time, bottle, book and bedtime prayers. I always look forward to holding his hand and praying out loud with him every night. He never squirms or makes a sound when we pray; it’s like he knows what’s happening! :)
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On a deeper note…
After spending a lot of time in prayer on what would be best for my son, I decided to quit my full-time office job. I feel at peace about it. Had I continued working full time, I would hardly ever see Everett. I’d have to leave my house at 6am to drop him off at my mom’s and pick him up around 6pm. That’s almost 60 hours a week I’d be away from him, missing all his important milestones and missing out on connecting with him and raising him. I couldn’t do that. I waited so long for him to come to us. We may not have two dimes to rub together anymore, but you can survive on much less than what you think. I choose to put my faith and trust in God once again to provide for us and open up doors. I truly believe when you open your clinched fists that hold the desire to control your own life, you open yourself to receive blessings that you could never imagine would come to you. (Flashback read: https://www.darlinglillyphotography.com/blog/2018/2/14/big-news)
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Here’s some of my favorite photographs from the past two months. The slides are mostly iPhone and the big ones are from my “big” camera, which I’m making more of an effort to pick up these days! Warning: there’s a ton in both sections! ;)
