Dear Irelyn: One and Two Months

Dear Irelyn,

I had a one month post for you in my drafts that just never got finished. So now you are two months old and I'm just going to combine the two!

Your first month you were just about the gruntiest baby ever. Because of that you gained the nicknames Grunt-a-babe and Little Baby Grunting {among others}. You have since grown out of that and I have to say that I miss it quite a bit!

It's also important to note that you have taken a binky since the very start and have even taken a bottle {twice}! Your big sister never did either of these things so we're feeling pretty lucky!

During your first month you pooped almost every time I got your diaper open. It was crazy! It didn't matter if you had just pooped or I was just changing a pee diaper or anything! You were bound and determined to poop every time your diaper was off! Cleaning up baby poop isn't the best job but you always just looked like it felt soooo good to get it all out so I just couldn't help but laugh every time this happened! We sure did A LOT of laundry that first month! It was extra funny because Holland NEVER pooped or peed on us while we were changing her and then you came along and decided you needed to make up for her perfect record in the first couple of weeks! You are now past that stage and have only pooped two days in the last two weeks! Which is a whole new adventure. I'm always trying to figure out how many extra outfits I'll need to pack since your "poop day" means there will be A LOT of poop when it does finally come. Haha. You chose the day we drove back to Idaho to poop {and amazingly didn't get any poop on your carseat} and then your blessing day. But, being the little angel that you are you pooped after your blessing and even after you were out of your dress! Haha. So neither of those ended up being too disastrous--thank goodness! I'm sure we have many more poop adventures to come though. And I'm sure you'll be thrilled that I've recorded them all for you! ;)

This last month you traveled to Arizona and Oregon. On those drives you passed through Nevada and Utah as well. So you have been in five states now! You did wonderful in the car and sleeping in weird places and having your schedule messed up every couple of days. You really are such a mellow baby which has been a wonderful blessing!

You have been smiling for a while now but you smile at us more and more every day. I love to get you smiling and cooing at me. Your cooing {or talking} is just about the sweetest thing I have ever heard! You are almost starting to laugh. Sometimes we can get one little tiny giggle out of you and it's adorable! I think you'll be laughing pretty soon! You absolutely love to be talked to and are even starting to enjoy having Holland get up in your face...sometimes. Haha. She can still be a little overwhelming! I can't wait to see you girls develop your relationship over the next few months and then years though.

You are just such a joy to have around. Being a mom to two definitely has its hard days and we just got home from being with family for the past month so I'm sure we have lots of adjustments to make but we really are so happy to have you as a part of our family!

Some Stats:
One Month: 11 lbs.
Two Months: 13 lbs.

And of course some pictures!

Two Months.

Dear Holland,

Another month has gone by! We are loving watching you learn and grow and you are smiling more and more every day {although you have always been a smiley baby}! We're still working on your sleep schedule because for some reason you never want to go to sleep before 2am! We keep you up for hours on end to try and get you to fall asleep at a decent time but you just won't have it! Someday we'll get this whole thing figured out. Until then we'll just all sleep in and cuddle when you wake up in the morning. That works for me!

This month has been much more laid back than your first month of life. We are enjoying life in Idaho {with lots of family walks and hanging out with your cousin} and this month you got to meet your Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Hogan over conference weekend! Other than that we are trying to figure out what our plans for the future are. They keep changing which makes things confusing but we'll figure it out eventually! Your daddy got a couple job offers BUT....they were pretty dead end jobs that he would hate soooo....we're actually going to do something we've talked about before--your daddy is going to try to get into law school! This is a whole new, different kind of adventure but we'll see where it leads us! The next month and a half to two months will be filled with lots of studying for the LSAT and lots of Mommy and baby time so Daddy can work on that! We don't know if this will work out but we're going to give it all we've got and see where it leads us!

Now, onto some things your daddy and I have noticed about you this month:

• You LOVE standing up with the help of someone {usually Mom or Dad}. You've got some strong legs! Oh, and mommy can balance you on her hands while you're standing up. It's a pretty nifty trick. One of these days we'll get a picture of it!
• You still hate bottles and pacifiers but you have started sucking on your fists. Not your thumb or a couple fingers--the WHOLE fist! It's pretty hilarious. And sometimes you get both of your fists up there and sometimes you suck on Mommy and Daddy's hands. It's pretty cute. And super slobbery! 
• You spit up ALL. THE. TIME. It's pretty gross and it will probably stain all of your adorable clothes. Looks like I need to go buy some Oxiclean! 
• You smile ALL. THE. TIME. This makes up for the spitting up all the time and the going to bed ridiculously late. 
• You are the happiest in the mornings. Although you really are a pretty happy baby all day. 
• You fit into some of your 3 month size clothes! You are a little chunker and we love it!
• You love hearing Mom and Dad's voices. The other day you listened to Dad on the phone and were just so smiley and happy to hear his voice. It was so stinkin' cute! 
• When we're trying to keep you awake in the evening and you sneak in a nap it is so hard to wake up up! We have a video of your daddy and I poking and kissing and bugging you and you are just OUT! It's pretty funny. Even though we don't want you to be asleep just yet.  
• You hang out on your little playmat and kick it so that your toys make noise and wiggle over your face. It is so nice to finally be able to set you down for a few minutes! Although I honestly don't end up getting much done just because you're so fun to watch.  
• You are kind of getting  on a nap schedule. You take two pretty good naps during the day which gives Mommy time to get things done. 

And now onto the new nicknames you've acquired this month:

• Monkey 
• Da chunky monks
• Chunky Monkey 
• Chunky monk
• Monkey Chunk
• Madame Squeesh 

{As you can tell, they pretty much all reference how cute and chunky you are. :]}

And now your two month pictures in the laundry basket! 

So happy to be two months! {Unlike turning one month!}

And one from when you were one month for comparison's sake! {You're definitely getting chunkier!} 

We love you our sweet, chunky girly! Happy Two Months! We are excited for all the months to come! 

Love, 

Mom {and Dad}