Our little monster is 2 months old!

*ahem* only 5 days late on this post...motherhood is humbling my to-do list one item at a time! *ahem*

I will say this one thing to begin--I was told many things while pregnant (you'll never sleep again, natural childbirth is crazy, you won't be able to handle it without drugs, etc, etc) that just weren't very positive, uplifting, or even true. I was, however told, by a couple very smart women, that after the baby was born, as soon as I felt like I knew what I was doing, things would change. THAT, friends and family, was seriously the best and most honest thing I could have been told! And its totally true!

I've been astounded at how much Gianna changed over the past month...even the past week!

Here the Gianna 2 month list

• She's now pretty well adapted to her car seat, thanks be to God, as long as she has eaten and we swing her in it for a few minutes to tone her down. I also loosened to straps to the harness, so I think that helped too. In fact, she has stayed calm while driving up to 2.5 hours to date!

• This past weekend, those 2.5 hrs driving were spent on the way to Anna, TX to help out with a Communities of Prayer confirmation retreat-- her first ex-womb retreat whoop whoop!
• Gianna now absolutely LOVES the baby k'tan carrier!!! I wore her all day during the retreat while giving talks and even in adoration and she was an absolute angel the whole time! A bonus to baby wearing: strangers don't touch the baby or ask if they can hold her. Win win. It turns out, I had watched a janky tutorial on now to strap in a newborn on YouTube that was made Buy Buy Baby . On a whim one night at 3ish am (nursing power hour...or two LOL), I went to the baby k'tan website and it was super helpful. I found 2 hold positions they I could use--Kangaroo and Hug. We now only do the hug position, because she tries to straighten her legs and jump out of kangaroo. Wearing her is basically a guarantee of a sleepy, relaxed baby.

 (Yeah, super blurry, sorry, but that black thing I'm wearing is Gianna lol)

• We also took a trip to Houston to visit family and go to Erin and Wayne's wedding in late February--first wedding!
• She's also started to spit up a loooooot more. She is more wiggly now so it makes sense, but surely not super fun. She's a "happy spitter" so we don't have to worry and she will grow out of it, eventually. Funny spit up story coming soon.
• Babies are smart and G is no exception. On days when her tummy is more unsettled, she will eat super short, super frequent meals, instead of 20-30 minutes every 2ish hours. I've really learned that she knows exactly what she needs, and that on demand feeding is the way to go, because she knows better than I do!
• Gianna is all smiles and giggles and cooing now and it is so stinking fun!!!

• She loves her snuggabunny swing. It has been a lifesaver on days when I need to do something alone for 10 minutes!  

• She loves singing and it looks like she is trying so hard to sing along! I can't wait! She does make noises while I sing which crack me up. She is a huge fan of "Do Re Mi" and "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music and really likes them sung full and loud! I am more than happy to oblige :-)
• Gianna has officially "found" her hands and literally sucks on the whole thing. It is funny to watch and she makes a lot of cute noises in the process.

• Chris's Aunt Cathy bought Gianna these hanging mobile like bug noise makers and G loves to look at them and try to touch them. They keep her calm, so they're a win!!! She also has started playing on her gym mat and kicking the piano keys. I love to play with her and she is eager to connect hand to toy on purpose, rather than on accidental, which is the norm right now!
• We don't do plastic pacifiers and are holding strong!  The plan from the beginning  (of time, not of Gianna lol) was that the baby would be pacified at mommy's breast, not by a plastic substitute. On that same note, we are also and will only ever be exclusively breastfeeding--no bottles, for the same reason. I am lucky to be able to do that, as many women do not have good breastfeeding support, or have to return to work, or just do not know the incredible benefits of breastfeeding for both baby and mom (can anyone say ore-pregnancy weight? This girl can! I call it the "sit-on-the-couch-all-day-and-literally-have-the-life-sucked-out-of-you" diet). Breastfeeding is literally the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, though. Easier now, but those first 6 weeks deserve a blog post one of these days.
• In the past week, G has made huge strides in the sleep department. I swaddle her around 10:30 and nurse her to sleep and put her in him bassinet on our bed. Even if she wakes up a bit, she has been putting herself back to bed! No crying at all. She smiles real big at me, looks around, and within a few minutes, has peacefully fallen asleep. She will sleep for 3-4 hours before waking up to eat, and then goes back down pretty easily again. It has been so nice! I know that could change at any moment though :-) but for right now it makes me so happy! We don't subscribe to the "Cry it out" camp at all (since crying is her only way of communicating with us right now), so this is cool to see. 

• We have also started seeing Gianna experience what we call the "Witching Hour"--a series of 1-2 hours in the evening of extreme, sometimes inconsolable fussiness. We have gotten a lot better at knowing how to calm her and the length of the "Witching" is shorter, but oh my goodness that caught us by surprise! It makes me sad to see her struggle so much to let herself give in to her tiredness.
• We started cloth diapering this week! I know it makes me weird,  but cloth diapers make me feel peaceful. I love not throwing anything away (before baby, Chris and I literally had 1 bag of trash a week), and I love seeing the diapers magically come out pristine clean and good smelling from the washing machine. This sounds gross, but we have a bidet (poo sprayer) that we use to clean the poo off the diapers /liners and its pretty cool. I feel so modern Little House on the Prairie (yes I am assuming there was cloth diapering going on...which is the only thing that makes sense). Cloth diapers are also adorable. Love the cloth on her bum! (FYI, we've got Flips, Kawaii, and Best Bottoms(my fave so far))

• Gianna has officially out grown her newborn cloths. We pulled and stretched until we could pull and stretch no more. Even some of her 0-3 month clothes had to be retired! She is 24 in long, 12 lbs, and has a head circumference of 15.5 in. It is incredible how much she has grown!

 Thems be fightin' hands

(British accent) Why yes, if you're making a spot of tea, I'd like one, too

 I'm not fat, I'm just big boned

We love our little chubby!!!!!

So much has changed, but there is so much still the same. She is still a super wiggle worm, loves to be held, loves bath time,stares very seriously at things and ppl, loves naps on our chests and snuggling, among others. I am amazed each day at each new little caveat of her personality that develops, whether it be a movement or sound or emotion.  I know the next months will only bring more surprises and more change like sitting up and more "talking" and I pray for the grace to soak up each of those moments!