Two months

The trip to the lake yesterday went well, and I will probably comment more on that tomorrow. Today Liam is two months old, which means several things. (a) I’m trying to take a good picture of him for the “Second Month” page in his scrapbook. But, (b) we had a doctor’s appointment for him this morning. And (b) is interfering with (a).

His checkup started off well. He weighed in at 13 lbs 11 oz (so his growth is slowing) and 24.5 inches (4 more than his birth length). Doing well in all areas. But then, of course, two months is when you start the official vaccination program. So Dr. Bailey bid us farewell and sailed out of the room, and the nurse came back with two ginormous needles.

So Liam goes back up on the table, and the nurse explains to me that she’s going to stick one in each thigh and she needs me to hold his knee joint and not let him move when he gets stuck. OK, sure. She also assures me that at two months, the kid won’t even react to having been poked. Well, she sticks that first needle in and Liam lets out a scream to rival anything Janet Leigh could do. My poor little guy, he took it awfully hard. She pulls the needle out and there is blood dripping all over the place. She gives me a cotton ball and tells me to press it on the wound on leg #1 and hold onto leg #2 because she’s raring to take a go at that one, too.

I have to say, I totally don’t think it should be the mother’s job to be involved in all of this. She sticks him in leg #2, he starts crying even harder, and then she’s telling me I’m not holding him still enough, hold him still, hold him still! I am so frazzled, between the crying and the blood still coming out of leg #1, how am I supposed to focus on leg #2? And then she’s telling me to pick him up already, don’t just let him lie there crying, the sooner I pick him up the better. I was still trying to hold him still. One of those things where your head is just in this fog. I was so distressed by his distress that I had no clue what was going on.

He’s been awfully sleepy since the vaccinations (can't blame him for not being able to sleep through such torture, can I??) so maybe taking a good two-month shot isn’t in the cards for today. I did get this one, but I was hoping for more of a full body job, something that represents who he is as a whole person today, not just a mug shot.

Anyway, here's what I wrote for his second month spread. The photo will come soon enough.

When you were about six weeks old, something clicked. I don’t know if you changed or if I just finally figured you out. Suddenly I knew what to expect from you – when you would cry, and how to stop it; when you would sleep, and how you would behave if you got overtired; when you were hungry as opposed to just nursing for comfort; when you’d be sociable and when you’d be OK on your own. I knew how you wanted to be handled, even if that’s not how I would have chosen to handle you, and as I adapted you became visibly happier. It was so empowering to think that I was doing a better job of meeting your needs. Once we hit this milestone together, I got much more comfortable taking you out and including you in my everyday activities, rather than waiting until you were asleep to attempt anything. We went further from home for longer periods of time. During your second month we went to Darin and Jennifer’s two weddings, made a trip to Stratford and went out to the trailer at Rondeau. We spent social time visiting friends and I also got out of the house on my own a couple of times, leaving you with capable babysitters (your aunt Amy and Grandma Cook) for the first time. We established a weekday routine with fairly consistent times for naps, a daily walk, errand running, chores, and baby time – reading stories, singing songs, and other things that you don’t seem to care about yet, but I’m sure they must be good for you! You outgrew a bunch more outfits and we had to put away many warm things even though they still fit when the weather turned hot almost overnight. You became much more vocal, you were finally content to be set down to watch what we were doing, and you could support your entire weight on your strong little legs if only your balance were good enough. The hair you were born with fell out from the crown forward, and is just now starting to grow back (and it looks like it’s coming in red!) And, there’s no question now that your eyes are brown. We look at Chad’s baby pictures and can’t believe how interchangeable the two of you are at this age. You may still occasionally be a little devil, but you’re a devil I know. It’s so much fun watching you grow.