TWO months, Baby J!

Our little girl is growing up so fast and celebrates the TWO month mark! We can't believe it. She had a check up this morning. The shots weren't fun, of course, but I explained to her (as I did with E) that polio would hurt worse. E thought that maybe getting her a new truck would help. Anyhow, the doc thought she was doing just fine. Her stats were solid: 12 lbs and 11.5oz (82nd percentile), 23" long (74th percentile) and 84th percentile head circumference. 

The last couple of posts have been about Easter, Anniversaries, and Birthdays...so I know y'all have been clamoring to find out what's been going on in this crazy clan of ours.

Last I updated, we had just hosted a friend birthday party for E. It was a blast...he had so many friends there. He got a dump truck full of fun presents and wonderful memories. The theme for most of the activities was construction, but we also sang his favorite 'We Want Gymbo' song, danced with Gymbo, played on the parachute, and E had special 'birthday bubbles'. After pizza, we ate some of the fanciest, most delicious cupcakes that have ever been at a two-year-old's birthday party.

The rest of his birthday week was equally as great with a big dinner at the Cheesecake Factory where all the nice men and ladies (E speak for wait staff) sang 'Happy Birthday' to him. We also had a family celebration with more food, presents, and singing. Then, of course, we had left over desserts, so we sang again and again with those too...basically, I think E might've started thinking this birthday thing was a permanent fixture in his life. We've finally started to convince him that not every meal has to finish with candles and song...though life might be happier if we all took this approach.

The 2 year doc check up went...ok. E did great with the nice doctor, but he did have to get blood drawn and a few shots. So that's always fun. But really, he did as well as we could have hoped and he got a birthday / post-trauma plane and fuel truck, so that was a silver lining. He's still skinny for his age (25 lbs...20th percentile), but a little taller (33.75"...40th percentile). His head is still in the "quite large" region (97th percentile). Then E and I went to Great America. By the time we made it home for a late nap, the Hep booster was a long forgotten band-aid.

Another wonderful event was Lisa's Goddaughter G's first communion. When she was first born, I think G was the smallest human being I'd ever actually seen. And now look at her! She's always been such a smart, nice kiddo and she's turning into such a smart, nice young lady.

It's amazing how much he's talking. He knows the ABC song (or close enough that I'm calling it good) and can "spell" D-O-G. He can be terribly polite (a true Christensen), saying "sorry" to his trains when he accidentally makes them collide or "God Bless You," when the dogs sneeze. His obsession with cars continues with a highlight from the last couple of weeks being when his "friend Anne" came over with her parents and took E for a spin in their 1919 Model A Ford. E's still talking about it.

Baby J is doing awesome, too. Doing all the things 2 month-olds do.  She's having stretches of 5 or 6 hours of sleep at night. She's eating like a champ and getting so much bigger. I can't believe how well she holds up her head and she's enjoying some of her tummy time. She loves being out and doing things...definitely a baby-on-the-go, which is a must in this family. Most of her waking hours are spent watching whatever is close to her, absorbing it all.

There are hints of her first "real" smiles coming soon (besides the random sleepy / loading diaper face twitches). Looking back at E's baby pictures, she doesn't look exactly like him any more, but there's...the "essence" of him (if you will) in there. I've spent so much time looking at baby J's face to guess how she's going to look. And those first smiles are such a big hint. I can't wait!

Though after review of some of Lisa's baby pictures from around that 2 month mark, I think we can safely say they'll at least look like mother & daughter. In fact, the other day, I texted a baby pic of Lisa to Opa and he thought it was J! Could you tell which is which? (Don't cheat by looking at the obvious 1980's image quality). 

It's no lie that having two in tow is a...challenge...and somehow feels like there's way more than 2x the stuff to do (aside: We've got so much more respect for y'all out there with even more than a couple kiddos). That said, it also feels like we get more than twice -- shoot, more than thrice -- the joy too. There's really, really, REALLY nothing like seeing E want to lie next to "Sweet Baby J" in her crib or in the baby gym. Or to see her stare at him in baby fascination when he uses his falsetto voice to say, "Hi. Hi. Hi. So nice." Or when he explains to her how she's his "Sish-TER."

So until next time...take care.