Two months old!

OK, so I am ever so slightly early in posting this, but close enough: Leif is just about TWO MONTHS OLD! He has his two-month well baby checkup coming up on Tuesday, so after that I will be able to report on just how much he has actually grown in these past eight weeks of intensive eating and sleeping.

Here's a small assortment of pics from the past week:

When Leif falls asleep while he is not swaddled, his hands tend to kind of float in midair in a rather adorable way.



Leif is slightly more tolerant of being left alone in his crib or Pack 'n' Play for short periods of time these days (like 5 minutes). He can't exactly play with the toys yet, but he's content to at least look at them for a while before he starts crying!



Hey! Who's that baby?



I call this one "Everything I Need to Know About Parenting, I Learned on YouTube"! Yes, it turns out YouTube is a surprisingly useful treasure trove of informational videos about everything from how to give a baby a bottle to how to tie a slip knot in a rebozo. This sling is a piece of fabric Shuli gave me from a trip she took to Guatemala years ago. It has just been waiting to find its perfect purpose!



Leif met my coworker Stephen on Friday. Unfortunately for Steph, Leif was not having too much luck finding that happy medium between "asleep" and "awake and crying."

Toys

Leif is starting to show slightly more interest in his budding collection of toys. He'll grasp rattles (if you put them in his hands) and even occasionally shake them (as he flails his arms around).



His new motivator for tummy time is a strategically placed kiddie mirror in which he can gaze deep into the eyes of an astonishingly cute (and eerily familiar looking) baby if he manages to lift his head high enough up off the floor. Later he'll no doubt have some serious fun squeaking the little velcro pig and cow and tweaking the crinkly clouds. But that will take a few more months!

100% fun

...OK, maybe 98% fun

Uncle Rupert

Leif has only had the chance to meet one of his three golden retriever "uncles" so far. The other two will have to wait their turn!

Rupert, Sarah, and Leif coming back from a walk around Lake Harriet with Amy and Granny G.

Recipe for naptime

I was happy to discover this week that if Leif is in the right frame of mind, swaddle + vibrating froggy chair + pacifier = ZZZZZZZZZ! This made it much, much easier for me to actually finish taking a shower and get dressed without having to rush back every few minutes to comfort Leif. Hurrah for naptime!

Zoo training

Although Leif has not been to the zoo in person yet, Auntie Sarah is helping him work on his animal sounds in preparation for the big day.

What does the monkey say, Leif?



Leif really enjoyed the monkey sounds. (Or maybe more the monkey faces!)

Milestones

Leif hit a couple of developmental milestones this week, although at least one of them seemed pretty accidental. While doing tummy time on Thursday, Leif craned his neck so far up and cocked his massive head so far over to one side that the sheer weight of it caused him to roll over onto his back! Even more impressively, that night he slept for FIVE consecutive hours, which both surprised and thrilled his sleep-deprived mommy. In other news...

Leif started to actually look at the cool spinning things and mirror mounted above the seat of the swing for the first time this week



He can hold onto a toy when it's placed in his hand (although he's not actually reaching for things yet)



Working on his bow pose

Six weeks old!

Leif is six weeks old this week. He sure doesn't look like a newborn anymore!

Aerial view of Leif's favorite tummy time spot on the living room floor



Trying out a new place to nap -- on the Boppy newborn lounger



One of several 3-month size onesies Leif is on the verge of outgrowing (although he is only halfway to three months)



Getting big!

Got milk?

Now that I have gotten over my fear of the breast pump, Aaron has become a viable alternative source of milk. Leif and I are both very excited about this!

Smile gallery

This week I caught him!

Family ties

Leif is happy to be living so close to all four of his grandparents, as well as his Auntie Sarah -- it gives them plenty of chances to come visit! And that gives me and Aaron a chance to do a few other things around the house while Leif is still happily cuddled up in somebody's warm arms, which is WONDERFUL! We are doing our best to keep Leif a happy camper for as much of the day as possible, but it hasn't been as easy these past couple weeks as it was for the first three. More arms to hold him definitely help!


Grandma and Grandpa B. and Great-Aunt Mirja came over for a slightly early birthday celebration for Grandpa B.



Auntie Sarah and Granny G. with a contentedly swaddled Leif



Getting ready for a Skype call with Uncle Erik and Cousin Vivian in North Carolina (Leif is looking forward to meeting them and his Aunt Tami in person in May!)

New friends

Leif made some more new friends this week! He had visits from Amy's friends Liz and Jess, Katti and her almost 7-month-old daughter Marta, as well as a return visit from Shuli.

Jess & Leif



Liz & Leif



Shuli and Leif chilling on the bouncy ball



Katti gently restrains curious Marta as she checks out the baby!

Attack of the Tickle Monster

For the past week or two, Leif has been smiling more, or at least appearing to smile, in that very-young-baby, "Is it a grimace or is it a smile?" kind of way. However, it's still a rare enough occurrence that I have yet to capture a full-blown grin on camera. Below is the Tickle Monster's semi-successful attempt to elicit some smiles from the little guy.