Athan's Second Month

8 weeks old official picture

8 weeks- relaxing at the Youth Lake Party

6 weeks- lifting up his head

Three key words sum up Athan's second month in my mind: smiles, sleep, and sounds.

Smiles. This is one of the greatest milestones a baby achieves. Being the first real milestone in the first year, it's the first indication that things are going okay. For me, it also serves as the first glimpse into his little self and personality. I saw Athan's first responsive smile in his fourth week as I stroked his head. His little smile let me know that he liked that. We then saw what I consider his first social smile a few weeks later. Daddy got those first grins given in his direction during Athan's seventh week.

Sleep. Oh boy, this has been our issue! During baby's first weeks, eating seems to be the top priority. Nothing else is as important as making sure they are gaining weight and receiving adequate nourishment (which, by the way, is not a problem for this little guy!). Once that was established for us, we turned our attention to the issue of sleep. We've gone back and forth on different approaches and have just ended the month recognizing we're no more sure of how to put Athan to sleep than we were at the start of the month. Still, I can at least say he did sleep about 14 hours a day this month with a solid night of sleep and 4 naps a day. He has his nights well established and mostly wakes only to eat. It just takes a great deal of effort to get him there.

Sounds. The sweet, sweet coos have started. Although life is busy, I try to stop while Athan is happily awake and enjoy these conversations with him. His happiest times are after a good rest, early in the morning and usually after a long afternoon nap. One of his favorite places to be for a good time of talking is his changing pad. Funny, but Hudson also enjoyed that.

Other hi-lights include weekly visits from Gigi and an extended visit with Susu. Grandmothers have helped keep us going! I am so grateful for their help. We also started to get out a little more this month and attempted to make it to church for our regular services.

And, as I said, Athan has been growing like a champ! At his two month check up, he weighed 12 lbs., 10 oz. Way to go, little man.