2 months old (8/15/2012)

My how time flies! That may be a cliche, but it is oh so true.

Dozing with a full belly

She still seems so new and little, but at the same time she is so much bigger and stronger than she was even just a week or two ago. I find myself marveling about how long she has gotten and how big she is now, and then an hour later catching a glimpse in the mirror of her in my arms and thinking about how tiny she is. Her newborn clothes don't really fit anymore, though we can still stretch the newborn onsies  over her body so she can wear them. The larger sized onsies are still loose and a little long in the torso. Her 0-3 month sleepers are getting too short, but a lot of them aren't too much too baggy anymore. Just as she is filling out her smaller sleepers she will be switching to the 3-6 month sleepers, it seems she really did get her dad's long and lean build! Her adorable 3 month sized outfits fit pretty well, if a little on the loose side. Regardless of the fit, it's fun dressing her up. In a post from just before Penny was born I mentioned how unreasonably small baby socks are, and said it is just silly that any person's foot should fit in them. Well, her feet don't. Baby socks are short and wide, but our baby's feet are long and thin. I foresee a lifetime of frustration when it comes to clothes shopping, poor baby.

Greeting her dangly friends

Smiles abound these days. Penny greets me with a smile every time she wakes up from having slept enough rather than from being hungry. I can tell when hunger wakes her up because she starts rooting and fussing in her sleep. She smiles at us on the changing table (still loves diaper changes) smiles when we imitate her coos back to her. When we go out and strangers gush over her, she ponders them for a couple minutes before offering the new person a gummy grin. She also smiles at her dangling toys every day, and when I hung a bright alphabet quilt on the wall she smiled at it every time she noticed it for the first 3 days. Such a friendly baby!

She likes going out. She stares around with her eyes all big and looks continually amazed. One of the surest ways to calm a fussy Penny is to go outside and walk around. She also likes to stand up and look at the world. She supports pretty much all of her own weight these days, but has no sense of balance at all of course. When her legs get tired she likes to sit, but again has no balance and will topple if she isn't supported. Her head control is pretty good, she is getting less and less wobbly. She is starting to bat at things a little, and when her little hand makes contact her eyes get big with surprise or amazement. She is cooing and gurgling more and more often and with greater volume. She has been working on a laugh, but hasn't perfected that ability quite yet. Every now and then she will start with a new sound rather suddenly, often startling the dog who then stares at her with concern for several minutes. He is becoming used to her, but still hasn't quite decided what to do about her. It's cute.

The other day I was cooking dinner and Dan was changing Penny. He took the opportunity to coo and talk to her while she sucked her fingers and watched her. As he told it, she seemed to be in a good mood when suddenly out of nowhere she stiffened, flung both her arms out to the sides and started screaming bloody murder! After several minutes of listening to her inconsolable screaming I went in to see what was the matter. As far as we can tell, she bit herself. After she calmed down we had to chuckle about that. Silly baby.