The Monson Family: May 2014

Life as a two year old is quite the roller coaster--one that we get to ride along with Isaac. A good friend of mine says parenting really doesn't begin until 2, and now I'm beginning to see why. I was a really patient mom until recently.

Isaac is so curious, creative, smart, and outgoing. He loves to play outside, help me cook, build roads with his blankets, and explore. He loved all the fun and attention that came with having many visitors after Phebe's birth. He spent lots of wonderful time with Baba and Jiji, Grandma and Uncle Bry, and Georgia and KaRynn.

Isaac's favorite activities include squirting water outside (water squriters pictured below), reading books, playing with blocks, and watching shows. Kipper the Dog, Daniel Tiger, and Bob the Builder are his staples.

He loves going on walks around our complex. He chases the cats and tries to pet them and collects items to put in his nature bowl. Houston has beautiful flowers year round, but we try to leave them intact for our neighbors to enjoy.

Isaac has surprisingly taken little interest in Phebe, but I consider this a positive thing as we have not had to stop him from picking her up or dragging her around the house, which I know can be common of this age combination. He can be very sweet with her though and will give her toys when she is crying.

And, of course, Isaac's favorite person is Dad. Brent does his bedtime routine almost every night and Isaac loves that. He can't wait until Dad comes home.

This kid loves the outdoors and doesn't care what temperature it is. If it were up to him, we'd be at the park every day no matter what.

We sure love this sweet boy. He keeps us on our toes!

2 Months Old

Phebe is an angel in our home. I love these pictures KaRynn took on Phebe's two month mark because they capture her personality so well.

She is a happy, easy baby. She goes to bed around 9:00 pm, only wakes up once to eat at night around 4:30 am, and naps well during the day. I'm grateful for my experience with Isaac because without it, I wouldn't know how amazingly wonderful and uncommon this is. She is cooing more and smiling a lot, and we've even heard a few laughs, which has surprised me because it's a little early for that.

We, of course, think she's the cutest baby in the world and just love her chubby arms and legs. She's about the same size as Isaac was, coming in at 13 lbs 8 oz and 24 inches long at her 2 month appointment. For a girl, that is 99th percentile for height. Considering though how Isaac dropped significantly down the chart as he grew older, I'm thinking that this probably won't mean a professional volleyball career for this girl--unless she can really jump! :-)

Our pediatrician was not concerned about the shape of her head or the ability of her neck because she can turn to the left okay. He told us to position her as much as possible so she will be encouraged to look left. And he said we could put her on her side with a rolled up towel behind her to sleep. This unfortunately hasn't really worked. She wiggles off the towel and then turns her head to the right! So I started wedging her body between two pillows (carefully, of course, to avoid SIDS risks). It sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. But she seems to be getting more used to sleeping on her left because I'm finding that she turns her head back less and less.

Despite what my pediatrician said though, I've still been concerned. Her head is not quite symmetrical, and she doesn't have full range of motion on her left. So, I followed my intuition and started doing stretches with her. After doing some research, I found that the stretches I was doing were actually the same stretches physical therapists recommend, so I've been continuing these a few times a day. We are also doing WAY more tummy time.

One physical therapist website recommends building up to 1 hour of tummy time a day (in spurts) by the time a baby is 3 months old. Phebe was 2 1/2 months old and doing maybe 15 minutes a day total (three 5 minute spurts). So I realized we really needed to change our habits in order for her to strengthen her neck. Now, when I put her down, I almost always position her on her tummy. And I've seen some good improvement in her ability to hold her head straight with her eyes parallel to the floor (instead of at a tilt). She also now can go about 15 minutes at a time on her tummy (if it's a good time of day).

I wish information about how much tummy time to aim for and how to turn your baby's head from side to side when they sleep was more widely published. Almost every baby book I read only said you should do tummy time every day (never how much) and only to put your baby to sleep on his back. But I did this with Isaac, and he developed a flat head (not so bad he needed a helmet, but it really stressed me out!). I was trying to be so careful this time, and here I am worrying about head shape again. Maybe my babies just have extra soft heads. Also, Phebe's position in the womb (she was born with one very flat ear) and broken collar bone are likely contributing factors. In any case, she is one cute baby. And Brent is not worried about her head shape at all.

I now realize how important it is to record all of this because as I think about Isaac at this age, I just don't remember him! Isaac as a baby seems like a long-lost friend-- a different person from the cute, toddler Isaac I know now.

I feel so privileged to raise these children. And I treasure the fact that they are only babies once. Life would have no purpose if we didn't progress, but, oh, how I mourn the fact that babies grow up. In her whole eternal progression, Phebe will only be a baby once. And I'm so glad that she gets to be mine.