Peregrine at Two Months

[Written on August 23, 2017]

Two months have passed in the blink of an eye! It doesn't feel fast while it's happening, but gosh these babies grow up fast.

Two Month Stats: 13lbs 0.5oz, 23" long, 16" head circumference

Peregrine is absolutely thriving. He's handling life well in our loud, active, busy family of six. He started smiling at five weeks which is just too cute to handle. (Possibly sooner for Eland.) Peregrine's smile is so cute because he practices so hard at doing it. It's like he's not entirely sure what to do with his mouth, so he opens it as wide as he can and then moves his lips around trying to make a smile. It's really too cute. Right now I am blessed enough to be the main recipient of these smiles, but occasionally he'll do it for his dad or brothers. Oh, and the smiling mostly happens after he has taken a nice nap and just ate. I think proximity is a big player, too. I have to be within 12-18" of his face, because he'll only smile when he can see my smiling face.

PLAYTIME
After thinking that it was time to pull the playmat out for over three weeks, I finally found the fifteen minutes that I needed to actually dig it out of the garage when Peregrine was seven weeks old. It didn't take him more than an day or two to figure out how to bat at the toys. He thinks its great but definitely lets us all know once he's done. He also enjoys just laying on a blanket on the family room floor with colorful toys to look at nearby and brothers to watch.

GROWTH
Peregrine has grown out of his NB clothes completely and wears a size 3m for everything except sleepers, which are now size 6m for the length.

NURSING AND SLEEPING
Like his brothers before him, Peregrine is a champ when it comes to nursing. He has a healthy appetite and nurses every two to three hours during the day and has had some very nice long stretches at night. He had a wicked growth spurt right around seven weeks and was up through the night like a newborn for four nights straight. Gosh that hurt. Thankfully that's over and done with, but it was pretty rough while it lasted. Once he started sleeping well after that it was downright miraculous. I felt amazing, and he's generally kept it up.

I still hold Peregrine for about 20 minutes after he falls asleep after a night feeding. It gets him through his light sleep phase to a place where I can set him down without worrying about him waking again. I wish I had known to do this with the other boys! But I also wonder when I won't have to do this anymore. But hey, at least I'm not walking him around at night anymore--being able to nurse a baby to sleep is a wonderful thing.

Peregrine's day sleep is still up for grabs. He sleeps in his swing for the most part during the day, and can sleep through his brothers' racket no problem when he's in a deep sleep.

CARSEAT
Unlike his brothers, Peregrine despises his carseat. He typically cries/screams in it just as soon as he goes in. If there are two adults in the car, holding a pacifier in his mouth helps a lot. Eventually he'll take it and suck it himself, and recently Auggie has been able to help hold the pacifier if I'm driving. The pacifier does what it's supposed to and usually helps Peregrine fall asleep.

NICKNAMES
So far Peregrine is just Peregrine--and I like it that way. Auggie and Griffin occasionally call him Perry. Griffin's version is more like "Pehwee." Peregrine does, however, go by Big Guy, Little Guy, and Babatjie. (I used to call Griffin "Baba" which means baby in Afrikaans, so "Babatjie"--pronounced Baba-key--is more like little baby.)

EYE COLOR
Who knows! I suspect they'll be brown since they aren't obviously blue yet, but either way, Peregrine has big, beautiful eyes.

VISITORS
My best friend Jen came to Albuquerque to help out for several days and it was so wonderful to have her visit! She got to meet sweet Peregrine, rock him, hold him, and enjoy a sleeping baby in her arms. She was also indispensable when it came to helping with the big boys. She took them to Gravity Park, read to them, played with them, brought Legos and puzzles, took them out for frozen yogurt, took the older two to swim practice, and generally loved on our whole family. It was fantastic to spend these precious few days with Jen catching up and accepting her help as we continue to adjust to our new life.

WALKS
We've been going on lots of walks as a family to get (mostly me) exercise. Peregrine is comfortable and used to my Beco baby carrier and usually falls asleep within a minute or two when I put him in it. We get really hot and sweaty since it's summer here, but he doesn't seem to mind too much.

MONTHLY NOTES
08.05 - 08 - Jen Anderson came to visit to help after Peregrine's birth.


08.04 - Peregrine is getting so much more interactive in his own little way. It's so fun! After a nap and nursing, he will just smile and watch me as I talk to him. He's also more sensitive to loud noises. This morning I was loudly calling to Auggie and Eland that we needed to get in the car. I wasn't holding Peregrine, but was walking past him as I yelled. He immediately made his super adorable frowny face and started crying. Btw, his frowny face makes our hearts melt. Dan and I agree. He makes this insanely cute pouty bottom lip--Peregrine straightens his bottom lip to almost form a triangle with his mouth. And it wiggles to this triangle and back a few times. He furrows his brows. And then he starts crying. It's so tragic, so heart-wrenching, and so completely adorable that whoever sees it is compelled to comfort the little guy. I'd capture it on video if I could, but I think it'd be cruel.


08.03 - So long as Peregrine doesn't sleep all day long and has some evening awake time, he's continued to sleep long 6 or 7h stretches at night. Every time it feels like a miracle. Griffin did this and then completely reverted at 4 months, so I'm curious/dreading how things will go with Peregrine. Regardless of what happens, this is awesome!


In other news, Peregrine is tracking not only with his eyes but also with his head. I had him on his bouncy seat in the middle of our bed (no danger of falling) while I was folding laundry and as I moved back and forth from the laundry basket and spoke to me, he moved his head to track his eyes with me. He's doing such a great job developing!


Peregrine has been smiling much more and seems to have whole smiling conversations with me post-feeding if he's just woke from a nap.


He still fusses quite a bit in the evenings, but pacifier use doesn't always help. Sometimes it just makes him angry or he'll just chew on it and spit it out. But in the car it still tends to help him fall asleep, and Auggie or Eland can help keep it in his mouth.


I'm a little annoyed to say this, but Peregrine has started drooling! I thought this wouldn't happen till 3 months, but alas, Peregrine is advanced. :/ He's not drooling a ton, but it is making his shirt wet a little. I had just hoped we had more time before having to have him wear a bib constantly. Ah well. Teething has begun--which may explain why he enjoys biting the pacifier so much.

08.01 - 8h47m WHAT?!?!!!! Peregrine has just slept through the night TWO nights in a row!!!!! This is SPECTACULAR! Praise the LORD!!!!!!!!


07.31 - Oh my goodness, I am singing the praises of the Lord!!!!!!!! Hallelujah! Peregrine just went for 7h42m between feedings and I slept for 6h20m+15m!!!!! (Auggie slept-walked and woke me 15m after going to sleep... no biggie) Ooooooohhhhh praise Himmmm!!!! Yes, my boobs hurt and may take some time to recover, but who cares!! AMAZING!


I also used a sound machine for white noise instead of the swamp cooler in our room tonight. Did it help? Who knows, but God is good and merciful and I will try it again tomorrow. Even if he wakes early again tomorrow, I know this is possible. Praise God.


07.30 - 12:22a - And he's up after a mere 2h45m.... :/


3:42a - Went to sleep at 1a, and now here we are, another feeding 2h30m later...


And 6:30....


07.29 - I've been wondering when Peregrine's 6-week growth spurt would hit, and I thought it already had, but apparently not. We had four nights of him sleeping for about three hours--meaning I got about two to two and a half at a time. It  was rough. Especially since I was planning Eland's birthday party at the time. Thankfully last night was better, and I'm hoping the same for tonight. By yesterday I was so tired I didn't even have the mental capacity to take the kids to the park. But it's good to know the cause--that makes things less distressing.


Peregrine is generally doing great and looks so big now! He smiles now, and I finally dug his playmat out of the garage. When he's fed and rested he's really enjoyed batting at the hanging toys. It's always so fun to watch little ones discover their surroundings.


He also enjoys his vibrating bouncy seat, and has gotten in the habit of pooping when I put him in the one downstairs that we're borrowing from friends. Lol. He only poops once a day now and it's typically massive.


07.24 - Sweet Peregrine seems to be losing his ability to take long naps during the day. I miss the predictability as now I am that much less likely to be able to nap. Bummer. On the flip-side he has been more consistent with longer stretches of sleep to start out the night. Perhaps that's the trade off? And he is smiling more. Although he has been so fussy in the evenings. Probably his digestive system adjusting, but it's rough. Lots of crying. At least I remember this being the case with the older boys, so I know it's normal, plus since he'll be seven weeks on Friday it will only get better. Or at least I'll keep telling myself that. ;)


Regarding his changing ability to nap during the day, I wonder if Peregrine is becoming more sensitive to sound. I also wonder if having him lay flat rather than in the rock-n-play would help, although I guess I kind of doubt it. Just things I'm thinking about.


07.23 - 2.57am - I know I'm not "supposed" to make eye contact with the baby in the middle of the night to reinforce the fact that night wakings are strictly business, buuutttt, I looked down in the middle of the feeding just now and Peregrine must have been delighted, because he gave me the biggest, sweetest, cutest smile ever. Oh my beating heart!!! Swoon!


07.21 - Today Peregrine is six weeks old. This has always been a big milestone for me with the kids. I remember reading that a baby's fussiness ramps up from birth to six weeks, then comes back down by twelve weeks and I've always thought that to be true--thus I celebrate the halfway point. However, while Peregrine has his moments, he's definitely not the fussiest baby we've every had. But he does fuss more in the evenings which is typical.


Peregrine is officially over the pacifier. I can't get him to take it any more, and I've definitely tried. He enjoys his fists instead--when he can get to them, but that's not always possible since he simply doesn't have the control yet.


The frequency of having to walk Peregrine after feedings in the middle of the night has decreased dramatically. Praise God, because that was rough. I've done it once in the past week, and that was unusual. Peregrine also seems more willing to nurse to sleep lately which is helpful. Previously doing so meant more milk than he could handle, but now that he's a little bigger he has a bigger appetite. (Speaking of being a little bigger, I took the newborn insert out of his car seat today. Surely Peregrine is over 11lbs by now.)


Today marked Peregrine's first trip to the zoo. I took all the boys by myself. It worked out much better than I had anticipated, and Griffin did a great job listening despite being on foot most of the time. Peregrine slept in the Beco carrier for the majority of the time, but I did feed him in the Cat Walk across from the snow leopards.


07.19 - Sleep wasn't so great because Peregrine was gassy, but he wasn't miserable about it--just awake more.


Pleasant little guy--more alert, steady attention/eye contact, attempts smiling but hasn't quite done it again yet.


Cried quite a bit in his car seat this AM. Is fine so long as car is moving.


My 6-week post-partum midwife appt was today. It felt like the end of an era.


Peregrine is over his pacifier. He much prefers to suck on his fists.


07.18 - Praise the Lord, Peregrine slept for 6h straight last night which means that I slept for 5.5h! This is downright miraculous! My mom texted saying she was praying for sleep for us--which sounds about right. When my mom prays for sleep, God blesses us with sleep. :) I'm also wondering if the poor sleep was related to a developmental milestone considering Peregrine smiled for the first time yesterday. A possibility, anyway. But regardless, I will praise God for a good night's sleep!!


Griffin stomach bug, Peregrine spitting up a little bit more. God provides exactly what we need--sleep, Marilyn, Dan..


Peregrine is over the pacifier. Doesn't like it, and is clearly interested in his fist.

Generally doesn't like his car seat.

07.17 - Peregrine just smiled for the first time! It was 6:36a and I looked into his eyes and started talking to him with a big smile on my face, and he smiled right back! Be still my mama's heart! COMPLETELY MELTED!!! Oh sweetness! Last night and the night before were pretty rough sleep-wise, but smile at me, Baby, and all is forgotten. He really hung onto the smile, too!


Oh sleep. Not longer anymore. Quite a bit shorter. The first stretch two nights ago was 4h--meaning 3h of sleep for me, and then 3.5h for me last night. Subsequent wakings equate to 2 of sleep. Ouch indeed. I am hoping and praying that Peregrine has reached his 6-week growth spurt a little early. He still has 5 days left till he's 6 weeks, but I still think it's reasonable. And boy am I hoping for those longer stretches of sleep soon--we're due, right?!


07.12 - Sleep is longer, but things are getting tricky. Peregrine seems to be waking himself when I put him down--even when I'm sure we're past the 20m light sleep cycle. This happened two nights ago and I ended up being awake for nearly two hours for the first waking. It was rough and I vowed to go buy a swaddle blanket the next day. So I did that yesterday. But that verdict is out.


I didn't swaddle Peregrine's arms for the first part of the night because he doesn't need it then. After his first waking, I did swaddle him. He was up 2.5h later with lots of grunting, fussing, and displeasure with the swaddle leading up to it. He then woke 1.5h later plenty angry with the swaddle again. Thankfully I could pass him off to Zack and Donna and go back to sleep for another hour, but I won't have that luxury anymore.


So to swaddle or not to swaddle? It definitely helped him fall asleep again after his feedings, but it also may have caused him to wake prematurely. Hard to say. It also doesn't help that I had a hard time returning to sleep after his first waking. He  was down in the usual amount of time--or less because he was swaddled--but I think I may have been awake for a whole hour and a half before I was able to fall asleep again. Frustrating to say the least.

Donna saw Peregrine smile at Eland this morning!! I can't wait to get a glimpse myself!

And Zack and Donna leave today--woe is me!!!!!!!! Ahhh!!! ... Wait... I . CAN . DO . THIS.. right??

The baby swing doesn't seem to be the magic bullet that I had hoped it would be with Peregrine. Both Eland and Griffin loved the swing, but Peregrine is either ambivalent or upset in it, it never puts him to sleep or soothes him.

Peregrine has been even more alert than normal today. He seems to have more calm awake time with every passing day. He enjoys facing out when I hold him, too. 

07.11 - Sleep is getting longer! Peregrine clocked in a 5.75h stretch! As usual, I know it will take some time before this is commonplace, but I'll take it. Now if only I can convince Griffin to stop waking up in tears at 11p.

Peregrine kicked off his receiving blanket last night before his first feeding. I will need to dig out our size small sleep sack and see if he'll sleep in that in the future.

07.10 - Peregrine was calm for the longest duration so far while awake sitting on my lap at dinner tonight. He hardly fussed and didn't cry for quite a while! I wonder if his focus is extending beyond 12" and can see more. Speaking of which, his attention span is definitely increasing, which is exciting to see. 


Peregrine also fell asleep in my arms with the paci in his mouth for the first time--usually it actually ends up waking him up. Plus he's starting to hold it in his mouth on his own.

I think Peregrine has grown out of his newborn onesies. I may attempt to squeeze him in one for some pictures tomorrow, but yeah, I think they're out. Too bad because so many of them are super cute. (Btw, he's been grown out of newborn sleepers for some time now.)


07.09 - How is Peregrine one month old already?!

I had a thought for myself this morning. When I found out I was pregnant with Peregrine my thoughts on childbirth consciously went from "I don't want to do this" to "I can do this. Period." This happened with Griffin as well. I deliberately chose confidence rather than fear. I feel surprised and taken aback as I come to a place in time where i need to make this choice again as I anticipate Zack and Donna's departure in three more days. I can do this. I can handle life with a baby and three other children. It may be hectic, and it will get easier, but regardless of what comes: I can do this--because of Who helps me, sustains me, builds me up, and loves me. I can do this.