the 2 month mark and uncle arun's visit

well baby tess has reached the 2 month mark, and we've gone to the pediatrician to make it official. her stats are 10lbs 8oz (50th percentile), 21in (10th), and 38cm head circumference (25th). this confirms our suspicions that she's a huge pig -- she'll fit right in to our family! :-)

the turtle hanging out with her giraffe. she loves him!

the update for the baby girl's colicky, refluxy attitude is... meh? some days she does great - eats well, takes her medicine well, plays and makes eye-contact, sleeps ok (we're going through a sleep-fighting stage in general, more on that later), and even sleeps for a few long stretches at night, and then some days she does horrible - fussy at the breast, spitting up all the time, fights with her medicine, fusses all day and isn't content unless you're practically doing backflips, and hardly sleeps, becoming especially fussy at night. i've tried to be more productive at home as far as doing laundry, grocery shopping, vacuuming, you know, being DOMESTIC, but most of the time all the time i have to "wear" her while doing so, usually in the moby. here's a shot i got of her when i'd lulled her to sleep in the moby while vacuuming:

i thought it might last a while, and this would be evidence, but she woke up about 2 mins after this picture was taken.

but back to the doctor's visit... based on our observations and on dr. mann's assessments, it seems we are doing all we can for the reflux (the right meds, staying upright, frequent burp breaks, minimizing mom's dairy intake, etc.), and we are well-versed in baby soothing methods and sleep protocols (including but not limited to the five s's, bouncing, baby carriers, warm baths, white noise, vibration, swing, trying to let her "cry it out", kangaroo love, etc ad nauseam, you-name-it-we've-tried-it), and she continues to "thrive" on the breastmilk only diet, and she has checked out healthwise. so, what he told us is that she's probably just a very kinetically motivated (read: active and squirmy, almost thrash-y at times), extremely needy baby, and that we're doing a great job at trying everything and keeping whatever works for us. probably, he said, a lot of it might also be that her personality is quite demanding and that she'll probably always be that way. he also said that every day after the 2 month mark should get easier, which i'm hoping proves true.

i'm always put at ease after a visit with dr.mann. his experience makes him laid-back and makes me confident that he knows what he's talking about. plus, it's good to hear that we're doing a good job, even if she does cry and scream a lot of the time.

also, "uncle" arun is in town from california this week, and he came over to visit. almost the whole time he was here, ms. tess was on her sweetest, most charming behavior. andrew has dubbed him the tess whisperer. she looked at him and smiled and cooed, and was generally pleasant for almost his entire visit!

tess: uncle arun, i love you. will you marry me?


arun: i love you too, tess, but i can't marry you. see the wedding ring?
we had such a wonderful time catching up with arun. he really is one of andrew's best friends, and while we love that he is happy with his lovely wife and kids in california, we really miss him. can't wait for 14 years! ;-)