2 months old...

i can't believe aj is another month older! we had his 2 month wellness check up today and he did very well! you know, other than the loud crying when he got his 3 shots. =( he's progressing along well...he's pretty proportioned in terms of his percentile. he now weighs 12 lbs 2 oz and his head circumference is 15.75 inches (both of which are in the 50% percentile). he is 23.5 inches tall which puts him cusping the 75% percentile.

so what has changed since last month? i think the biggest development is that he is so engaged now. he loves to socialize and hang out with friends and family. he loves to make eye contact and follow people's movements. he doesn't have any problems being carried by different people and being passed along moving from one set of arms to another. he is very active. somehow, while being swaddled in his sleep, he moves his body ninety degrees and is in a completely different position than how we had put him down.

i had been feeding aj every 3 hours and would sometimes have to wake him up to feed him. the pediatrician said i no longer have to do that since he's at a good weight. in the evenings, he does tend to eat sooner than 3 hours. the doctor said it's probably because i don't have as much milk in the evenings as i don't get the rest that i properly need during the day and also because he's 'storing' some milk to get him through the night. i never really thought babies knew to do that! and speaking of feeding, i am happy to report that breastfeeding is definitely better now. it's still not pain free but i've survived another month!

s and i have noticed that aj has a very serious demeanor. we don't know why but he has this look like he's stressed out about something. he does smile and laugh but it does take him a while to warm up; he normally just stares. our college friends say that must be from his parents and our 'deadly' stares from our fraternity / sorority days.

i do have somewhat of a routine with aj. i take him out everyday. we try to venture out at least twice - working around his feeding schedule of course. i usually try to do one trip shopping; alternating between burlingame, hillsdale, stanford and target. then we'll usually make a 2nd trip out on a walk around the neighborhood. i definitely try to do 2 trips out now before it starts to get too wet and cold outside. it's also a good way for me to get some 'exercise'.

here are some pics of aj with some friends: coincidentally, the 3 infants below were all born in september!

r and aj scoping each other out

ummm...despite the age difference...uncle m and aj have the same hairstyle going...

aj was too busy sleeping to hang out with k

x and aj were actuallly due a week from one another but x came 4 weeks earlier than expected

i guess this is how infants 'hang out'?

work update...

aj and i made a trip to work to drop off some christmas gifts for my team and boss. i was so proud of aj because he was on his best behavior! he was asleep when i first got to work but when he woke up, he was making eye contact with everyone and cooing! i got a lot of grief for not dressing him in any gymboree clothes. as i told everyone at work...he wears whatever is handed down to him. unfortunately, that means no gymboree clothes!

the timing to visit work was quite appropriate as i had to chat with my boss about a press release from monday. it is definitely a different approach as most companies would just lay-off employees. as expected, it was received with mixed feelings. in a very instinctual reaction, people would naturally be pissed. i can understand that perspective but from a more holistic view, i accept this without any resentment. (not saying i won't miss the money that i'm losing because we can all use money)! the economy is just soo tough right now and we should all be very grateful for our jobs. to have even more people looking for jobs now would just be so awful. if a paycut can prevent us from laying people off, i completely support that. however, s believes that laying off people would "eliminate the fat". however, we are a very lean company and we don't have any "fat" to trim. or last least i don't work with anyone who i would consider "fat". so not exactly the best "christmas gift" from work but you go with the flow right?

other than this "bad" news, it was nice to be back at work. it was great to see everyone and they were so excited to meet aj. i do have to admit, it made me *miss* work. i told my boss that i'd be back end of february / early march and my boss said, "it's up to you; when you are ready." it's nice that he is flexible.

oh, christmas tree...

this past weekend, we went out to get aj's first christmas tree! i just love the smell of a fresh christmas tree!! we wanted to get the tree up earlier as we had to take pictures for our christmas cards. s and i didn't want to be in the picture so we had to be a bit creative in getting aj in front of the tree by himself. the final picture we selected wasn't perfect but it'll do for a 7 week old baby! i've always loved christmas but now it means so much more with aj!

i also went to the mall with my mom, aj and my nephew to take their pictures with santa. of course, aj was totally oblivious so he was fine. we just have a problem getting him to look at the camera! my poor nephew, on the other hand, was completely frightened by santa. he wouldn't even get near him! even with aj on santa's lap, my nephew would not warm up to santa. hopefully, my sister will have better luck when she tries to take him to see santa again!

our finished tree

my 2 favorite baby boys!

my cutest nephew

20 lbs lighter...

but 15 more to go! =( i had my 6 week check up with my ob doc and everything is okay. i didn't really have a specific number of pounds that i was hoping to lose but i guess it's a step in the right direction that it was slightly more than half the pregnancy weight gain.

i also have what feels like this nasty bruise that i wanted to make sure was just a clogged duct and luckily it is. it's slowly getting better but still hurts quite a bit.

yesterday, i had what hopefully was my final appointment with the lactation consultant! although i'm not quite loving breast feeding, at least i'm not dreading it anymore. it still hurts as i have some painful letdowns but at least it's getting better!

aj hit the 6 week mark earlier this week and is now at 10 lbs 3 oz! he definitely is more engaging; looking and starting at people. he loves to stick his tongue out and pucker his lips (though, not at the same time). he LOVES to stretch - whenever we remove his swaddling blanket, is done feeding, or changing his diaper, he stretches out his arms and legs!

to vacation or not?

s' office is shut down for 2 weeks during the week of christmas and new year's. rarely do we have 2 weeks off so i REALLY want to take advantage of this and travel somewhere. however, we don't know whether to take aj with us or not. and if we do or don't, we don't know where to go. normally, the easy answer is vegas but that would definitely be a aj-less trip and i'm not sure if i'm ready to do that. it is very tempting - i haven't been to vegas in 3 years and it's so cheap now!!!!
help? any advice or suggestions are definitely welcomed!!