2 months

Cooper turned two months old today! The past month has flown by, he is growing and changing every day.

He is now sleeping 8-10 hours a night and is an excellent sleeper. Nothing wakes this baby up from his night time slumber, which makes Mom and Dad two very happy and well-rested parents! He is also putting himself to sleep at night and has been doing so since he was about six weeks old, when we started to establish a bedtime routine. It usually takes him 10-15 minutes and he is out. At his two month check-up the pediatrician was impressed that he is sleeping through the night and that we've already started a bedtime routine. We figured its never too early. He is sleeping in a co-sleeper/bassinet in our room for now, we moved him in with us when he had the cold last month and we like having him in the room with us, all together as a family at night. We'll move him back to the nursery when we're ready, probably when I return to work full time at the end of March. Right now I love hearing him breathe as he sleeps and being able to roll over and look into his bassinet and see him snoozing so peacefully.

He is a growing boy! At his two month appointment he weighed 12 lbs., 9 0z.. (75th percentile) and is now 22 in. long (25th percentile). He also had a round of immunizations and screamed his little head off, but as soon as Mommy picked him up in her arms he was content once again. His only outburst! The Dr. said he is extremely alert and turning into a handsome little man. He is getting some hair back (the hair he had at birth fell out after a few weeks) and he now has his Daddy's beautiful long eyelashes. We're pretty sure his eyes are going to be brown like both of ours, they've really darkened in the last month. No trace of blue left in them.

He is now cooing a ton and making lots of new noises. We've even gotten some giggles, which the Dr. said was a little early. Of course, we now think he's a genius. It's so wonderful to hear him verbalizing, he is communicating with us more and more and we feel like we're understanding his wants and needs better every day. I can't for him to start talking - any day now! LOL. He is also drooling a lot more than before, a sign that teeth will someday be on the way, though we know it takes a while for them to arrive.

Cooper is excited to someday meet the three new babies who were born to friends of ours between December and this month: Cory and Marisa's daughter Sophia (born exactly one week after Cooper), Dan and Kim's son Brady born the beginning of this month and Mark and Susan's son Robert who was just born last week. There are also eight babies who will join the ranks between April and August: my sister's daughter in mid-April and babies for the Millers, the Brophys, the McLains, the Barbas, the Dawsons, the Klabens and the Burnses. Wow, I can't wait!

As for Mom and Dad, we've been keeping busy with Coop! CJ is playing on a co-ed soccer team on Sunday nights and I am hoping to get myself back into shape. My Valentine's gift from CJ and Coop was Dance Dance Revolution 2 for the Wii, so I have very little excuses now. I've also gotten sucked into the Twilight series and am almost finished with the second novel, New Moon. I read after Cooper falls asleep at night and last night I got in three solid hours -- I could not put the book down! I highly recommend them, they are easy reads and very well-written, if you like novels about star-crossed lovers, vampires and werewolves. Big thanks to Missy for gifting me the first book for my birthday!

CJ is currently on mid-winter break and it's wonderful to have him home with us. I return to work the first week in March and will be working part of the week from home and part in the office until March 30, when Cooper starts daycare and I return to the office full time. Maternity leave has flown by! I am ready to return to work but not ready to take Cooper to daycare yet. It's going to be harder on Mommy than it is on him, I imagine! Until then, we are enjoying our time at home with the little one.

Here is the latest series of photos.