Here he is with his stuffed tiger:
It's amazing how much he's grown in just one month -- compare this shot with his one month tiger photo! Not only is he noticeably bigger, but he's also more alert. And much more tolerant of his photo-taking mama. :)
This has been a month of firsts for little Joshua -- his first smiles, his first road trip, his first church conference... :) It's been so wonderful to see Joshua break out into a whole-face grin. His smiles are still fleeting, and we haven't been able to make him smile on cue yet, but that just makes his spontaneous grins that much more special! And he's been expanding his heart-melting routine by adding coos and gurgles, especially when he's playing on a blanket or in his play gym. Such a sweet little boy!
We've been growing as parents as well. It's funny how often our "protocols" change... We stumble across a new thing that seems to help calm him down, and we immediately add that to our shushing protocol. First it was swaying side to side while holding him. Then it was sitting down and rocking him quickly back and forth. No, wait, it's all about putting him back down in his crib in stages -- first quiet him while holding him up against your shoulder, then cradle him horizontally in your arms, and then gently put him down. Scratch that, first leave him lying in his crib and pat his chest to let him know you're there, and only pick him up if he goes into full out crying -- and then implement the swaying and rocking protocol.
Most of these methods are more for our benefit than for his, I think -- we like to think that there's something concrete we can be doing to help soothe Joshua when he's gone on one of his crying jags. But those episodes seem to be receding somewhat -- whether it's because he was going through a growth spurt that he's now finished with, or because he has awesome parents who know exactly what to do to help him get over his crying fits, I guess we'll never know...
One thing we have learned this month, though, is that his crying isn't necessarily a lasting mood. I think this is also a function of Joshua growing up a bit -- while he has his inconsolable moments, those moments don't always translate into him being in a "bad mood" for a long time afterwards. On Saturday morning, for instance, he had a somewhat fussy feeding session, which developed into full blown squalling during his diaper change. I thought for sure that we'd have to postpone his two-month photos -- who wants to have their pictures taken after a crying fit, right? But he quieted down a fair bit in my arms after the diaper change, and the lighting was perfect in his nursery, so I figured I'd give it a try. And not five minutes after his seemingly inconsolable screaming, he was back to cooing and smiling at me from his blanket-covered chair. :)
So here are some of our favorites from Joshua's two-month photo shoot!
Serious baby with soulful eyes
One of his smaller smiles -- still working on getting the big cheesy grin on camera!
Staring up at his papa, who was making funny faces in an attempt to get him to smile...
Yeah, okay, I guess I can grace my silly daddy with a little smile...
We love this little boy so much. :) Happy two-month birthday, Joshua!
1 comment:
Two months already? I'm obviously behind on my blog reading, so I know he's grown even since this post! What a sweet boy. 8 weeks is a pretty hefty milestone if you ask me! Things get much easier after that. Sounds like he's got you well trained as parents and you're doing a fantastic job! Love the "Joshua Watch" updates indeed!
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