Well Baby!

Molly is two months old now and had her well baby checkup yesterday. She's growing like a weed and is healthy as a horse! Apparently, there are plenty of good eats at Mom's, because Molly weighed in at 12 lbs and is 22 1/4 inches long. That puts her at 75% for weight and 50% for height on the growth charts for her actual age -- what a little bruiser! So, she's already all caught up sizewise and is pretty much where she should be developmentally, although she'll probably be at the back of the developmental pack for a little while (she does get six weeks of preemie credit, if she needs it). She's holding her head up really well, although she hasn't started doing more than the occasional smile or coo. Aside from a tinge of yellow in the whites of her eyes, Molly's jaundice has cleared up and the doctor didn't see a need to retest her bilirubin levels.

Molly did have to get her 2-month vaccinations -- poor little girl. Having only spent six days in the NICU (versus the 67 days that Max camped out there), Molly didn't acquire much of a tolerance for pokes. While Max always cried during the shots, but then stopped as soon as I picked him up, Molly cried for a couple of minutes and shed some real tears (*sniff*). She was too upset to go back in her carseat right afterwards and wanted Mom to hold her, so I lugged her around the doctor's office until we were all checked out and ready to get in the car. She's been a little sleepier than usual, but seems to have weathered the shots just fine. Being the paranoid mom that I am, I dosed her with vitamin C a few days before the shots and will continue a few days after. It's been suggested that it might help prevent bad reactions to vaccinations and I figure it can't hurt.

Since she's such a big girl now, Molly did decide that she's no longer my little peanut and needed a more appropriate endearment. Even though Molly can't really talk (and, that being the case, proper grammar is lost on her as well), I'm pretty sure she meant to have a discussion like this:

"Good morning, my little peanut," says the Mama.

"Mama, I not a peanut," Molly replies, "I a ca-shoo."

"A what?" says the clueless Mama.

"I too big to be a peanut. I a ca-shoo!" insists Molly.

"A cashew? Why of course you are," replies the Mama.

"Ca-shoooooo!!" squeals Molly.

So, there you have it -- Molly has been upgraded to cashew status, having outgrown her preemie peanut-ness. Walnut ho! ;)

On the Max front, the terrible two-ness rages on as my baby boy rapidly outgrows his babyhood. There have been lots of tantrums and plenty of whining at our house these last few weeks, but just as much silliness and fun. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly he picks things up and all the new things he learns every day. He's been saying "hi" for months, but just this week he started saying "hello," after watching someone say it in a video. He now walks around saying "hew-WO!" to everyone he meets. Max and I like to take our daily constiutional after dinner and it can turn into an awfully long walk when Max decides to greet every person he sees.

Although I initially thought Max would be too young to be jealous of the baby, he does seem to have had a slight run in with the green monster. Max has never been a cuddly little boy -- he's always too busy and on the go. But, lately, after watching us hold and tote around his baby sister, he's decided that he wants in on the snuggling action. Of course, Mom doesn't really mind when her little boy wants to climb in her lap, lay his head down on her shoulder, and cuddle during his bedtime stories. It makes me think back to the first time I was able to kangaroo him and how I could hold all of his tiny body in one hand. Now his feet knock around my knees and he's so heavy that it's a challenge to lift him into his crib. It's amazing how much things can change in such a relatively short period of time.

I'm also happy to report that my cold was short lived and I think it is safe to say that the babies have avoided the virus. I guess all the hand washing and Purell using paid off (even though my hands are SO dry now).