I [heart] Davids It helps me to say these things aloud, I think.

Linus has recently celebrated his two-month-old birthday, and soon will celebrate his third!

Here’s the statistical update from his two-month checkup.

• Weight: 13#, 2 oz. (85th percentile!)
• Height: 23″
• Head Circumference: 15.5″

As of last week, he was already 14 1/2 pounds, so he keeps on growing. He is definitely getting bigger, judging by how quickly he’s outgrowing his clothes! He is wearing 3-6 month clothes, mostly, and some of them are too short already. He is pumping his legs almost every minute he’s awake, and he’s quite strong. Sometimes he’s a bit difficult to contain when he’s nursing if his legs are moving.

He is doing really well. He is on a pretty good three-hour schedule during the day, though sometimes it seems that he wants to sleep a bit longer. Concerned about daytime sleep robbing him of good nighttime sleep, we usually wake him up if he sleeps for more than two or three hours in a row. At night, he goes to bed around 10 or 10:30 PM, and then he’s up once around 3 or 3:30 AM. After that, we don’t expect to hear from him until 6 AM or later. He seems to be sleeping better, and does not need to be swaddled for naps. When we recognize his sleepy signs and respond to them quickly, he will go down for a nap with minimal fuss. Put down overtired, however, and he will more than likely need to be swaddled and will cry for 20 minutes before falling asleep. We have been really working on reading his signals right!

He is smiling a whole lot now, and will respond to you if you look at him and coo. He laughs and grins when we play little games with him, and will smile when you make exaggerated expressions with your face. His vision allows him to see farther than before, and now he’ll focus on more things like toys and people. He’s gaining head control, though he’s not all the way there yet. We try to give him some tummy time every day, but, like most babies, he hates it, and it tends to exacerbate the symptoms of his reflux.

He has managed to get both his left and his right thumb into his mouth, though he doesn’t have quite the motor skills to keep either there. However, being able to do so has made him happier and he’s better able to self-soothe. He will also gnaw on a burp cloth or blanket if one is available. Despite trying several different varieties, he does not seem that interested in taking a pacifier. We’ll keep trying, though, as he seems to need to suck to soothe himself a lot more than Henry did.

His colostomy is doing just fine, too. Dave and I are getting to be experts on bag changes. Our expertise means fewer 2 AM bag changes, which is a good thing! We usually do a bath when we change his bag, and he’s enjoying his baths more these days.

My maternity leave is almost over. I start back to work and Linus starts daycare on June 14th. I’m definitely glad to have had this time with him. Six weeks would not be long enough.