The Big Boy

We had our 2 month visit today at the doctor's office, and Eamon is officially a Big Boy.

Hooray!

He qualifies as such for the following reasons:

1. His Actual Size: Eamon is 13 pounds, 13 ounces (90th percentile), 24 1/2 inches (95th percentile, and his head is 16 inches (just under 75th percentile). This explains why carrying him in his carseat is getting more and more ridiculous by the day. My parents have nicknamed him "Little Moose." At first I objected to this, but now, when I look at him or carry him, I cannot help but find it quite appropriate. We are considering cutting down on the amount of Miracle Grow that we put into his bottles each night.

2. He Sleeps Through the Night: At least, he has for the last week. At about 5:00PM each day, he is incessantly hungry as he loads up in readiness for the long night ahead. He pretty much has a bottle in his mouth constantly from that time on until he passes out around 9:00 (he's still getting breastmilk almost exclusively, but I've gone to strictly pumping so it's always from a bottle...that's another long and drawn out story...suffice it to say that it's working better for both of us this way).

We're very happy with him sleeping through the night, and happier still that he's such a good baby that we haven't really had to fight with him much on it. We've been able to slowly coerce him into sleeping through the night without having to let him cry it out, which is good because I think that would have been stressful on everyone concerned (that being said, if he wasn't sleeping through the night by 3 months old, I was going to attempt to let him cry it out over my Spring Break in April). Instead, we just kept putting him in his crib sleepy but not asleep. If he cried for more than 5-10 minutes (fussing didn't count), we picked him up, calmed him down, and then put him right back in. He's always in bed by 10:00PM no matter what, though usually he passes out sooner (in a food coma as he digests the mega amounts of milk he eats prior to that). Of course, tonight might be different because the shots have made him a little fussy...we'll just have to see.

3. He's Acting Like a Big Boy: Besides growing quickly, he's very alert and into the world around him. My dad had a set of those large baby keys, and Eamon watched them for about 10 minutes one day, even batting at them a few times (though he doesn't do this consistently yet). He tracks everyone and turns towards voices. He recognizes mommy and daddy by sight and voice and is already starting a little stranger anxiety. He can put almost all his weight on his feet if we just give him a little support and sits pretty well if you hold him up. He's also starting blowing spit bubbles over the last couple of days, which is tons of fun. Also, he has discovered his thumb, and can reliably get it into his mouth.

4. He's letting us take him places. Specifically, we went to Colonial Williamsburg over the weekend for a couple of hours. We wanted to enjoy the nice weather. My first inclination had been to go to Yorktown Beach, but after it took us about half an hour just to get to the parking lot, we opted instead for Colonial Williamsburg. Eamon was very awake the entire time, watching and observing everything.

5. At the doctor's office today, he was remarkably resolute. He barely even flinched at the first shot, and though he cried for the next two, he only cried for about a minute afterwards, and stopped almost as soon as I picked him up. Within five minutes, he was smiling again as I was dressing him. He's a tough little dude, and really enjoyed his spiffy Band-Aids.