Two month check up

I can't believe my little guy is already two months old!! I was part dreading, part looking forward to this appointment. I was looking forward to it because I couldn't wait to see how much he'd grown, and because I knew he'd be getting immunizations, which makes me feel that much better having him out in public. (I know, I'm a germaphobe!) Of course, I was dreading it because of the immunization shots he'd have to get. :( I didn't know what to expect as far as how Patrick would be feeling or acting after the shots, and I was very glad that DH came with me!!
The appointment went well. Our little man weighs 10 pounds, 14 ounces. His birth weight was 6 pounds, 11 ounces, and the doctor seemed very happy with his progress. He hasn't grown in length a whole lot- he's now 21 and three quarter inches, up from 18 and a half. All of his measurements put him right in the 45th percentile, pretty much in the middle range, which is fine with us.
Then came the shots....there were three of them, and the nurse asked me to hold down his little arms so they wouldn't flail so much. I felt horrible having to do it, but I did.
Let me tell you, my guy has a set of lungs on him! He screamed and screamed..after the nurse was gone, getting him out the door, all the way to the car. I finally started nursing him and he calmed down a bit, with the occasional pitiful whimper while he nursed. It was a heart breaker! He slept a good bit the rest of the night and was a pill the following day, but I am so grateful for infant Tylenol. It is a life saver for my little crank!
The doctor also reminded us to try putting him down to bed (especially at night) when he's awake and letting him get himself to sleep. She said that by doing that, he'll sleep for longer periods instead of shorter periods when I let him sleep in my arms and then try to transfer him to his bed. I was a little skeptical and nervous about this, but I tried it last night. I waited until he had nursed and was showing some sleepy signs (yawns, eye rubbing) and set him in his bed. Each time I would walk away for a minute or two (by each time I mean after each feeding throughout the night) to use the restroom and come back. Most of the time when I returned, he was already asleep!! Hallelujah!! I do think he slept better last night, but we'll see if our success continues when we try the same method tonight. He did fuss one time, and I followed the doc's orders by picking him up, burping him and soothing him a little, then putting him back in his bed.
Things Patrick is doing these days:
Holding his head up a good bit
Staring at any and all lights and ceiling fans
Smiling (!!!) and cooing, especially when you talk to him in a "baby voice"
Using his lower lip to pout when he's not happy
Using his crying to communicate what he's feeling
Tracking moving objects that move past his line of vision
Batting at toys on his activity mat
Kicking the musical foot keyboard at the end of his activity mat
Squealing when he's happy on his activity mat
Grabbing mommy's hair and shirt
Things we do together:
A daily walk (okay, he sleeps, but we do it together!)
Lots of singing
Reading books
Snuggling/naps
Giving him baths (working on eliminating cradle cap!)
Dancing around to various songs
Travel all over Columbia- to the library, Target, Wal-Mart for groceries, etc.
Attend Bible study with lots of other nice moms and their kids each week
I hope to add baby story time to this list soon! I'm just not sure he's old enough yet. I'm pretty sure he'd sleep through the whole thing!!
TTFN!