Two Months and counting...

We can hardly believe that Isabella is two months old. She's getting so big. At her doctor's appointment we found out that she weighs 9lbs 3ozs and she's 21 inches long. She's huge! She had her shots done and was not at all happy about it. She cried and cried, but only for about 10 minutes. We got her some Tylenol and that helped. It was also nice because we had to drive back to Redding that day and it helped her sleep most of the way (it was good too because her car seat buckle hits her right on her thighs where she had her shots). Some bad news we got was that she has to have another blood test done when she's six months old (we've know that for a couple weeks) because a previous test showed that her hemoglobin (red blood cells) are irregular. So far this had not been an issue with her health and it may resolve itself by the time she's six months old (which is why they are waiting until then to test her again). So we'll keep everyone posted on any further results. Our doctor has asked us to give her Mylicon throughout the day to help keep her stomach calm. So far it seems to help. We will also be starting her on rice cereal with her last feeding of the day when she hits the three month mark. Our doctor wants to make sure that her iron levels are high for her future blood tests (she'll still be using my iron until about four months of age and we want her to be prepared for when she's on her own). It should be interesting to see how she likes that.
Isabella has made some real progress this last month:
She's growing like a weed. She's finally above the 9lb mark and she's starting to get little fat rolls (I love that!). She's still wearing Newborn size clothes, but I think that will only be for another week or so. Some of her 0 to 3 month clothes have started to fit her, so I think we'll be moving up soon. She's finally in Size 1 diapers. She was using preemie diapers for the first 3 or so weeks and then she was in newborn diapers until about two weeks ago. She probably could have worn them a little longer, but we ran out and we already had size 1 diapers in the house so I didn't want to have to go buy more newborn ones.
She smiles like crazy and loves to play games with anyone that will play with her. She has started to make noise when she smiles, but I'm not quite sure that it's a laugh yet. She does coo all the time and she loves it when you repeat the sounds that she makes. She loves it when you stick your tongue out, she'll usually copy you and stick hers out too. She's also started clicking her tongue. At this point it's mostly by accident. It usually surprises her, but always makes her giggle when she does it.
She loves to have her diaper changed because she loves to be naked. Her love of being naked also means she loves taking showers now. She likes it until she gets splashed in the face, she does not like that (she also hates misters that spray water for that same reason, they have them at the sports complex here in Redding to cool the athletes).
She is sleeping better at night, she'll wake up to eat every 4 to 5 hours, but she usually goes right back to sleep. She sleeps in her own bed (in our room) at night, but once she wakes up in the morning (after the sun is up) she won't go back to sleep in her crib (she'll only sleep with us once it's bright in the room). She also won't take naps in her bed during the day because it's too bright (maybe we need to get some curtains in there ;)) and also because she likes to be out where everyone else is (she can't be left out). When she's falling asleep she'll open one eye to check and make sure you're still there, if you are then she goes right to sleep, if not, she wakes up and screams. It's a very delicate cycle.
Her crying has gotten better. Ask Aunt Jennifer and anyone who lives in this house, she used to cry a lot (more than a normal baby like Lily). We think that it might have been her stomach hurting her that was making her cry so the Mylicon has helped that problem. It may also be that she's getting older and bigger in general.
She has really taken to her pacifier. We used to have to hold it in her mouth for her, but now once she gets a good hold it won't come out until she's completly asleep. We figure that if she's using a pacifier that one day we can take it away from her, if she starts sucking her thumb we can't really take that away to get her to stop. We also don't want to take the risk of having her teeth be crooked due to thumb sucking since both Mom and Dad had to have braces. We want her to have a fighting chance at having straight teeth (whether or not thumb sucking impacts tooth growth). So far she still loves to suck on her hand, but she definately prefers her pacifier. She can't control her hand all that well so it doesn't stay in her mouth very well.
These last few weeks she has really fallen in love with fans. We have one in our room that she looks at while she's on her changing table. Her favorite thing is finding the fan in the mirror and staring at it. There is also a fan in the living room that she loves to stare at.
She still does not like her car seat. This makes going anywhere a little difficult. She doesn't mind it for short trips until you put her in it multiple times, then she starts getting upset. She hates sitting in it for long trips (this makes back and forth to Corvallis very interesting) unless she's asleep. If she's swaddled in her seat, she can sleep for three or four hours. Luckily we have a swaddle blanket that has a hole for her seat buckle so that has come in handy.
There are a million more things that she does that I think are brilliant, but I'll spare you all... for now.

Here is Isabella playing with Grandma Sue on the day she turned two months old (see, she has her tongue out).

Big smile!

Update on Mom and Dad:

I spend anytime I can find reading. I have been on a Stephanie Meyer marathon lately. I finished Host about 2 weeks ago and I am half way done with Breaking Dawn. I have come to love these books (thanks to Kate!) and if there's anyone out there that hasn't read them, you need to. The movie of the first book in her Twilight series comes out in December and I am very excited. I can't wait to get home and read the first book again before the movie comes out. It is taking me longer than I like to finish this book since my time alone is so limited (mostly during nap times and any time at night after she's in bed that I can keep my eye lids open).

Daddy has been working any days he can at Longs Drugs. He likes working in the Pharmacy and hopefully he'll be getting more hours so he can really see what it'll be like after he graduates. He has also been riding his bike any chance he has (I just got a bike for my birthday so I know he's hoping that I'll go with him... we'll see). He has also been laying out by the pool trying to get his tan established for when we have to head back to Corvallis (is it possible to stock up on Vitamin D? ;) ). Other than that we haven't been up to much.