two-month checkup

Bridget is already two months old. I can't believe how fast time has flown! We brought her in for her two-month checkup and vaccinations today. Here are the stats on our little girl:

• 12 pounds, 12 ounces (95th percentile in weight, and the doctor wants her to weigh more! that's because of her height...)
• 25 inches--that's over two feet tall, people! (off the charts for her age)

The vaccinations were heartbreaking for both mommy and daddy. She screamed so loud and then held her breath for what seemed like minutes (although I'm sure it was only seconds). We both (mom and dad) had tears in our eyes, although none spilled over onto our cheeks. I held Bridget until she calmed down and then we went to lunch, where she couldn't keep her eyes off of Uncle Dennis and little Mikey (who turned one on Saturday) was told he can't touch her until she's eighteen, and most likely not even then (he was grabbing for her highchair/carseat, and Dennis was afraid he would pull her over).

The doc said she might be warmer to the touch or fussier than normal due to the vaccinations. She said we could give her Infant Tylenol if that was the case. I don't have any, so when she was super-fussy after her 1:00 pm eating, I did what I've done a couple of times before: turned iTunes onto the visualizer and stood in front of the computer rocking back and forth and singing. She loves to hear me sing (I've been told I have a good voice, but I don't think babies care much about that--it's just that I'm her mom) and those moving blobs of light and color fascinate her. She actually stayed wide awake watching it through at least three songs, including "What Do You Dream About?" by Barenaked Ladies (great song for parents about babies). She's sleeping now, thus the blogging. It's too late in the day for me, a morning person, to start working (although originally that was the plan since it's Al's only day off this week). I'm going to start getting up at 4:00 am to get in an hour and a half each day before pumping, showering, and feeding her. If I get tired, I can nap if/when she does. If there's not other stuff that needs doing. :)

I'm going to put another thing on my growing to-do when Bridget's asleep (or playing--she lays on her playmat for between twenty minutes to an hour at a time now, so that's nice!) list: learning more and more about nutrition for breastfeeding moms and for food-eating babies. I'd like to make my own baby food when she does eat, and I think it might be easiest to do so like my sister-in-law does: by processing what we eat and feeding it to her. That means we should eat healthier, which I've been trying to do anyway since I'm breastfeeding. And why not get in a good, nutritious diet and try to work in more exercise (at least we try to do walks on non-rainy days) while I'm burning the extra breastfeeding calories? I figure that I've already lost my baby weight, so I'll try to go for more. My face looks so much skinnier in pics from seven or eight years ago, and I really would like to lose that weight I put on. But I'm not talking diet here; low calories wouldn't be good for my baby. I'm talking changing lifestyles. So I'll try, and let you know how the progress goes (if you don't hear anything, that means not very good progress, or not trying, or...). I'll start with these tips, which should be fairly easy to accomplish:

• Eat vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, bell peppers, squash and beans
• Eat fruits such as apples, berries, plums, oranges, peaches, and melons
• Eat whole grains such as whole-wheat breads, rye bread, and brown rice

I got those tips from this article, which also has some other good info. Hmm...now what to make for dinner tonight? I'll do my best to make it nutritious!