Dylan is two months old!!

Can you believe it's been two months since Dylan arrived? His second month has brought with it a slightly fussier streak which I thought might be related to gas and/or my diet (since Dylan is breast fed). I have tried cutting out dairy which seems to have little effect (though I have to admit I have not been very diligent in giving up dairy completely - I mean what is dessert without ice cream??).

We also tried giving Dylan cooled chamomile tea, a home remedy suggested by one of the mothers in my "earthy mamas" meet-up group. Dylan did not care for it, either by spoon or bottle, and it too seemed to have little effect on his crying spells. I haven't yet tried the dill seed infusion I read about on the internet (though I did go out and buy dill seed!), or the Mylecon drops suggested by our pediatrician. We did bring Dylan to the pedi to make sure nothing was seriously wrong with him and he was, of course, an angel in her office! Based on our vague descriptions, she said it was typical newborn fussiness and that he'd grow out of it. We felt like neurotic, first time parents. Which of course we are.

But, it seems the pedi is right, over the past few days Dylan seems less fussy (or maybe Tim and I are just learning to deal with it better). As if to assure us himself that, yes, this is just a phase and yes, I do love you, in the past week or two Dylan has begun gracing us with social smiles!! It is the greatest thing in the world to have him respond to us with a smile! They mostly occur when he is on his changing table, buck naked, and happy as a clam.

Which brings me back to our list of developments over the last month. Dylan has shown us that being naked is one of his favorite things. When he was a brand new baby, he would SCREAM while having his diaper changed or being bathed. Now these things make him smile and wiggle with glee!

Other new developments include:

• a hatred for his car seat and car rides, although this too seems to be getting better


• the ability to entertain himself for 15-30 min on the playmat or in one of his infant seats (one glides and the other vibrates) by staring contentedly or batting with fervor at the brightly colored "guys" who hang in his line of vision
  
• less "rocket poop" incidents, which is nice because we often prolong diaper changes, letting him hang out naked on his changing table (with us supervising of course) since it makes him so happy and smiley

Oh and one last thing - Dylan still hates pacifiers. Which doesn't mean I've stopped trying to get him to like them (see bottom right corner of first picture in this post). At first I was against pacifier use. I thought it would just be a crutch for him and me, cause nipple confusion, and possibly lead to the need for braces as a pre-teen. Since that time I have learned that my little boy, like all babies, has the drive to suck, strange as may seem. Even when not hungry he will gladly take someone's knuckle or, of course, my boob. These items obviously can't go in the cradle or crib with him and so I think it would be convenient to have a tool to help Dylan self-soothe. We have tried almost every type of paci on the market including a giant one marked 18 months + (I was thinking maybe he would like pacificers if they we just a little bigger but again I was wrong). One by one, they have been repeatedly refused by Dylan. They are all in a drawer I think of as the reject paci pile. Just to humor me and keep me thinking there is a glimmer of hope, he will occasionally suck on one for a few seconds before spitting it out as if to say, "Really Mom, you must be kidding me."

On Dylan's two month "birthday" Mimi and Papa came up for a visit. Here is a pic of Mimi enjoying her time with her grandson. Incidentally, Mimi is also obsessed with getting Dylan to take a paci and has only been marginally more successful than I.