Some things about him & a few about her...

Joshua has caught the Christmas spirit. Ever since Thanksgiving, he's been obsessed with all things holiday related, and it's been a lot of fun to watch. He was thrilled that his beloved Polar Express movie was allowed to come out of hibernation again. Our watch count stands at 2 1/2 times already (the half was from our trip to Lewistown when he fell asleep 40 minutes into the movie). We've been reading a lot of Christmas books, and it prompted Jason's trip to Borders yesterday to pick up a few new ones that have more words in them than the pile of board books we got for Joshua when he had just turned 1. And yes, the Polar Express was one of the books Daddy got. The joy on Joshua's face was unbelievable and it was read to him quite a few times last evening.

He very enthusiastically helped to decorate Nana and Pap's Christmas tree, and was quite a good helper here at home as well. There may be a heavy concentration of non-breakable ornaments on the bottom 5 rows of branches at both houses, but who cares. He had a ball!

We have a new friend at our house as well...Clocky. There may be enough here for a whole separate post, but our Elf on the Shelf has been quite a captivating new tradition to start. We're all having a lot of fun with it. Joshua named our elf Clocky (who knows where that came from), and each night while he sleeps, he magically flies to the North Pole to give Santa a report on Joshua's behavior from the day. When Joshua awakes, Clocky has landed in a new spot. It's very cute, and serves a pretty fantastic purpose of reminding Joshua to keep his behavior in check.

And in one classic Joshua moment, I have to share his comment about the nativity set that he was helping my mom to set up on Saturday morning. She has the Fisher Price Little People nativity so that the kids can touch and move things around. There are so many Christmas decorations that are off limits for the kids, so this was a great idea. Joshua was helping Nana to set up all of the people and asking questions about them. When he got to Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus, he asked my mom what Jesus' Mommy's name was. My mom told him that her name was Mary, to which Joshua replied, "But I thought she had a little lamb." Classic.

And here's what Lauren had to say about her doctor's appointment yesterday. The poor little thing had her heart broken for the first time when she got her shots. Whoever decided that five shots and an oral vaccine are appropriate for a baby this small needs to have their head checked. And I can tell you that, for me, being there with her was no less horrible than it was the first time I went through it with Joshua. She was laying there perfectly content, smiling and cooing away.....and then WHAM when that first needle hit her little leg. She looked at me with these scared eyes like, "Mommy....she's hurting me! Aren't you going to DO something about that?" I know that this all falls into the category of "for her own good" but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Lauren spent the rest of the afternoon super clingy and didn't want to be put down at all. She was very sleepy and rested most of the afternoon and evening, waking only to eat. The shots must have really knocked it out of her because she continued to sleep last night as well. I put her down at 10:00 and woke her up at 5:00 because I thought I might blow up if she didn't eat.

In terms of statistics, the doctor was thrilled with her growth and weight gain. She was 9 lb 12.5 oz (25th percentile) and 22.25 inches long (50th percentile). Her little head measured 37.75 cm (25th percentile). I checked back last night, and Joshua was 10 lb 12 oz at his 2 month checkup, just for reference, although I know comparison does absolutely no good. The good news was that she checked out fine, and everyone was pleased with her growth and developmental milestones at this point. I always consider these checkups a little report card for us as parents, so it was nice to know that what we're doing with her is giving her what she needs.

I had lots of questions, too. First, on the poop situation, I was assured that it was completely normal. The doctor said that some breast fed babies can go a week without going. She laughed when I told her I had been worried about it. She said, "I'm really surprised you didn't call. We usually hear from all of the nursing moms around 6-8 weeks when this changes." I told her I had thought about it, but didn't want to be the neurotic one. Evidently there are a lot of neurotic moms. I feel so much better. Also high on my question list was the terrible rash that continued to get worse and worse all last week. I believe we've isolated the culprit, although it creates a whole new set of issues. We all believe that it is my birth control pill (the one that's supposed to be safe for nursing moms) that's causing Lauren's entire face to be covered with what looks like a bad case of baby acne. Since I've stopped taking it, the rash is drying up and looks millions of times better. Obviously, we don't want her to be polka dotted....but we don't want her to be a middle child either. So, this little "situation" is going to need a remedy in short order!

So that's the update from the Dugan household this morning. I wonder what kind of adventures we can have today?