I'm two months old, y'all! (Well, yesterday...)

I don't know what's harder to believe.  The fact that Axel is two months old, or the fact that had he come when planned he would barely be three and a half weeks old.  It feels like this is all old hat now, we are pretty used to our routine now and I feel empty handed leaving the house without him.

His one month picture, for contrast. :)

I'm still very curious as to whether or not his milestones will be driven more by his birth age versus his gestational age.   So far it seems like we have a combination in terms of things he has hit and things he hasn't.  And for some things he seems to be in kind of a hybrid state.   For example, of course, I would think that one of the most exciting milestones for a baby to hit is that first time that they smile in response to you as a parent.  He isn't QUITE there, but he is at the point where, during quiet alert time, he'll break into a (non-gas) grin.  It's absolutely heart melting, so I can only imagine the puddle I will become when he smiles in response to us versus in response to a bad joke he is thinking about in his mind.

Uh oh... we are crying, hold please.  Never mind, the moment passed and we are good.

We have been having a fabulous time recently ensuring that he's absolutely GQ - now that he can fit into the majority of his newborn outfits, it's just fun to dress him up.   I went out and bought my first scale ever, for the sole fact that I want to know how much my child weighs.   I weighed him the other night and he's 8.6 pounds.  What a big boy!  :)  It makes me giggle to look at some of the birth announcements that my friends have sent out and he's still not quite at the weight of some of those on their birthdate.  This is why he is... the little nugget. 

The little nugget got an invitation in the mail yesterday (see, already a popular guy with a social calendar) for a NICU reunion at the hospital.  What a spectacular idea.  It's a chance for parents to take their babies back up to see the nurses that tended to their little people without the stressors of beeping and wires getting in the way of a conversation... but even more exciting, it's a chance for the nurses who took care of the little people to see how far they have come.  I'm really hoping we can make it to this, I think it seems like a pretty special thing to do.

Up close photos are supremely fun when your baby has awesome facial expressions.  Just saying.

September 2nd was a big day for our family... it was my grandmother's birthday, and it was also Brittany's TWENTIETH birthday.  Where does the time go?  Ben thinks it's pretty funny to tell people he now has a twenty year old and a newborn.  I think that we are pretty lucky on both counts, though.  

This is Axel saying happy birthday, I love you, to his sister and his great grandmother. 

Token cute pic:

So, one of the things that makes me laugh about Axel is the fact that he will turn at least ninety degrees when he sleeps.   Mind you, this is not an all the time occurrence, but it happens quite a bit.  Typically what will happen:  we put him in his bassinette, he's looking like a normal baby burrito.  We wake up, and he's completely sideways.  He does this every now and then in his little downstairs bed as well - it's fun to watch the turning progress.  We had some friends over on Sunday night and they got to witness the clockwise motion of the child. 

That being said, not all of you have the opportunity to see this in action.  Lucky for you, I have documented an example of it.

We started out sleeping after being fussy all afternoon... YES!

Or not... 

Then we are out again...

Within less than an hour... 

And... we are OUT.

Gotta love this kid.

Anyway, happy birthday to the birthday people, and happy two months to my nugget. :)

I leave you with a bit of relaxation today.  Happy September!