Life of Laraia: Bella Rey

On June 21st, Bella turned 2 months old. She has learned so much in the second month of her life! I won't lie, the first month of her life was very stressful for me because of everything we had going on. Graduation, moving, saying goodbye to friends, and learning how to keep a baby alive. I feel like I didn't really, truly bond with her and feel that overwhelming love for her that mother's talk about, until we got to California and I could breathe again. Now, when people ask, "Isn't motherhood the greatest?!", I can reply, "Yes, yes it is."

I love being this tiny girl's mother. She is such a happy baby with the sweetest face. I often find myself in her room just staring at her while she naps. At night, I can't go to sleep until I look at pictures of Bella on my phone. And when I'm finishing the unpacking or cleaning while she naps, I feel a longing in my stomach to be holding and kissing her. When Pedro gets home from work, you can just feel his excitement to hurry and get out of his suit so he can hold and kiss his baby girl. He loves to narrate Bella's thoughts as she is discovering the world around her. It really is sweet how much he loves her.

My favorite photo from her second month of life.

Bella at 2 months:

She has learned how to sort of use her hands. She has become more aware of her appendages. She likes to stare at her fists and slowly move them towards her favorite elephant toy on her bouncer. We think she will be left handed because that is the hand she is most fascinated with, but at this age, I don't know if that is really an indicator or not.
She wakes up smiling every morning. She will just lay in her crib and coo in the morning, and then when I go to get her she gives me a big smile and kicks her legs. I love this happy baby!
She goes to bed around 7:30, sleeps 6-8 hour stretches, wakes up for an early morning feeding, then sleeps another 3-4 hours. We still have an occasional night where she wakes up every 3 hours, but regardless, she still goes right back to sleep after feedings.
We finally bought her a crib last week, and she has been doing great sleeping in her own room. I think she likes the crib mattress better than the hard bassinet pad she had been sleeping on.
She is pretty much holding her head up by herself, at least for a little bit. She gets tired and will start to wobble.
She has discovered her voice and loves experimenting with different sounds. Her favorite sound right now is "aye, aye, aye."
She smiles for most of the day. She is very social and will smile at people in the store. She will give us a big open mouth gummy smile when we blow raspberries on her cheeks, belly, and feet.
She is starting to giggle more, and she gave us a true deep giggle the other day. I love her little laugh and can't wait until she starts giggling all the time!
She has officially graduated to size 1 diapers, and is beginning to wear 0-3 month clothing. Most of her newborn clothes still fit her though.
She loves blowing bubbles and is quite drooly, but she has started spitting up less. Thank goodness!
She still loves her baths and will scoot herself down in her sling so that she is laying completely in the water.
She has rolled from her belly to her back one time. She does not like tummy time, and will try to inch worm instead. she still gets really close to rolling over.
She will sit in her bouncer or lay on her playmat and stay entertained for 1-2 hours. This has been really nice while I have been trying to finish putting our home together.
We tried dipping her toes in the swimming pool, and she screamed like crazy! Guess we will have to wait until the pool is heated.
She loves walks and being outside. If she is sad, you just have to start moving with her and go outside and immediately she is happy.
Bella is beautiful (fitting name). people always go out of their way when we are in public just so they can get a good look at her.
She has her own special "I want Mommy to hold me" whimper, and I love that she loves me so much. I will hold her and she will just stare into my eyes, unblinking. I never truly understood the deep meaning behind Christ stating that we must become as a little child. I have a hard time looking people in the eyes due to fear of judgement and feeling shame. With Bella, there is no judgement in her eyes. Just pure adoration for her Mommy, and simple innocence.

I'm sure there are more things she has learned, but these are the ones that stick out in my mind. We haven't had her 2 month appointment because insurance didn't kick in until just a few days ago. I will have some stats on her next week. I have been taking a picture (or 10 ha ha) a day to send to Pedro. Don't worry I only send one, I just have to take a bunch to get a good one. This little girl is wiggly!

I can't wait to see what she learns over the next month!

***Bella's 2 Month (11 weeks) Stats:

10 lbs 4.5 oz (15th percentile)
23.5 inches long (70th percentile)
Head circumference 39 cm (30th percentile)

Bella is a long and lean little bean, just like her daddy. At her 2 week appointment she was average for height and weight and 85th percentile for head circumference. She was a champ with her shots and very cooperative with the NP. Everyone always comments on Bella's pretty hair and cute face. Today the NP stated that Bella was definitely Daddy's girl because of her long dark hair, dark eyes, and olive skin. Pedro is pretty proud that Bella takes after him :)