Two months with our bilingüita and counting! Lots of big changes happened this month, and while I’m missing the sweet newborn stage, I know she’s gotta grow and develop! This post outlines our time with Aniela as a two month old. (I know technically her second month is Jan 5th – Feb 5th, but I’m just going to call two months old ‘second month,’ three months old ‘third month,’ etc.) This update is all about her two month development, her language exposure via Bilingüitos, and about how I’m feeling at two months postpartum. Also read on to find out who was the recipient of Aniela’s first real smile 😀
January, 2020 – Aniela’s first month
Weight: 11 lbs (at two months old)
Height: I don’t remember, somewhere between 22 and 23 in!
Clothing size: Firmly in the 0-3 camp now; by the end of 2 months she was starting to wear 3-6 months but admittedly I just put them on because they’re big on her and it makes her look tiny again.
Diaper size: Halfway through this month she moved up size two! I was surprised, I didn’t know diaper sizing up happened so quickly! Got me a little in my feels!
Nicknames: Cachorro, Conejo (both courtesy of Alfredo, of course)
She’s starting to: She’s beginning to smile and gummy-laugh all the time (not true laughs, but like big open mouth, tongue at the roof of her mouth, nose scrunched up, happy eyes laughs). Midway through two months she’s really discovering her HANDS. She’s touching things and feeling their texture, like my sweater when I’m nursing her, or the back of the couch, or her pacifier, or her blanket on her. Also she’s always chewing on her hands and other things, we swear she’s teething. The amount she’s drooling is unreal too! We had to officially buy drool bibs at this point. I never expected so much drool.
She no longer: She no longer takes catnaps like a newborn, you know how newborns fall asleep where ever, whenever, however…it feels like she rarely falls asleep during the day now (unless she’s in the car seat or the baby carrier, then she’s out like a light). It has to be intentional now. And her wake periods are so much longer than before. Also she no longer likes to be in the laying down position, she wants to always see what’s going on.
Favorite word/phrase: STINKY! She thinks that’s hilarious for some reason 😛
Predominant feeling during this stage: “Too fast, too fast! I either need a pause/rewind button, OR I need to have a bazillion kids so that I can experience this infant stage over and over. Other feeling: Okay wow, I can get NO work done with this baby.”
A few things that are saving our lives right now:
- Happy Baby Carrier: A huge lifesaver has been our Happy Baby soft structured carrier. I knew I was going to need to be hands-free, especially when I went back to work which I did this month. I looked at all kinds of different baby carriers but landed on this one and I’m glad I did. It’s soft enough to fold down and fit in the diaper bag, but it’s structured enough to be able to put on without having to worry about wrapping or tying or anything like that. Plus, the colors available are so beautiful, so you can’t beat the look of the HBC.
- Hanging Toys / Play Gyms She’s starting to get interested in toys and looking at things, so it’s been nice to have something to keep her entertained, even if it’s only just while I wash dishes or fold laundry or something. My mom has one at her house for when we’re there, and then I have this wooden one at our house that I added a few extra toys to. Aniela will lay there on her back looking at the toys and kicking her legs up and down for about 10 – 15 minutes before she gets bored. So definitely a nice little break from having to hold her or entertain her 😛
- Carseat Gallery My mom got her this Wimmer-Ferguson gallery for the car to help her visual development — it’s a series of black, white, and red images that you put on the back of the seat where the carseat faces for the baby to look at while in the car. Aniela specifically liked the one with the face and was fascinated by the eyes.
- Drool Bibs Our little waterfall drooly baby was in desperate need of drool bibs, and I do like the ones from Parker Baby that you can get on Amazon. However the color palette wasn’t fully doing it for me so eventually I bought a pack of plain white ones and dyed them using coffee and black tea to great varying shades of tan 😀 If you’re interested in that DIY, I posted about it on my Instagram. One thing’s for sure though — we can’t go without a drool bib these days!
- Bibs Pacifiers She’s moved on from the Avent soothie pacis and has totally taken to the Mushie Bibs ones now! Before she was even born I’ve always loved these pacifiers because of the style and the color options. Totally fits into our preferred color palette 😉 Our favorites are Mocha, Vanilla, Rust, and Hunter Green. I feel like they’re the perfect accessory while also being a practical item! And our girl is definitely a paci girl.
Second Month General Update
February was a month that took getting used to. I feel like there was a lot of change within this month, in many ways. Change in baby development and behavior. Change in hormones. Change in schedule.
This is the month that I started going back to work at the office for Bilingüitos as well as teaching in the homeschool co-op. Aniela would come with me to the office, so it was nice to not have to be away from her then. But when I was teaching, she stayed with Fredy or with my mom, and I didn’t like having to leave her. It made me sad 🙁 It also stressed me out a little bit because I had to make sure I was keeping enough milk in the freezer for those occasions. I don’t have an electric pump, only the haakaa, which at first was totally enough since I had an abundance of milk in the early days of establishing my supply. But when it tapered off to exactly what Aniela needed, I didn’t get much extra with the haakaa (which I know is normal). It would take one full day of haakaa-ing at each feeding to get enough for just one 3-4 oz bottle.
Getting into a routine was a little bit of a struggle, because I had to be up and out the door with a baby by a certain time early in the mornings. I know, I know, “Get used to it cuz that’s the rest of your life!” But that’s what I’m saying — this month took getting used to. I am the kind of person that can roll out of bed, shower, get ready, and be out the door in less than 45 minutes. But now with a baby it’s all about timing. Timing her feedings and her naps. Timing my shower with her content stage. Well, you get it. She’s a great sleeper, which is a Godsend of course, but in the mornings I’d have to wake HER up to start getting ready in order to be out the door in time. Waking an angelic sleeping baby seems sooo counter productive. So that took getting used to.
I also feel like this is the month that the postpartum hormones and tiredness really kicked in. I sailed through December and January but started feeling exhausted and temperamental in February. The tiredness was probably partially due to the fact that I had just started getting up early and going into work, plus carrying a heavy car seat back and forth with me for the first time. But I think hormones also played a part because I was moodier than normal for a bit there too.
Finally, I also noticed that two months was kind of the beginning of Aniela’s big developmental changes. (They’re always happening, I’m sure, but this time it stood out.) I noticed her wanting to do more things than she was able to do, thus she’d get frustrated. For example, wanting to sit up and see what was going on around her, or wanting to grab toys and things but not having the dexterity to do so. She for the most part stayed her happy self, but just a little more frustrated from time to time.
But this month brought a lot of good too. It brought her first smile! How sweet was that? Actually, her first real I’m-smiling-as-a-reaction smile was awarded to Miss Sandra, one of our incredible Bilingüitos teachers. After that one, it was non-stop happy smiles from our happy girl. This month brought her first walk out in the neighborhood, and then many after that whenever the weather permitted. It brought the first visit down to Fredy’s family. The first Bilingüitos baby play date. The first outing with girlfriends for dinner and drinks with baby in a baby wrap. It brought about the first feeling of getting back to real life (though I quite enjoyed the newborn phase of non-real life :P). It was a good month — a month of growth for sure.
February brought about the first feeling of getting back to real life (though I quite enjoyed the newborn phase of non-real life :P). It was a good month. A month of growth for sure.
Language Updates
Right around two months is when Aniela started cooing, and progressed to some other sounds. Alfredo’s family members joke about how she is so ‘platicona’ and that we’re in for when she’s older. I don’t doubt it!
When she wasn’t communicating using her voice, she would talk with her hands. Okay, not really, but since she had just started discovering her hands and their movement, sometimes it looked like she was trying to tell me something. I have one particular video where her hand movements look so specific and controlled that I swore it was some sort of language. It reminded me about how babies who grow up in signing households start to ‘babble’ with rhythmic, repetitive hand formations and movements much like babies in hearing households babble with their voices. But of course, this is not what was happening with Aniela, it just reminded me of that fact!
The biggest language change this month was all the outside Spanish that our bilingüita started hearing! Since I went back to work and she came with me, she got a huge influx of Spanish from all of the teachers and other parents at Bilingüitos. Not only was she overhearing peer-to-peer Spanish conversations (she gets that at home as well), but she was also overhearing lots of child-directed Spanish during classes. We joked about how she already knew all the songs from all the time spent at Bilingüitos while in the womb.
Our Bilingüitos good-bye song: “¡Adiós! ¡Hasta luego! Quiero verte, cocodrilo, SNAP” (Makes no sense, don’t think about it too hard :P)
She also got plenty of baby-directed language specifically for her from the teachers when they’d interact with her. I was happy about this, because (1) it was extra Spanish input and (2) it was new voices beyond just mom and dad.
So that’s been a fun language change this month. For now, most of the time at Bilingüitos she is just overhearing others’ conversations, but one day Bilingüitos will be the source of plenty of Aniela-directed language input as well!
For now, most of what she hears at Bilingüitos is others’ conversations, but one day Bilingüitos will be the source of plenty of Aniela-directed language input as well!
Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed this installment of Aniela’s monthly updates! Thank you all for your love and support, both in person and on Instagram. Stay tuned for the three month update, which covers March, the start of quarantine, and lots more cute photos!
My hope with these milestone posts is that aspiring bilingual families, new parents, and expecting mamás-to-be alike will benefit from month-by-month updates of bilingual parenting in action.
Want to connect with us online? Follow along with my personal Instagram, and with our Bilingüitos Instagram or our Facebook. Also, join in on the bilingual parenting conversation in our Facebook Group, the Bilingual Parenting Network!
