I Have Hands!

Taelyn has officially discovered her own hands this past week and now loves to touch everything around her: her pacifier, blanky, mommy and daddy's hands, etc. But today, she did something amazing. As I was reading her a "touch and feel" book about baby animals, I noticed that for the first time, Taelyn was actually focusing on the pages instead of staring off into space. Each page contained different textures of material to represent a furry rabbit or rough elephant, and I would take Taelyn's hand and have her touch each page. When we got to the fuzzy gorilla, though, I let Taelyn look at the page on her own without forcing her hand to touch it. She was so fixated on the material, and before I knew it she lifted her hand up and reached for it on her own! It was such an "aha" moment, and I am so proud of my little girl.

Taelyn - 2 Months

Taelyn is now two months old, and it's amazing how much she has changed from the first month. The obvious changes are physical - her face has developed much more, and her body has filled out quite a bit. After her 2-month check-up, Taelyn now weighs 11.75 lbs. and is 22 inches long. Her length is average for her age, but her weight is nearing the 75th percentile. What has caught me by surprise most, however, is her recent emotional needs. She no longer sleeps 21 hours a day while only crying when she is hungry. Now she is awake much more, and we have had to work hard to make sure that happens mostly during the day time. There have been a few rough nights where Taelyn just doesn't want to go back to sleep at 3am while she has also made it six whole hours of deep sleep during the night!

During the day, Taelyn is also pretty active. After sleeping and eating, it's play time where we sing songs, dance, read books (especially the gorilla book with daddy), play with colorful toy bugs, go to the playground, and jump in the sand. She is quite busy these days, and she certainly enjoys telling people all about it. So far, she mostly speaks vowel sounds, but there are a few times where she will try out the occasional consonant. Just the other day, it sounded like she said "okay."

Babies change so quickly, and I can only imagine how different she will be in a month from now. I will be sure to capture those new moments as they come!

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Running Again

I have finally returned to running again after 6 long weeks since Taelyn's birth. I have been mentally ready for several weeks now, but it took a little longer for my body to be ready physically. So far, running feels great! I have been at it for about a week and a half now, and I am surprised at how it isn't very difficult to increase the time I am out running each day. My lungs don't feel too out of shape, and I am making it further and further each day. Today I made it to 40 minutes - something I haven't done since the first week in December! My pace is still really slow, but I know that will come down. And the icing on the cake... Taelyn gets to come with my in a baby jogger that we borrowed from a friend while we are here in China. Both Justin and I have taken full advantage of this. Taelyn has no problem jogging with her mom and dad; she usually falls fast asleep from the smooth ride. That is good because it is something she will need to get used to during the early stages of her life!