How is it possible that two months can go by so quickly?!

I mean, two months does seem small in the grand scope of time…its only eight weeks…fifty six days…seventeen thousand five hundred and thirty one hours. But when I stop and realize that my little girl is a whole two months old, it seems like an eternity. And it’s a little crazy how fast those two months have gone by. I think if I close my eyes too long, I will open them and she will be a little lady, running off to school or out with her friends, talking about boys, shopping for clothes, making plans for her future. I’ve heard the phrase “enjoy this stage while you can! they grow up so fast!” countless times in the last two months, and I’m already starting to believe it to be true.

It’s good though…she needs to grow, and it’s exciting and fun to watch her grow. As a parent, I want to find the balance between fully enjoying and engaging in each stage of my child’s life, while also anticipating and preparing for the next stage. I love having a newborn (although she hardly feels like one anymore), but I’m also excited to see her learn to crawl and walk and talk. I don’t want to dread the next stage just because I think I will miss the current one. There are moments when I think back to the first days of her life…those sweet days with her wrinkly skin and sleepy face and just the fresh newness of her. But as sweet as those days were, I don’t wish for them back…because these days are just as sweet!

I love these days with her smiles and little noises and the way she looks right into my eyes with such bright intensity that it feels like she’s looking right straight down into my soul. I love the way her arms and legs wave around and the little short breaths she takes when she’s excited about something. I love the way she arches her back when you tickle her stomach and the way she sticks her belly in the air when she’s getting into her bath water. I love how she just lays in her stroller looking at the trees when we go for walks and how she seems to love being around people. I love how she stares at her daddy’s face more than anyone else (even mine!) and the way she looks all curled up on his chest. I love the way she feels so warm and snuggly when I get her out of bed and the way she lights up with smiles after eating.

She has a pretty standard three-hour routine during the days, and has actually done that on her own since day one without us even trying to get her on a predictable routine. She will eat, be awake for about an hour, and then sleep for the rest of the three-hour cycle. Her afternoon and evening naps are getting shorter as she gets older, which is fine with us since she is usually so happy and calm when she’s awake and we love to hang out with her!

Ayla has been sleeping in our room in her little Moses basket since she was born, but over the weekend we moved her into the crib in the nursery for the night. It was actually a little hard for me to decide to finally move her out of our room and the empty basket on my side of the bed just seemed so…empty. But the first night we had her in the crib in her own, she slept for nine straight hours! She usually had been waking up at least once and usually twice during the night to nurse, and while it really wasn’t an annoyance or frustration for me, it really is nice to wake up feeling like you had a full night of sleep. It makes her seem so grown up to be sleeping in her own room now!

We’ve been doing sleep training with her for the past few weeks using The Baby Whisperer methods as a guide. When it’s time for a nap and she starts looking dreamy or start fussing, we swaddle her up like a little snug bug and take some time to get her relaxed and into sleep mode. We sit and rock her for five to ten minutes and play some lullabies until she is calm and quiet and sleepy, and then lay her in the crib to finish falling asleep on her own. It took a week or so for her to learn to finish falling asleep without us holding her, but she does so well now! Sometimes she will fuss and fight sleep once we put her down, but it usually only takes us going in a time or so to pat her a little and reassure her, and she will go right to sleep. I love taking the time to rock her and snuggle with her before her naps, but I also love not having to take twenty minutes or more several times a day to get her to sleep. We don’t let her cry herself to sleep, and if she is crying, we are either patting her while she lays in the crib or holding her until she calms down. We try not to let her fall asleep on us too often, although sometimes we just can’t resist letting her because she is so cozy and snuggly.

I still have to pinch myself some days when I look at her and realize all over again that she is our daughter. She is just the most precious thing and I never knew you could love a child like I love this little girl of mine. Being a parent has actually been easier than I was expecting…full of even more joy and happiness and sweetness than I even dreamed it would be. Of course there are the moments that are challenging or you don’t know what to do when she is crying and crying…but those moments are just a small blip in a reality that is otherwise filled with so much fulfillment and joy.

She is the greatest little blessing in our lives and home, and we are endlessly grateful to God for giving her to us!

What about you: what was the most surprising aspect of parenting for you? Was it easier or harder than you expected?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!