this is london avery....

many pictures have been taken. here are just a few:

sleepin' in her sleeping bag

2 month check up

today i took talan in for his 3 year check-up and london for her 2 month check-up. dave left work early and thankfully met us up at the dr.'s office to help me out. i was a little worried having to go in with (talan) the 2 youngest by myself! but talan ended up behaving pretty well. but it still was nice to have dave there for some backup!
london did really well and looks healthy and strong. she ended up having to get 3 shots and one oral vaccine which she drank down with no real problems.
the first shot they gave her, she let out a little cry. but right when she thought it was all over, she got stuck 2 more times. then she screamed. for a little while. she did finish crying before we headed to check-out, but earlier this evening she started screaming in pain again. she was hysterical and wouldn't even take her bottle. once the tylenol got in her, she calmed down and has been fine ever since. but it was a rough one for her for a little bit!
london ended up weighing in at 11 pound 3 ounces which puts her in the 50-75th% and was 23 3/8 inches long which puts her in the 75th-90th%. so she's doing just fine!!!
her next appointment isn't until she's 4 months.

ready for the dr....she has no idea what is in store for her:

2 months

today london avery turned 2 months old! you always forget how small they are when they are first born and you also forget how quickly they change during the first year.
london has become far more alert than she was last month. recently she has really enjoyed her play gym and other things that she can look up at. dave discovered the other day how much she loves starring at one of talan's birthday balloons. so we tie it to her bouncer seat and she'll just smile and kick away while looking at it.
london doesn't grab at things yet, but you can watch her really concentrate on something and almost try to. when she does somehow get ahold of something, she won't let it go. she loves watching the dangling bird and monkey on her bouncer seat and has caught hold of them before.
while she will hold onto a toy like that at times, she has never been a finger holding baby. i've tried to have her hold onto my finger and she just generally doesn't do it. i hope that changes and that she'll be a hand holder one day!
she loves to smile, and we love it when she does! we can just look at her and smile and she'll return a huge, toothless grin back to us. it is one of the greatest things in life.
she "talks" some, but still seems to have a hard time getting it out. she'll realize soon enough that she really needs to speak up in this house!
i've already had to put away her newborn clothes and even some of the 3 month clothes. she does still wear some 0-3 month outfits, but is typically wearing 3-6 months right now. she has also grown out of the newborn diapers and is now wearing a size 1 diaper.
london doesn't sleep great during the day, usually only taking short little catnaps here and there. there are several reasons for this. #1...she likes to be swaddled when she sleeps and i don't do it during the day. she does sleep better if a lay a blanket on her and tuck her in a bit or if i'm holding her, but i just don't swaddle her during the day for reason #2...she is an AMAZING nite time sleeper. if her staying awake more during the day means she gives us a full nites sleep, i'm fine with that! in 3 weeks i have only had to get out of bed for her ONCE at 4am!!! she has been sleeping through the nite probably since about 3 or 4 weeks old and has been doing it consistently for the past 4 weeks or so. there are some mornings that she wakes up between 6 and 7. she'll take a bottle and go right back to sleep. then there are other mornings that she doesn't get up until 9 or 9:30. this girl needs to give sleeping lessons to all other babies (and kids for that matter)!!!
during the day, london takes a 4 ounce bottle about every 2 hours. if she is napping, she can go about 3 hours or so. but then in the evening, we swaddle her and give her her last bottle somewhere between 9:30 and 10pm and then she is asleep usually by 10:30pm and doesn't wake up until the morning. and yes, we are fully aware of just how lucky we are!! i'm just hoping that her sleeping stays this way and she doesn't start to regress at some point!
london really enjoys her baths. no huge smiles or anything, she just sits in the bath calmly starring out the window. she doesn't really like getting out of the bath while cold and wet, however! but once she is dressed she's back to being happy again.
it also still seems that if she's crying and we change her, she tends to calm down. something about taking her pants off really soothes her.
i feel as though she isn't so much into being held like an infant as much as she likes to be held in a sitting position. apparently she has lots to see and do and doesn't want to be in the cradle position. although, when she is tired, she will happily be rocked to sleep this way.
she doesn't seem to enjoy her swing nearly as much as talan did. she will tolerate it for little bits most of the time, but she seems much more content in her bouncy seat. she also LOVES to lay on her back. if she starts getting fussy while we're holding her, many times we just need to lay her down on her back on the floor and she'll happy right up.
and while hayden loves to see london lay on her stomach, london doesn't love it quite so much! she doesn't hate it...for a bit at least...but you can tell it's certainly not her favorite position. i realized the other day i haven't been putting her on her stomach nearly enough...so much harder with the 3rd. now we have 2 crazy boys running around our small house. she typically will lay on his stomach for a bit just making grunting noises and will eventually find her fist to suck on. after a bit of that she starts letting it be known that she is ready to be turned back over.
her head is very steady and while she still crosses her eyes some, she doesn't do that nearly as much anymore. and she is still very strong. it's hard to put her in a sitting position at times because she is pushing with her legs and many times straightens them out so that she can stand up.
she sucks on a binky and it does usually calm her, but she isn't dependent on it, especially at nite. i remember the boys waking up crying every time their binky fell out and me wanting to just duct tape it in. london usually falls asleep at nite without it, but if she does have it in and when it does fall out, she doesn't care. she still sleeps through the whole nite without it.
and if i'm in her room to get her shortly before she starts crying for a bottle, she'll wake up and give me a great big smile as she's squirming around in her swaddling blanket.
london has been a terrific baby so far. the boys both love her to death and are both very sweet with her. she's mostly quite calm, yet she still fits in with this crazy gang.
we love you so much, baby london! happy 2 months!!! and try to stay small for a little while longer!

announcing....

jenn helped us out a ton by taking pictures and then designing this announcement for london. we love how they turned out. thanks, jenn!!!