Jared's phone has entered the chat

Time is a thief! Last night I was noticing that our favorite zip-up swaddle for Alice was getting tight. I googled when it's time to stop swaddling baby, and the results said around 2 months, which she already is! That snuck up on me. I fully thought we'd be swaddling her for several more months. Me and Jared just looked at our sweet baby burrito and commiserated on how just like that, the baby burrito stage of life is just about behind us. She's not rolling over yet so we'll probably swaddle her for another week or so, but it's bittersweet how much faster time is going with baby #2 than it did with baby #1. 

Not a whole lot to report. I spent my free time this week prepping for Jared's birthday, which is on Saturday. Jack is very into geography lately. (As in, "which country did this dino live in? What country did that dino live in? Tell me every single country where every single dino ever lived, all the time, plz and thx.") He's been drawing lots of maps. Jared had his first day working at our small-town clinic--it went great, and I think he really enjoyed that when he forgot to pack a lunch he could just call and have me run something over real quick. Alice is just the best. I can't get over how she'll actually hold still and snuggle into us? Snuggling was never possible with Jack because his little body couldn't figure out how to stop jerking its limbs around constantly. The newborn phase is entirely different this time around. Alice is sleeping better at 2 months old than Jack did at 2 years old. The last couple nights she's only woken up once. I get up, feed her within 10-15 minutes, and set her back in her crib where she immediately falls back asleep. I'm in shock every time I just set her down and she just goes to sleep. Bless baby Jack's heart, but he could NEVER. To be fair, Jack is the guinea pig oldest child. I have a lot more knowledge and tools this time around. We've practiced putting Alice down "drowsy but awake" daily basically since she was born and that's helped her to learn self-soothing skills much earlier and more gently.

That's about all there is to report. Here are some pictures form Jared's phone for a change, from the past month or two:

^^Unintentional (and tired) family matching with newborn Alice. She was even matching us with olive green pjs under her swaddle:

^^Found Jared's beloved Grandma Bonnie on his phone. We've both been blessed with the best grandmothers. 

^^ Jack went to his first real friend birthday part with some of his best preschool buddies last month. Alice was just 2 or 3 weeks old so Jared took Jack and they had a blast. Above is Jack and his good friend Lucas. 

^^Check E. Cheese is life. I'm so happy it's still around for my kids to experience. Truly the happiest place on earth for me when I was 5 haha. 

^^I have a mini me! She looks a bit like everyone in the family, which I love. I'm so happy I can see some of me in her. 

^^I was feeding Alice, then Jack came up and laid on me, begging to be read his favorite Dinosaur Encyclopedia for the 500th time. And then Savvy wanted in on the action too haha. 

^^"Dad, take a picture of me holding this hot dog."

^^A 2-month-old Alice. Love this chonk so much.