Dear Alex,

happy two month birthday! I can't believe you are already so big. You're so different from the tiny little man we brought home from the hospital who couldn't smile or laugh or follow things with his eyes or flip over or hold his head up, even for a second, or grab things on his own.

You are changing every day. Yesterday, I read you the book Gus the Friendly Ghost, and you really seemed to be getting into it. Before, when I read to you, you didn't really seem to notice, but this time, you looked at the pictures and responded to my voice.

You are changing our lives so much. One unexpected consequence of your arrival in our lives is the constant string of old school gangsta rap songs cycling through my head. You respond really well to that sort of music, so we play it for you often to calm you down. Hey, whatever works... So, today, I am serenading myself with Warren G and Nate Dogg's "Regulators." Yesterday, it was "Juicy" by Biggie. This is a fairly new experience for me, but it's kinda fun. I Just have to make sure I don't start singing aloud at work because the lyrics to those songs are definitely NSFW. In a few months, when you start repeating things, we're going to have to be much more careful about what you listen to, but for now, it seems relatively harmless.

You had your two month checkup today, and the doctor said you were doing great. You had to have four vaccinations, three of which were shots. It was really hard for your Daddy and me to listen to you crying in pain. It was the first time I'd ever heard you cry from pain, and I did not enjoy it. I wanted to be able to make it stop hurting, but all I could do was hold you and snuggle you and tell you everything was ok. I expect this is just the first of many times in your life that I will want to step in and make everything ok for you, but find myself unable to do anything to alleviate the pain. Just know that, no matter what, I'll always be there to tell you that I love you, to hold you and snuggle you and tell you that everything is ok.

Your Daddy says to tell you we love you.

Love,
Mom

2 months, 3 days out of the oven