3 Months Old

First, thanks to you all--my ladies who support and enrich me, often when I need it most.

Second, my daughter is three months old today!  For my own remembering, I wanted to try to list some stuff about her at this point in her life.  Again, this post is for me...so if you aren't up for it, please do click away.

She has become more and more alert and curious.  She looks around, makes eye contact with people, stares at things, etc.  No more sleepy little newborn.  She holds her head up now as I hold her and while on the floor with tummy time.  Still no rolling over, but she is starting to lift her legs up when on her back and rocking back and forth a bit.

She still has a bald spot about the size of a silver dollar on the back of her head where she sleeps.  It is starting to grow some fuzz and feels like a freshly buzzed crew-cut.  So cute.  Her hair smells so adorable, whether it's freshly washed or not.  I really think she has less hair now than she did at birth.  I wonder whether it will be dark like mine (and the donor's) and whether or not it will be curly like mine.

People say her eyes are the same shape as mine.  The color is still turning, but are no longer the bluish gray color they were at birth.  They look hazel to me (like the donor) now.  My mother insists that they will be brown (like mine and the rest of the family).  Wishful thinking, I'm sure.

When I look at baby pictures of myself at that age, I am stunned by how much we look alike.

Her legs are chubby and just about the softest thing I've ever felt.  They are also strong and she loves to kick things.  When she is on her tummy, she pushes off with her feet as though she wants to move forward.

She smiles at me throughout the day, and for about three days now has been giggling.  She is particularly taken with my making sounds such as "la la la" and "goo" and also likes it when I give her the Bronx cheer.  

She smiles at others too, especially my mother.  She often cries with strangers (which  makes it harder for me to leave her)...she is okay for a few seconds, then her bottom lip pouts out, and then there is full-blown screaming.  She usually won't stop crying until she is returned to me.  This is a source of great stress to me as I want her to be comfortable with other people, so I'm trying to get her to interact with others at least once a day.  Seeing her with others is sort of surreal...I look at this amazing creature and can't believe she is my kid.

She still doesn't really reach for things, but when she gets them in her hands she pulls things into her mouth.  It is funny to watch her...she gets extremely frustrated when she can't get things in her mouth.  And then she grunts.  I always know she's mad when she grunts.

THIS CHILD SLEEPS at night.  She goes to bed around 8:30 pm, usually falls asleep while nursing, and sleeps until 6:00 am!  She then feeds and an hour later will go back down for another 2-3 hours.  There are no big naps from noon on (little cat naps), but I won't complain.  Now if only I went to bed when she did and got as much sleep as she does.  She still sleeps best swaddled.  If not swaddled, she often wakes herself up with a start...like she's dreaming that she's falling or something.

She is the happiest in the morning.  She smiles and rolls around in glee when I go to pick her up in the crib.  She sticks her tongue out when she smiles.  She coos.  She's warm and cozy and sinks right into me when I pick her up.  At night, she is much less happy.  She is fussy usually starting around 6:00pm.  It is harder to entertain her during those hours.  This sucks because it is usually when we see my friends, who all likely think she's a fussy baby.  It is sometimes tough to take her to restaurants, but I still do it.

I think she's starting to be a little shy around others.  She looks at them, smiles, and then hides her head in my neck.  Not sure what this is all about...it's new.

She loves to suck, but still won't really take a pacifier ever.  I've been trying to get her to suck her thumb or any of her fingers for a while, but she hasn't done it.  Today I left her in the crib for literally 1 minute while I peed and when I came back in, she was sucking her thumb and asleep!

She's extremely verbal.  She used to say "goo" after I did.  Now she has moved on to "hhhhhi."  Mostly she just babbles and tries to make noises while others are involved in conversation.  I think about what she thinks we are all saying, and how she likely thinks it's just sounds...so that her sounds fit right in with the conversation.

She loves it when I speak spanish to her.  My spanish is not great, but she thinks it is!

She is still exclusively breast fed.  Now that she sleeps so long at night, we are down to 6 or 7 feeds a day.  I neurotically fear that my milk supply will suffer, but all still seems to be okay. She is chubby and looks healthy.  People see her big cheeks and laugh at me when I say I'm not sure I'm feeding her enough.  The thing about breast feeding is you never know how much they are getting.

I don't know how the breast feeding thing will go once I return to work next month.  I plan to pump, but I don't let down as well with the pump.  And I'm not sure how much she needs at each feeding.  I can always start formula during the day once childcare is in place, but I really don't want to yet.  (OH YEAH, HAVE I MENTIONED I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK TO WORK??)

We haven't seen the pediatrician in 5 weeks, but at her 8 week appointment she weighed 12 1/2 pounds.  I'm sure she's at least 14 pounds now (according to my mom's scale...mom weighs herself alone and then with Allie and we figure she weighs the difference).  We have to go back in 4 weeks for the second round of shots.  Ugh.  The first time was unpleasant, but only for a few moments.

That's all I can think of for now.  I must go to bed.