three months

Month Three!

I feel like this month we truly moved from having a 'newborn' to having a baby.  There were so many things that happened!  From Allie's first flight to the first time she rolled over--she's such a joy to be around and we feel so blessed to have such a happy baby.  I absolutely love seeing her smile.  I hope she always smiles the way she does now, with her eyes all squinty and her tongue sticking out.  She may only be 3 months old, but she's such a great companion.  When we go on walks, she has started to put her foot up against the stroller edge and just totally epitomizes "chillin".  Being pregnant opened up a lot of conversation with strangers but having a baby opens it up even more.  I love it.

We think Allie weighs around 15 pounds now.  She won't have another official weigh-in until her 4 month Well Check.  Her eyes are a dark grey and in certain lights they look very brown, so we're thinking they'll change in the next couple of months.  Her hair initially looked reddish as it was coming in but as it's getting longer, it is looking more brown.  She has had some minor cradle cap issues but the other day I rubbed some coconut oil on her little head and it brushed right out!  Good ol' coconut oil.  She has started to drool a LOT in the last week or so and likes to suck on our hands and fabric (she especially loves when she can grab a hold of her bedroom curtains while I'm changing her).  Maybe she's getting ready to start teething?  Not sure but these are certainly new developments in the health department.

Allie is still a great sleeper.  She has been sleeping through the night since she was 9 weeks old.  On September 12, she started eating every 2 hours on the dot and since September 15, she's been sleeping 9 hours or more each night.  We had a few issues when we traveled to New Orleans but overall, we think she handled sleeping in a different place in a different timezone very well.  She did get a little messed up at the end and now (about a week after returning home) she is still not consistently sleeping through the night.  

Here's what her typical schedule looks like:

7:00 eat
7:50 sleep
9:00 eat
9:50 sleep
11:00 eat
11:50 sleep
1:00 eat
1:50 sleep
3:00 eat
3:50 sleep
5:00 eat
5:50 sleep
7:00 bath time, bedtime routine
8:00 eat
8:30 sleep

Allie is still EBF.  Like I mentioned above, she moved from eating every 3 hours to every 2 hours on her own.  I'm trying really hard to stretch her back out to 3 because I think she needs to take longer naps.  When she wakes up, she is typically still rubbing her eyes and yawning.  If we let her soothe herself back to sleep, she will typically make it to the 3 hour mark.  We're still trying to work everything out though.

When people ask me how old Allie is, I love seeing the surprise on their faces when I tell them.  It's typically followed up with "Are you nursing?" and then "Ahh, that's why."  She's a chunky little monkey but I love all her rolls.  She's wearing a mix of 3 month and 3-6 sized clothes.  (I say that but today she wore a 6 month hoodie and leggings.)  I think we'll be moving her up soon because of the length.  She must finally be getting longer because her onesies are really stretching around the neck.  She is still wearing size 2 diapers.

This month, due to all the traveling and excessive drooling, we've been loving the aden + anais swaddle blankets.  I use them as a nursing cover, burp cloths, blanket (for myself), and we swaddle her with her arms out in them every night.  We also use (and LOVE) the Circo Receiving Blankets from Target as burp cloths.  She's been spitting up more the past couple of weeks so we try to have one of these within reach wherever we go.

Allie met Carson's grandfather while we were in New Orleans and she also spent a few days with my mom.  She smiles all the time now and we get what we think is a laugh out of her every now and then.  We're so thankful that we've had the opportunity to spend so much time with both of our families over the past 3 months.  

We really only get cries when Allie is tired.  The hardest part of the flight home from New Orleans was just the fact that she couldn't get comfortable enough to sleep.  Eventually she fell asleep sitting on my lap while I rubbed her belly.  Thankfully, everyone around us was very understanding.

Allie is very interested in toys now and likes to lick things or have things in her mouth.  If she wants something in her mouth, she will very slowly lean towards it with her mouth open and grunt.  She LOVES to be facing forward in the Baby Bjorn because she sucks the crap out of the fabric.  So much so that her drool soaks through to the other side of the carrier.  She's also loving staring at lights and ceiling fans.

On the other hand, she hates being dried off after her bath and we're still struggling with bottle feeding.  

As for me, I feel great!  I have started to lose some hair but it's no more than I lost my last semester of college when I was constantly stressing about finding a job.  I seem to have more acne these days and I'm not sure if that's still extra hormones or if it's because of my diet.

This month has really been full of so many developments and changes.  Allie can scoot around in her crib now.  At one point in New Orleans, I noticed she was making really muffled grunting sounds and when I went to check on her, she had wedged herself into the corner of the pack n' play completely perpendicular to the way I had laid her.  She also rolled from her stomach to her back twice now.  She has officially discovered her voice.  She makes a lot more noises now and knows how to change the pitch of her babbles.  She seems to be crying a good deal louder these days.  Speaking of crying, she officially makes tears and it breaks my heart.  The second she starts crying, the tears start streaming.

I'll leave you with the pictures below. Carson around 4 months old, Allison today, and me a couple of months old.  I would guess how old I was based off of the cold weather clothing but I'm sure we lived in Maryland or Wisconsin so it was probably one constant winter season.  You can see Allie is pretty much 100% Noble though.