3 Months

Dear Jordyn,

I'm a couple of days late with this post, as you turned three months old two days ago, on November 7th. Just the day before, you came with me to vote, and Barack Obama won a second term as president.

I just can't even begin to believe it's been three months already! Where has the time gone?! In a way, it seems like just yesterday that I was in labor and you were about to be born, and in a way, it seems like a million years ago. It seems like we've been together forever, and it's really still just the beginning. It's still kind of surreal to think that I'm a mom, but I think I've gotten the hang of it in many ways. Not that I don't still have a lot to learn, and as I say to you, "We're a team, you and I. We're going to figure it all out together". And we are, slowly but surely, figuring it all out.

Lately, you've been starting to reach and grasp at toys. Everything goes right into your mouth, of course! Especially your fingers and hands. You just love to suck on them, and sometimes you make a smacking sound, which is so cute. You're cooing and "talking" more and more. One of your favorite things is the mobile over the changing table at Nana and Grandpa's house. You just love to watch, smile at, and talk to the bugs that hang down from it. Can you even believe Grandpa found it in the leave-something-take-something area at the town dump?! (don't worry, it was cleaned well!). You also love your "jungle" activity mat, and sometimes you'll lie there and watch the lights, listen to the music, and look at the animals for a while so I can wash bottles, do the dishes, or fold laundry.

You're drinking six ounces of "milk" (formula) at a time, and have been for a while. I think you're actually getting to the point of needing more than six ounces - you certainly want more! We do some nursing, and one of my favorite times of the day is nursing you while we lie in my bed together first thing in the morning when you wake up. You also often fall asleep when you nurse, so sometimes I "cheat" and use it to help you take a nap. You still spit up a lot, but I just make sure to keep a bunch of burp cloths around, and you wear a bib for every bottle, and usually for a while afterwards. You still manage to "slime" us both sometimes, though!

You love bathtime! Sometimes you take a bath in your infant tub, and sometimes we take a bath together in the big tub. You like when I drip water on you from the wet washcloth or a bath toy, and you look up at it as it comes down on you. You're starting to kick your legs and splash sometimes, so I better watch out! You don't love when I wash your neck, but there are ickies living in there, so we have to get them out. You do seem to like the scalp massage I give you when I wash your hair. When we're in the big tub, you like to float on your back while I hold your head and neck and just let the rest of your body float in the water. You've even been swimming twice already in Nana and Grandpa's pool, and you seem to like it.

You've been sleeping through the night for a while now. Not just 5-6 hours, either, but more like 9-10 most nights. It's wonderful! Please keep it up! :) I think you started to sleep so well somewhere around 8 or 9 weeks, when you started sleeping in a Baby Mer.lin's Mag.ic Sle.ep Suit (BMMSS). You really hated to be swaddled, as you pushed against it and it ramped you up instead of calming you down and helping you sleep. Someone suggested the BMMSS, and you've slept no less than 7 hours a night since the first night you slept in it! It really IS magic! You go to sleep between 8-9pm and wake up between 6-7, or occasionally 7:30am. You have also started to fall asleep by yourself, so I can put you in your crib when you're still awake, and you go to sleep without any fussing or very, very little fussing for just a few minutes. If you do start to cry, I pick you right up and rock and shush you for a few minutes until you're calm, and then put you back down. You just started to sleep in a crib a week or two ago. Before that, you slept in a bassinet right next to my bed at our house, and in a bassinet-type stroller (mine from when I was a baby!) at Nana and Grandpa's house. Your first night in a crib was at their house, and you did great! When we nurse in the morning, or when we take a nap together occasionally, we cos.leep in my bed, and I just love to cuddle with you!

You almost never cry when you wake up in the morning. You lie in bed and suck on your fingers. Your happy awake noises usually wake me up, and you smile up at me when you see me walk up to your crib. You're always so happy when you wake up in the morning! It just warms my heart to see your beautiful smile, and I can't wait to get your diaper changed so we can cuddle, nurse, and doze in my bed for a while.

You're daytime sleep isn't so great right now, but that's ok. Night time sleep is much more important! You used to take a 2.5-3.5 hour nap in the late morning/early afternoon, but that seems to have disappeared. You won't sleep "flat" (i.e. in your crib or the pack n. play) during the day, but you sleep in your car seat carrier, the swing, my arms, or on the bop.py pillow leaning against me if you fall asleep nursing. Many times, your naps are less than an hour, often less than half an hour, but you usually take one longer nap each day.

You're such a strong little girl! You hold your head up very well, and you can really hold your head up high when you do tummy time. You do "baby sit ups" where I hold your hands and you help pull yourself up to a sitting position from lying down. You also like to "stand up" and put weight on your feet while I hold you steady. You've rolled from your belly to your back a few times, and I think you're getting close to rolling over from your back to your belly. You get onto your side, with your back arched and your top leg still too far behind you to get all the way over. You don't seem to like being in a "reclined" position, so you're not a huge fan of the swing or the bouncy seat, although you do seem to like the Baby B.jorn brand bouncy seat at Nana and Grandpa's house. You prefer to be held upright or in a sitting upright position, or to lie down flat on your back to play.

I love to spend time playing with you, singing to you, and reading to you. We have storytime every night before you go to sleep (at least the nights I don't work until midnight!). You usually settle down for storytime, and sit on my lap and look at the pictures in the books. Sometimes you "help" me read, and I love hearing your cooing sounds!

I had to go back to work last week, and it's SO incredibly hard to leave you each day that I work! I truly wish I could be with you all the time. I'm loving being your mother, and I love you so very, very, very much. It's indescribable how much I love you - more than I ever knew it was possible to love someone.

While I miss the early days, when you were so new and tiny, and I wasn't having to leave you to go to work, I'm also looking forward to continuing to watch you grow and develop, to seeing the person you are to become, and to all the adventures we'll have in the future.

I love you SO much,
 Mommy