I cannot believe my little miss is 3 months old already. It's a little bittersweet since that means my maternity leave came to an end. But, I also love this age because it seems like babies start to notice the world around them so much more. She is exploring with her eyes and her hands so much and I just love the fact that the second I start talking to her, she lights up. So, even though it's going way too fast, I love every minute and look forward to each day. And, although it was so tough to leave my babies, I am thankful that they both get to spend time with their grandparents. I know we both miss each other during the day, but seeing that gummy baby smile over lunch and at the end of the day makes it all worth it.
Onto the updates!
- You weigh 14 pounds 4 ounces. However, when I weighed you again a few days later, you were 14 lbs. 14 ounces. So, we will say you're somewhere in the 14s! You were roughly 24 inches when I tried to measure you, but you are so hard to measure with your constantly kicking legs!
- You are still fitting into some 3 month clothes, but the 6 month stuff definitely fits you!
- You are in size 2 diapers!
- I have a feeling I will regret putting this in writing, but oh well. You sleep through the night. You always go at least 7 hours, but it's typically more like 8 and sometimes 9 or 10! You love your sleep! For most of this past month, we were still fighting to get you to sleep. Some nights, it would be close to midnight before we got you down. But, luckily the week I went back to work, it's like something clicked. And, now we aren't fighting to get you to fall asleep anymore - it's basically seamless now! Granted. most nights, I nurse you to sleep, but whatever it takes is what we are going to do!!
- Night time routine prior to me going back to work was: take a catnap from about 7ish until 8 or so. Bath time with Daddy followed by a bottle. Or at least attempting the bottle since it was usually never successful! Then I would nurse you and after that, Daddy and I would have to take turns getting you to fall asleep! You would still scream your head off some nights because you were tired and just wouldn't give in. He would take you to the basement or I would take you to your room and listen to lullabies.
- Night time routine after I went back to work: Catnap from 7ish to 8ish. Bath time with either Mommy or Daddy. And, then you nurse for about an hour before bed, which is a great way for me to unwind too. You are usually down no later than 10 and then sleep a good 7 or 8 hours. Let's keep it up girl!
- Naps are getting a bit more predictable, but still kind of tough to get a schedule since we have to take Jameson to school on Tuesdays and we tend to have other stuff going on other days. But, you typically take cat naps in the morning and then take one long nap, sometimes 3 or more hours, in the afternoon. But, that may be because you are napping on me :).
- You are the happiest baby in the morning! Just full of smiles and babbles. And, sometimes you do what sounds like a fake cough...it's too funny! I am sure you are too little to fake anything, but it sounds like it!
- On 11/5, I swear I got a giggle out of you!! I have heard traces of giggles here and there since then, but still not a full out laugh. We are still waiting for that. But, man, you have the happiest smiles - you literally make my whole day brighter when you smile at me. It is so insanely heart warming when you smile ear to ear and show off that adorable dimple!!!
- You are sitting up so well! Still not on your own, but you don't really want to lay down much anymore. And, when we try to put you in your car seat, you always try to sit forward! We have tried the Bumbo and you do OK for a little bit, but get bored pretty easily!
- You also love to "stand". You are constantly wanting to push up on your legs and bear weight. And, you are hard to bend to get you to sit back down!!
- You are really good at grasping things. You will play with stuff on your activity mat and you are so good at holding rattles and your baby stuffed animals. You love the rattle that changes colors from Gma Debbie and Ray. Your brother loves that too :).
- You love to talk even more now! Those little baby growls are the best! I have been teaching you "ma ma" and actually so has Daddy. You can't say it, but man it sure looks like you are trying to! And, Daddy got you to say "Oh yeah"! Well, not really, but it sounds like you are saying that a lot and it's pretty funny!
- While I was on Maternity Leave, you really enjoyed watching Ellen with mommy!
- Really, you just like watching TV in general. You love to watch the Baby Einstein videos and cartoons (and no, we don't just sit in front of the TV...your attention span for TV is about 5 minutes right now!).
- You definitely found your hands/fist...you are constantly snacking on your hands!
- Going along with the hands, you have also started drooling quite a bit! Your Daddy and I honestly thought maybe you were teething, but Dr. Emm said that the salivary glands are starting to develop now, so it's totally normal to see more drool and gnawing on objects!
- You love when people sing to you! I sing "You are My Sunshine" to you daily. And, whenever I look at you, I hear "Baby of Mine" in my head, so I sing this to you a lot. You also like the "Itsy Bitsy Spider". Jameson likes to sing that to you! And, while I was on leave, your grandparents were over here a lot to help with you and Jameson. One day, Ray was singing the Lumineers to you and you loved it.
- Your Daddy has started singing the ABCs with you and teaching you all kinds of important information - like what our names are, where you live, all about your family :). He did this with Jameson too and your brother is one smart cookie, so I have no doubt that you will be too! It's cute to watch you stare at him and take it all in when he talks to you!
- You love when we play pat a cake too!
- You really study things. Just like your brother! You focus on something and you can just tell those little wheels are turning inside that head! I just love when you lock in on me - it's so heart warming!
- You follow us as we move and walk around. You are so observant and act like you don't want to miss a thing!
- I think I have said it in every post so far, but you just love to watch your brother. You just lock into him and watch him so intensely. I just love it.
- You follow Hoyt as he moves about! You also love to pet him.
- You are very content sitting in your bouncer while we eat meals - I think it's because you like to just sit and watch us!
- You have mastered the pouty lip!
- You really like when people make noises at you. You just love when I blow raspberries - I get some awesome smiles out of you!
- And, you figured out how to blow raspberries! It's so cute!
- You found yourself in the mirror and love to look at that cute baby in the mirror! You will smile and make faces - it's way too cute !
- You love your Excersaucer. We have to put a pillow underneath your feet and prop you with a blanket because you aren't quite big enough yet. And, we don't keep you in there very long, but you love to play in it.
- You love the crinkle books! Gma Kim discovered this and we now "read" many times a day!
- Your brother has nicknamed you Gwendolynnie and it's kind of caught on! We also call you Gwennie Sue and he thinks that's pretty fun!
- You have discovered your clothes. You are constantly pulling on your outfits...you like to show us your belly :).
- You started sucking your bottom lip a week or so ago! Just like your Daddy did! But, it's just every once in awhile.
- You love kicking. You get going so fast sometimes - it's pretty funny! This is about the only time you like to lay on your back. And, most of the time, someone has to be talking to you!
- You really love bath time! Gma Kim figured out one day when you were upset that you calm down when the water is running...so it makes sense that you love baths!! And, it makes sense as to why you HATE getting out of the bath!! I mean, it sounds like someone is seriously hurting you when you get pulled out of the bath tub! Lately, I have been pulling you out with the towel wrapped around you and immediately take you to the mirror - this seems to keep you from screaming and I usually get smiles out of you! But, you are not a fan of getting dressed after bath either, so the screaming tends to start again!
- You still really dislike being in the car seat for extended periods. Or if you just woke up and we stick you in the car shortly after, you typically are not happy with us! Car rides are a bit loud sometimes!!
- You hate bottles. And, I mean hate them. My first week back at work was a little stressful for everyone because you wouldn't eat. We have been trying a bottle since you were 5 weeks old, but I really thought once you got hungry enough, you would eat. But, you went 6 hours on Monday and still wouldn't eat and you were clearly hungry. So, Mommy basically came over at lunch everyday and fed you and then rushed home after work to feed you. I am praying that you figure this out simply because I know it's hard on everyone. Don't get me wrong, I love that you prefer me - I would prefer to just be able to feed you all the time too! But, we also need to have a backup plan in the event that I won't be able to feed you for some reason! We have the Playtex Drop-ins that we are going to try, so fingers crossed!!
- Random, but you look so pretty in pink! Your Grandmas and I always talk about that because it goes so well with your skin and your eyes...which are still very blue!!
- Any errand I have to run with you, I wear you in the Moby and you just love it. And, I just love that I can keep you nice and snug while I have my hands free!
- You are such a good, content baby...until you aren't! Hard to explain, but anyone that has been around you knows what I am talking about. You honestly are sooo insanely content and happy. I don't have to worry about taking you places because you are really good at just hanging out! But, if you get upset, man do you get upset! There have been a few times that one of us thinks we did something to you because sometimes it comes out of nowhere! But, I am so thankful we got such an amazing little baby. I certainly thank God every night for you!!
Random videos!
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From your hair down to your toes. You're not much goodness knows.
But, you're so precious to me. Sweet as can be, baby of mine. |
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| Getting ready to go to the Peoria Zoo! |
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| Talking to her bug! |
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| People watching at the zoo! |
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| Hanging with Mommy while she gets a pedicure! |
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| Sweet angel. |
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| Tummy time! |
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| Being cute is exhausting!! |
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| Seriously, she is too cute!! |
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| Getting ready to go to Rader Farms! |
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| My babies! |
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| Hanging with Ray while the rest of us picked pumpkins! |
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| Cousins! |
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| Sweetness. |
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| Such a morning person! |
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| Watching big brother finish dinner! |
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| That tongue! |
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| Hanging with Kristy. |
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| Hugging my sweet rainbow at the Walk to Remember. |
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| Chatting with Gma Debbie after the walk! |
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| So, I tried to put her in this adorable Bears outfit from Kelli and the leg warmers I bought...she just must prefer her Colts gear because she wasn't too thrilled. Hey, I tried, Bears Fans :). |
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| Her facial expressions are so awesome. |
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| Nothing better than hugs from Grandma! |
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| Sitting up like a big girl! |
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| These two. My whole world wrapped up in two adorable little packages! |
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| May the Force be with you, Young Jedi Sister. |
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| Cuddles from Gma Kim! |
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| This is what Gwendolyn thinks about Mommy going back to work. |
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| She is so sweet. |
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| Finally got to go see Grandpa Dan farm! |
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| Chatting with Gma Kim while we wait for the boys to finish at the Farm! |
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| Watching Cinderella! |
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| Grocery shopping in the Moby! |
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| Sleeping beauty! |
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| Ma, look my foot came out!! Haha - she is clearly sad about that...look at that pouty lip! |
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| Blowing raspberries! |
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| Sitting in the Bumbo and hanging with Daddy in the basement. |
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Too cute. Came into the bedroom after putting Jameson to bed to see this.
Talk about heart melting material!! |
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| Late night chat with my girl! |
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| Chatting with Ray! |
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| Watching Baby Einstein! |
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| Laying on Gma Kim. This is a good way to see what's going on! |
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Oh how I love her so. This was my last Friday of Mat Leave...I was breathing in
every moment. |
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| Watching some Grey's with Mommy! |
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| Those gummy baby smiles are the best!! |
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| There's that tongue again! |
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| And, again! |
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| Heading out to Alison's baby shower while the boys went to a movie! |
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She did so great at her first baby shower...she was so content and
didn't mind getting passed around! |
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| She takes my breath away. |
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| Enjoying my last evening before going back to work! |
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| She's broken free!! |
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This is the face of a stubborn baby who won't take a bottle. When I went over to my parents to feed her,
she was looking at me with these big blue eyes and it made me so sad. Poor peanut! |
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| He loves her so much!! |
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| Hanging in the exersaucer! Jameson loves it too! |
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Put her down to change her diaper. Ran upstairs and, came
back downstairs to this! |
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I made it through two days at work and then had my Wednesday
to catch up on snuggles! |
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| I am obsessed with watching her sleep! |
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| Smiling at the cute baby in the mirror!! |
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The many sleeping positions of Gwen. Actually, they are all pretty similar...she clearly likes to mash her
head up against the side! |
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I think my kids look just a little bit alike! Jameson on the left at about 4 months and
Gwendolyn on the right at about 3 months. Crazy! |
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| Weekly pictures: 9-13 weeks |
3 Month Photos:
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| G and the bear. |
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| Distracted by her feet. |
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| Still looks pretty small in the recliner. |
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| Are we done yet?! |
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| She is so long! |
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| Happy girl! |
