The highlights of this past month and a half include sleeping through the night, finding her thumb, pushing up on her arms during tummy time, "talking" more, getting on a good eating schedule, and rolling over! Talk about accomplishing a lot.
This little girl has the best smile in the world, and it's just like seeing right into her soul with each and every one. It's in those moments that I feel like I have known her so much longer than just 3 months. My heart just bursts with love for this one.
She could be the happiest baby that the world has even known. I love being her mommy, and I'm so happy that she is the one to complete our family!
We have all established a pretty good routine with the return to work and preschool. I don't feel cheated of quality time with her or the family as a whole, and it's been a relatively easy balancing act thus far!
Schedule. After she wakes up for her 7-8 am feeding, she stays up for a while and hangs out with me while I get ready and do some work from home. David drops off Nico at preschool at 8:15ish, and then it's time for me to leave and for their little morning to begin with a walk around the neighborhood. Afterwards, they come in for exercise time, which consists of him doing a yoga DVD and weights, while she has her time on the play mat. Then there's about an hour window left to shower and do some stuff around the house before it's time to pick up the wild man. She naps sometimes during this time. The afternoons are still so variable though. She's often capable of staying awake for pretty long stretches of 3-4 hours at a time and fights sleep.
When she's not out and about with David, she is alternating between her swing, spread out on the floor or play mat, or sitting up in this new fun toy!
I usually get home mid to late afternoon, and our afternoons always fly by! I swear that time is accelerated with each child you have. Natalie usually sits in a chair next to us for dinner and stays awake from then until bedtime.
We bathe her a few times a week, and she has enjoyed every one. She looks so relaxed and likes looking at herself in the mirror. Nico still likes to help out with bath time, and his job is her belly and legs. I've been loving the feel of her soft skin and her smell after bath time.
Sleep. I've been reminded of how popular a question it is for people to ask if a baby sleeps through the night yet! Natalie's been a champ this past month, and I'm so relieved that we can answer that question with a proud YES... for now. I'm always afraid of jinxing this and realize that the tables can turn aaaaaany day now. She actually started sleeping through the night shortly after she hit the 2 month mark around Labor Day weekend. We have been able to put her in her crib anywhere between 7:30 and 9:00, and she has been going a nice 8-10 hours for most nights. She consistently likes to eat around the 5 o'clock hour and then immediately goes back to bed for another 2 or 3 hours. I often am woken by the sweet sound of her babbling along with those chunky legs kicking. We have a dream baby.
She has started sleeping on her left side as of a couple weeks ago. She has really begun to move around a lot in her pack n play and on the ground too. She has ended up turning a full 180 degrees around just by kicking! It's so funny to see her in a totally different position than what we laid her down in.
Size: She is in size 3-6 / 6 month outfits and size 1 diapers. We'll find out her height/weight in a couple weeks at her 4 month checkup. The chunky monkey is filling out nicely.
New things/milestones. Life with a baby is so full of milestones and developments that it feels like nearly every day there is something new! She is following in her big brother's footsteps in a lot of ways, and one of those big ways is that she has found and LOVES her thumb! She has been caught with both, but she mostly prefers the right one. I think it's one of the cutest thing to watch her get it in there and soothe herself. She ends up keeping it in there for most of her sleeping time too. Something that is not as fun for us is that with the thumb sucking, we have entered a bib stage. If she doesn't have one on, it's not long before her outfit is covered with drool and spit up. She's winning the award for the most laundry done each week!
Nico finds it amusing since he is still a thumb sucker...
In just the last few days, she has really discovered her hands more, and I'll catch her just starring at them in front of her face as if she's thinking, "What are these things?!" She has been grabbing for thing more intentionally and is getting more and more curious about the world around her. I know that her alertness and vision have improved, as I can smile at her from halfway across the room and she smiles back.
What I'm most proud of so far is how strong she has gotten with tummy time! I felt that we were a little behind with that as we approached her 3 month mark, so over the last couple weeks, it became a daily conversation to make sure we were doing it more! After upping the practice, check out the improvement!
3 weeks ago...
2 weeks ago...
Last week...
That extra boost in strength also helped her accomplish her biggest feat yet....rolling over! She has rolled over a few times from her back to her stomach, and that's where her trick ends. She beat her brother in this one, as he was four and a half months along when he first rolled over compared to her 3 months and 10 days. For her first roll, she accomplished it with her thumb in her mouth the entire time. Bonus points.
My favorite moments. #1- Morning smiles. #2- Watching big brother Nico loving on sister. (We all tend to refer to her as sister more so than by name.) I'm convinced that he is her most favorite person in this world right now. It's the way she looks at him with such adoration. Just seeing him has stopped some of her fussy moments and made her smile.
It was hard to narrow down my favorite pics...
A new TCU fan because of our dear family friend, Kenny!
Wearing the jersey of my all time favorite baseball player, Ken Griffey Jr, that my dad bought Nico five years ago!
The pouty face is because Miley barked and scared her.
With my "3" kids. My space is crowded like this often, and I'm more than okay with it. Nice pose, Nico.
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