The Peanut Post: Three Months Old!

My baby is three months old today. I can't believe it. We're hurtling through this "fourth trimester," as it is sometimes called, with warp speed. I have mixed feelings about this.

One part of me is ready to sleep longer, to hear what her voice sounds like, to watch her learn and discover all of the wonderful things in this world.

But there is a bigger part of me that is cherishing every single moment of this yummy, snuggly, baby stage because I know this is the last newborn I will have. I won't have another little one to bunch up and lay on my chest while I inhale that fantastic baby smell. I won't be able to complain that the baby wants to be held all day, because soon she will be too busy to snuggle. I won't have another bonding moment when I'm feeding my little girl in the middle of the night--just the two of us--and her little hand is wrapped around my finger while she just stares into my eyes and gives me a little smile before she goes right back to chowing down.

It's a tough job.

It's amazing how quickly babies change, isn't it? Sophia grows in leaps and bounds and has already changed so much. She doesn't have another doctor visit until she is four months, so here is the lowdown from Dr. Mom.

Size

According to our scale at home, Sophia is 11 1/2 pounds. She has gained 8 ounces since her two-month checkup. She is 23 1/2 inches long already! She's outgrown all of her newborn clothes and is a perfect fit in her three month clothes. She will probably be in her six month stuff by summer.

Sleep

She's not sleeping through the night consistently yet. We've had one seven hour stretch this past week, but she usually averages about 4-5 hours before she gets hungry and wakes up. Putting her to bed is the hardest at this point. On some nights, she won't fall asleep until 1 a.m. As soon as she's put down in her crib, her eyes pop open. I guess she's going to be a party girl!

During the day, Sophia will take two regular naps; one in the morning, and a longer nap in the afternoon. She takes a short catnap before lunch and then shortly after dinner. She still loves to be swaddled and won't sleep unless she is.

Eating

Sophia is a good eater, but sometimes we're not sure if she wants to eat because she's actually hungry or because she is comfort eating to help soothe her throat. She's eating 4 ounces about every four hours, although I'm noticing that she'll sometimes go 5 to 6 hours during the day. This gives me great hope for nighttime! She's still taking a bit of cereal in her formula to help with her reflux, which I'm sure has something to do with her sweet, pudgy leg rolls. ;)

Everything Else

Sophia is still rockin' tummy time. She barely fusses at all when she's on her tummy and she'll hold her head up and play for about 15 minutes. We do tummy time about three times a day and she likes to lay on my stomach when I'm laying down too. She has great head control. There hasn't been any rolling since the first time a couple of months ago. Her favorite new thing to do is to stand. She's been full of smiles this month and laughs too. Her favorite song right now is playing Pat-a-Cake. When I do the "put it in the oven" part I tickle her belly and she cracks up. I have yet to get this on video because I just want to play and watch instead. She's very alert and will follow my voice wherever I go.

The biggest milestone we hit this month was that we had our first car ride without screams. Not even a cry. We have been avoiding all car rides because Sophia gets so upset during them. Not crying upset; screaming that horrible no sound comes out and breaking out in a sweat type of scream. It's so pitiful. We like to do everything together, so not being able to go to the store, the park, etc. as a family has been very tough on us. We're hoping this becomes a regular thing and we can start to venture out again.

Here are few pictures of my big three month old: