You’re three months old today, little one. A quarter of a year has already gone by, and once again, so much has changed in the last thirty or so days.
Overall, you’re becoming more and more mature and skilled in everything that you do. I think that the most exciting change that we’ve seen in the last couple weeks is your propensity to babble in response to our voices. While absolutely unintelligible, it’s incredibly cute, and you at least are able to listen to us speak, wait for a pause, and then begin your babbles. Your favorite word is ah-boo, and you’re also prone to deep and seemingly profound sighs from time to time. It’s not exactly communication, but it’s the first steps in that direction, and Mommy and I are thrilled about it.
You’ve also begun to smile quite regularly now and you can often be seen smiling and nearly laughing at the sight of Mommy or Daddy. After working all day, I can’t tell you how much it warms my heart to see you smile as I walk in the door and say hello. Playing with of your feet and legs, and the appearance of any one of your favorite toys (the yellow horse, the white lamb and that bird attached to your bouncy seat) also thrill you to pieces and cause you to grin.
You’ve also gained the manual dexterity required to lift things. Mommy first noticed this a few weeks ago after balancing you on the counter for a moment. She turned her head, and when she looked back, you had taken hold of a plastic bag. If we place a toy or a pacifier on your chest, it doesn’t take long for you to grab hold of these objects and stuff them into your mouth. This has led to a heightened interest in playing with these toys as well, though sucking and chewing on them seem to take precedence over everything else.
In addition to these toys, you’ve become a professional thumb sucker, but you’ve also added our own fingers and knuckles to your repertoire, and sometimes even our own arms when you can manage to get your mouth on a forearm or a bicep. You still adore your pacifier, but it’s a love-hate relationship. Either you really, really want your pacifier or the mere sight of the thing disgusts you.
You’re also much more observant, little one. For example, after two months of disinterest, you’re finally taking notice of Kaleigh and Owen as they climb around your little body. Mommy took you to the Smith College Botanical Gardens last week and she said that you were looking at the plants with great interest. The overhead ceiling fan in our bedroom has also managed to capture your attention, but oftentimes it’s difficult to determine the object of your focus. We’ll be sitting in a restaurant and you will become fascinated with something over my shoulder, but it’s oftentimes impossible to determine what it could be. Either way, you’re clearly more interested in the world around you.
In the last couple weeks, you’ve also become extremely attached to Mommy, and this makes sense, since the two of you spend so much time together. You’re often out and about, visiting friends or running errands, and Mommy has become quite adept at breast-feeding you almost anywhere. But this has also led to quite an attachment between the two of you. There have been many times when the only means of consoling you is for Mommy to take you in her arms, and there are times when a transfer from Mommy to Daddy brings on tears and wails. While I understand this attachment to her (I have one myself), this hasn’t always been easy on me. After working all day, all I want to do when I finally get home is to hold you and stare at you and listen to you babble, but lately, you’ve found my arms significantly less appealing than they once were. I’m working as a DJ and minister at weddings now, too, so I’m often gone on a Saturday for much of the day. Add to this my writing schedule (I finished my second book and am working on my third) and you can see how much I am craving our time together when I finally get home, so I’m hoping that this will change before too long.
Please?
You’re also getting bigger, little one! This month you went up another diaper size, and we may have to go up another relatively soon, since you can’t seem to keep the poop inside the diaper! You’ve also started outgrowing some of your clothing, and you’re showing signs of wanting to sit up. When leaning against Mommy’s chest or sitting in the car seat, you often attempt to lean forward and straighten your posture in an effort to see the world a little better.
And you continue to sleep like a champ! Though you can often be seen fighting sleep during the day (you get this from Daddy, who is writing this at 5:05 AM after rising from bed at 4:15 AM), you usually sleep at least seven hours every night before waking up to eat, and you’ll usually go back to sleep for another one or two hours after a quick meal. In fact, I often find myself going to bed after you and waking up before you. Only twice last month did you fail to earn your dollar for sleeping through the night, and we can blame one of those nights on a barking dog.
It’s been an eventful third month, little one. Between your first vacation, your first Seder, and all of the little things that make up your day, it’s been busy! But Mommy and I couldn’t be happier, and we feel so fortunate to have such a happy and relaxed daughter in our lives. Whether we’re visiting with a friend or eating in a restaurant or simply sitting in our living room, you are almost always smiling, kicking, babbling, and staring at the world around you. And we love nothing more than to watch you do so.
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