Three.

 Three.

 

Why is it that three months of pregnancy seems to take sixteen lifetimes, yet three months as a new mom flies by? 

It's impossible to believe that my sweet boy is three months old.  A quarter of a year has passed with our wonderful little man.

At three months:

Logan absolutely loves toys.  Much more than I remember Leah doing.  He can lay forever on his tummy time mat, playing with the little figures that hang down.

He's starting to sleep in longer stretches through the night.  He goes down beautifully, and is a much more sound sleeper than his sister ever was.  But he's not over the hump yet - still waking every few hours to nurse and go back to sleep.  I'm not quite as patient as I was the first time, and I can't begin to explain how desperately I long for more than two or three hours of sleep at a time.  We'll be starting sleep training soon, 'cause Momma's not doing so hot. 

Sucks his three fingers to help soothe himself.

Tries to sit up on his own, and loves to sit and stand on his own (okay, clearly he still needs us for balance). 

Has the best giggles, and smiles all the time. 

I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I think he might be more verbal than his sister.  He is always chatting and singing, and he seems to be experimenting much more with language.  I know I sound like a crazy person, but I'm telling you, the kid honestly answers when I ask him how he's doing.  He tells me "good" clear as a bell. 

His favorite place to lay is still in the Moby, hanging out on mom.  I still like it, too. 

 



He doesn't like to lay down or be held in a laying position unless he's nursing.  He's much rather you hold him up so he can see what's going on in the world.

He absolutely hates the car.  He's reached the point now that he doesn't often fall asleep in the car, grocery store or stroller, which means that I'm usually serenaded with Leah's chatter or singing in the backseat, accompanied by a screaming baby, and the radio which I rely on to help me keep my sanity. 

This is totally TMI, but I'm recording it anyway.  He has stinky gas.  Maybe it's just a boy thing, because it seems really early to me... I don't recall that little gem happening until Leah had started on solids.  And it's quite a large smell from someone so tiny! 

He wears exclusively 6 month clothing.  Alright, and a few 3-6 month outfits.  At three months, he could no longer fit in 3 month clothing, and I'm sure we'll have to go to 9 month before too long.  He wears size 2 diapers (when not wearing cloth, that is.)

He's definitely a mover.  When I go in to get him from his naps, he is often 45 degrees in the other direction from where I put him down.  He also doesn't much care for tummy time, and roles himself back over to his back.

Overall, he is a sweet and easy baby.  He is snuggly, funny, and definitely loves his momma.  Although I'm desperately looking forward to the days I get to sleep more than a couple hours at a time, I couldn't be more grateful to be his mommy.  A year ago, I would never have imagined saying this, but boys are awfully special, too.  I am so thankful that I'm not the one in charge of those decisions around here!

Thankful goes on the dashboard

Dear past Melissa: I'm so glad your crystal ball was working last Thanksgiving, when you had the foresight to know that your family would need a road trip round about this time. 

Seriously good call. 

Particularly because, well, the cabin in Estes Park that you selected for your family of four to spend its first Thanksgiving had a hot tub on the deck overlooking a river. 

Oh yeah.  That was exactly as awesome as you might imagine. 

There was a Thanksgiving dinner not prepared by yours truly and consumed in full view of a mountain sunset overlooking a lake.  You took a beauty in a red dress and two handsome guys as dates, and everyone ate an obscene amount of turkey.

 

 

There was a boy with a monkey on his butt,

 

a smile on his face,

 

and lots of kisses from his big sister.

 

There were morning snuggles,

 

 

lots of smiles,

 

and, oh yeah, have I mentioned the hot tub?

 

 

The weather could not have been more beautiful,

 

the wildlife wasn't shy

 

 

and there were lots of opportunities for photos.

 

 

 

Maybe this will become a new family tradition.  It was certainly a much needed break. And a whole four days of uninterrupted time with my family? 

 

 

Yes, please.

A little love math

One of the best parts about being a mom of two is experiencing love's incredible power to multiply. 

If I'm being honest, I worried more than a little about whether I'd be able to love this one enough.  In part, there was my very real terror over the raising of a baby boy.  The thought that, when the doctor put him in my arms, I might not be as instantly and overwhelmingly enamoured as I knew I would be with a little girl.  That place in my soul that lit up when I found out we were having a girl filled with fear when I discovered it was a boy. 

Because, truth?  I don't know anything about boys.  All my least favorite students have been boys (I mean, erm... teachers don't have favorites).  How could I raise one?

In the second place, though, it was nearly impossible to imagine loving someone as much as I love Leah.  Could I possibly have it in me to let two people be the single point around which my world turns?

Oh, how very wrong I've been.

This boy is absolutely infectious.  The way he snuggles into me.  His chubby cheeks when he sleeps.  Those eyes that light up and his pure joy when he spots me.  As if he's never seen anything quite so awesome. 

And I find myself saying the same things I said to Leah.  You are the cutest thing I've ever seen!  You are just the best baby!

The big miracle of it all, the part I could never understand as a child or even as a mother until the day Logan was born, is that he is the cutest baby.  He is the best thing I've ever been a part of.  I really do love him more than anyone.

And saying that doesn't take away at all from the fact that I feel exactly the same way about my daughter. 

It is singularly and simultaneously true.

Leah filled every inch of my soul with joy, and somehow there is still room for Logan to fill it completely too. They aren't sharing that space; my own capacity has simply grown.

 

Grateful for

Target.

And the fact that, when we visited Target today, Miss Leah began pointing out all the letters she knows.  Which, as it turns out, is pretty much all of them. 

The "Merry Christmas" signs?  She rocked them.  She knows all the letters in "Starbucks Coffee" (hmmm... imagine that...). 

She even knows a handful of lowercase letters, which we haven't worked much on.  And, if you're wondering how the kid got so smart, it's in part because I let her watch TV.  Seriously.  If you haven't tuned in to SuperWhy, you're missing out.  That's a shameless TV plug from a reading teacher, it's that good.    

Sure, she confuses W and M.  And sometimes T and I, depending on the font of the letters.  But the girl knows her letters, and we had so much fun finding signs and pointing them out.  I absolutely adore that a trip to the store can become such a learning experience. 

While we're at it, I'm pretty darn thankful for all the reading that goes on in our house.  I hope that's always the case. 

Smart happens everywhere. 

The one where I wore jeans to my sister's wedding

Kelsey and Garrett Carter

November 17th, 2012

 

 

God bless modern technology for bringing a wedding in Costa Rica to my living room.

Grateful for

My camera.

Which allows me to capture beautiful and treasured images, even though I'm a crap-tastic photographer with no clue what I'm doing. 

I took these shots:

 

 

 

for my son's birth announcements, and I absolutely adore them.

 

Granted, we moved like three days after I received the finished announcements, so I never sent out 75% of them...

 

...but that's neither here nor there.

 

I think they're a little bit awesome.  Just imagine what would happen if I actually knew what I was doing!

 

Elephants, dry panties and a pajama run

Grateful for:

 

 

 

- Early mornings at home -

 

 

 

 

- Trips to the zoo -

 

- A little girl who kept her panties dry all day and earned... -

 

- a pajama run! -

What did Logan do during all this excitement?

 

 

That's a good day.