3 Months

I'm not really sure how 3 months have gone by. And while some days seem long, overall time seems to be moving right along. Which is good, as I'm anxious for Michael to return home, but sad that he's already 3 months old, already growing much faster than I had anticipated.


He's holding his toys better than before and starting to grab at them, but still doesn't have the coordination to really eye something and get it all the time. But any time a toy is pressed against his fist, he will open it and grab the toy. He rolled over last week. He was on his tummy and just rolled over. I was so excited! I grabbed the video camera and put him back on his tummy. He rolled over again and I caught it on tape! It was a good thing because he hasn't done it since.



He's still doing a pretty good job of sleeping through the night. He did have a few nights last week of getting up around 1am. And now his latest thing is waking up between 4 and 5am. I keep trying to tell him to sleep in until at least 6am, but he doesn't listen.



He got a bumbo seat (in the picture) and seems to like it. It's so funny to see him sitting there. Yesterday I was reading him books and he just sat there and listened and looked at the pictures. He really is a good baby. He usually only gets fussy if he's tired or hungry, bored, or has an upset belly. He loves toys that light up. He loves the television. He loves sucking on his fist, and sometimes prefers it to his pacifier.

Nate & Sammy

Everyone always asks how the dogs get along with the baby. So far, they don't pay him much attention. They smell him every once in awhile, but for the most part, they don't really seem bothered by his cries, at least not as much as he's bothered by their bark. Last night I was sitting in the chair and Nate was playing on the floor gym. Sammy and I were playing catch with the rope. She would bring me the rope and I would throw it in the other room. I'm not sure if she got tired of playing with me, or just wanted to give Nate a chance to play, but I threw the rope and instead of bringing it back to me, she laid it down on the floor by Nate and then sat there waiting for him to throw it back. How do you explain to a dog that he's a baby and just not old enough to play with you yet?

Nate's Hands

Nate found his hands! I'm very excited! I don't know if it's because my life is rather uninteresting, but this new development is so exciting. He found his fist and he just started staring at it. Then he started opening and closing it. He was mesmerized by this action. Just now he was playing on the floor and he grabbed one of the toys that hangs down. It's neat to see him learn this eye-hand coordination. He's just learning so he doesn't grab for the toy when I put it in front of him, but it won't be long and I think he'll be grabbing everything in his sight! I held a rattle in front of him. He started smiling and then looked back and forth between the rattle and his hand, almost as though he knew he needed his hand to grab the toy but it was just getting his brain to send his hand the message. When I touched the rattle to his hand, he opened his fist and grabbed the toy! Okay, am I the only one that this is exciting for?

On an unrelated note, we're snowed in. Maybe not completely unrelated, maybe this is why I'm so excited about his hand---being stuck in the house and now I'm craaaazy! We got several inches of snow and many counties around here are at level one, only emergency vehicles on the road. I think we got much more snow than the weatherman anticipated and the wind is making some of the snow drifts quite deep, especially for Indiana. So I don't think I'll be leaving the house anytime soon. The neighbors just stopped by and said they were headed to town and asked if I needed anything. I thought that was so nice. They said they knew I had the baby and it wasn't easy for me to get out. How thoughtful!

A Not So Lonely Valentine's Weekend

Michael gone for another holiday would normally leave me feeling pretty lonely, especially a holiday that is made for love. But I was with two of my favorite people this weekend, Nate and Jaime. She had to do some shopping, clothes for the boys and she needed a dress for a formal officer dinner that her and Jeremy are going to in a couple of weeks. So she came up on Saturday. She found two really pretty dresses and a bunch of clothes for the boys, all at a really good deal. I even found a pair of pants for Nate for next winter for a couple of bucks (gotta love end of season sales). We had so much fun shopping that before we knew it, it was after 3pm and we hadn't even had lunch yet. So we went for lunch, but being so late and on Valentine's day a lot of places were full. We ended up having lunch at Johnny Carino's (got right in) and then headed home. Nate did really well out and about all day. I pumped that morning and took an extra bag of frozen milk with us. I wasn't sure how much he would need since I'm not used to feeding him in a bottle. [On a side note, we needed hot water to warm up the bag of milk and so we tried Starbucks. The lady was so nice she brought out hot water in a ceramic mug so it would warm up quicker. And I was worried that they would charge us for the water! Just goes to show there is still decency in the world.] Well, he went through the first 4oz. right away. Since the other portion of milk was still frozen I had to breastfeed, luckily we were in the dressing room so it wasn't a big deal (not that I have a problem of breastfeeding in public, it's just a hassle getting out the cover and hiking up my shirt, unhooking my bra, etc.). So I sat and fed him while Jaime tried on dresses. She looked so beautiful. I love all that dressing up and stuff, I'm jealous of their fancy dinner! It was so nice not to be alone this weekend. I always have such a good time with Jaime and I always look forward to our get-togethers.

This morning was a rush to get out the door and get to church in time. I was determined not to be late this time. I wanted to be early and in my seat before service started that way if he was fussy I could tend to him before they started speaking. By the time he woke up from his nap, I think I had 25 minutes to shower and get ready, get him dressed, pack up, warm up the car, and head out. I don't know how I managed, but somehow we got out the door on time and in the pew before service started. I realized while driving there that I had completely missed breakfast! He was so good in church. He sat in his carrier for awhile, half sleeping and half looking around. He started to get a little fussy so I got him out and no sooner did I get him out that the lady next to me was holding him. She and her granddaughter were making faces at him and he was smiling back. It was so cute. She commented that I have such a good baby and I'll have to agree with her. The rest of the service went well. He looked around for the most part and I did bring a bottle just in case, which he ate a little bit, but was more interested in looking around at everyone than eating.

Over-Stimulating Superbowl

Nate and I headed down to Madison yesterday to watch the Superbowl and my sister's in-laws. We made blue rice krispie (or rice Christmas per Lucas) treats, donned on our blue apparel, and headed down, excited for the big game. The excitement was short lived however. Poor little Nate is not used to the noise and so we had to sit in the other room by the second quarter and we were on our way back to Jaime's house by the second half. I don't think it helped that he didn't sleep much all afternoon either. But after we got back to Jaime's, Nate settled down and eventually fell asleep. Nate's night ended a little better than the Colts, but it was a good game and I'm glad the Saints won. It's good for the city of New Orleans after all the devastation they've had.

Banking Blow-Out

There are some places I just never expected to be in my life. One would be kneeling on the floor in the back bathroom at the bank. But that's exactly where I found myself this afternoon. I had to go down to the bank because we are refinancing our mortgage and I had to sign some paperwork. Well, in the middle of signing, Nate decides he's going to make his presence known, and begins pooping, audibly. So the bank lady tells me I can change him and takes me to their bathroom in the back. I no sooner laid him down on the changing mat on the floor and I knew this was going to be a good one. Let's just say the mess was everywhere, running down his legs, all over his back. Needless to say, it was an "outfit changer" poop. I sat there mopping poop up and all I could think is, never thought I would be here one day. That's the funny thing about parenthood, it takes you to places you never thought you would be, doing things you never thought you would do. My nephew has this amazing timing on his "bm's" as well. It will always be in the store or the car when he tells my sister how badly he needs to poop. Gotta love it.

Interrupted Sleep

The dogs barking and waking up Nate are not as big of a concern as Nate waking himself up lately. He's always been a baby that spits up. The doctor says he just eats too much. I've read up on it and it could be that, or that when I'm full he gets too much too quickly, or both. It's weird, because sometimes he spits up while he's eating (that's when I think he's had too much), but I don't understand why he spits up a couple of hours after eating. But he's healthy and obviously not affecting him because he loves to eat and is growing, so we just keep a lot of burp cloths around. But lately it has been affecting his sleep. He will go down for a nap and then spit up, a lot, so that his whole face is covered in it. It's in his ears and hair, just everywhere. And then he's up. No going back to sleep. So then he's tired and sometimes cranky, like this morning. This happens even when he doesn't eat as much. This morning when he got up he ate, but I remember thinking he didn't eat very much before falling back to sleep. But about an hour later he was screaming, face soaked with milk. I feel bad for the little guy and wish he could get a decent nap in. I'm trying something new now. He's in the playpen down here, sleeping on his side on the wedge. Each afternoon he usually takes a little nap in my arms and never throws up, so I started thinking that lying on his belly might be creating to much pressure and making him throw up. We will see if this works, fingers crossed.