December 13, 2010
Dear Christian,
Happy Three Month birthday little one!
Weight: 16lbs. That is 93rd percentile for weight. We don’t go to the doctor this month so that is your weight from our home scale. You are wearing size two diapers and 3 –6 month size clothing. I think you will be moving up to size three diapers soon.
Some sweet things to share with you: You are making some happy baby noises! Not all the time, but enough a couple times a week. You also had your first smile just about a week ago. We have a couple of sweet little smiles when I kiss your cheeks or tickle your belly. I’m so happy to see you smile!!!!
Last month I wrote to you that you had very little active alert time. Well, that is starting to change. The past week and a half or so you are having some great periods of wakefulness. It doesn’t last long, but it sure is nice to see. During these times you enjoy laying on your activity mat and waving your arms and legs around. Your brother loves to crouch down next to you and shake toys in your face. This usually startles you and then you cry. Your brother is slowly learning to take it easy on you. He just loves you so much. He is constantly showering you with hugs and kisses and the occasional “firm handshake.”
Last month I also wrote about your intense crying. The past month has certainly had its fair share of crying, but you are making huge improvements. At your last doctor’s appointment the pediatrician labeled the crying as colic. She said that any baby that cries a lot and they have no explanation they call colic. You do have a herniated belly button, which I thought might be causing you pain and therefore crying, but the doctor said no. The hernia should clear up on its own by the time you are three or four. If it doesn’t then we need to see a surgeon. Let’s hope for the best. Speaking of crying, earlier this week we went an entire day until 4pm before I heard you cry. It’s a miracle!!
You are on a pretty steady schedule of eating every three hours now. You nurse for about 30 – 40 minutes, then have some kind of awake time (sometimes 2 minutes, sometimes 30 minutes), and then as soon as you start acting fussy or yawning I get you ready for a nap. This includes swaddling you and walking. You have been taking a pacifier more readily the past couple of weeks and it seems to help calm you down for sleeping. We have also found that once you are drowsy you like the swing. One day you slept two hours in the swing!! Another miracle!
Evenings are still really tough as this is your grumpiest time of day. We often have a two or three hour period where you nurse almost constantly. We put you down for bed around 8:30pm or 9pm. You have given us three or four nights of sleeping until 3am!!! These nights are fantastic! However, most nights you are up around midnight, and then again at 3am and then again at 6am – sometimes even more. Those are the not so great nights.
We have been able to get out of the house just a little bit this past month. After nursing, we can do a short errand like the grocery store, and we even went to the mall once to do some Christmas shopping. You still despise your car seat and the car, so the only way to get through the store is to put you in a baby carrier. The mei tai has been so awesome. I’m so happy we have this from when your brother was little. Both your dad and I enjoy carrying you. We also get lots of funny looks, but we don’t mind. We just like you to be happy.
On November 30th I went back to work part time at our church, Saint Matthew’s. You spend your days with a wonderful woman, name Lalie, who works in our church nursery. There are two other little girls there who are three years old. Everyone loves you!! The first couple days were a challenge, but Lalie just wore you in the mei tai and now you are doing fine. She has you on the same schedule I do, of eating, some awake time and then as soon as you are tired she helps you get to sleep. I’m so happy that you seem to like it there. The first week was so hard to leave you. The first day I cried all the way to work. I’m pretty sure I did the same thing when your brother went to day care as well. Maybe it is something most moms do.
Christian, these first few months of your life have been a far cry from what I expected. Before you were born I had this idealistic vision of the two of us strolling through the mall doing our Christmas shopping while your brother was at school. So far, your temperament has not really allowed for that. Aunt Betsy assures me that once you get a little older your sweet little personality will blossom. I’m often reminded of our cousin, Nicholas. He too had a rough, crying start to life. However after a few months, he turned into once of the sweetest little boys I know. I hope the same happens for you. I’m learning that I can’t force you into meeting my expectations. I just have to take one day at a time. Here’s to enjoying every minutes of our time together without regard to where we are, what we are doing, or what I’m able to accomplish in a day.
Love you tons,
Mama
