The 3 month munchkin

[stef]

I was reminded last night, when I was in the presence of an almost-newborn boy(maybe close to six weeks?), how much Hudson has been growing and changing lately (although the difference in size between the two was almost negligible). He's seriously getting cuter all the time, especially with the smiles he loves to give, his giggles, and his little "chatter", where he looks up at me and make all kinds of sounds, including one that no adult can mimic. He also says "mama" on a regular basis, but only in his sad voice, so I'm chalking it up to coincidence for now (if he really meant it, I'm hoping he would also say it in his happy voice!). It is so interesting to watch him discover new things, like sucking incessantly  on his top lip, or blowing bubbles for fun (definitely his new favorite skill).

One of my favorite parts of every day is getting up before him when he starts to stir, and then when I peek in on him and see his swaddled little legs kicking around, I go and stand over top of him and tell him good morning, and wait for that sleepy "good morning mommy" smile to cross his face.

I am learning new things about him all the time. I have said previously that he won't nap during the day (unless on a walk), but I guess I was wrong. After spending the afternoon with two moms with young babies of their own, and hearing what they did for naptimes, I realized that I wasn't helping Hudson nap as much as he needed. I guess I figured if he was tired enough, he would simply just sleep, like he did as a newborn. Somewhere during our stay in BC, I tossed alot of things out the window (because our schedule was all over the place), including swaddling for naptime. I recently watched one of the "Happiest Baby" videos on getting young babies to sleep, and one of the things the creator of the series strongly suggests is swaddling for sleep time up until about four months of age, to simulate the womb experience. So, for the past couple of weeks, I've been doing alot of swaddling and rocking when I see Hudson getting sleepy, and then once he's in his co-sleeper, I put the fan on beside him for white noise. What a difference! He doesn't usually nap long (half hour  to an hour usually), but it's still a time for him to get the bit of rest that he needs. I was beginning to worry about what I would do when the dreaded Winnipeg winter weather made it's first appearance, but now at least I have a few tricks up my sleeve.

His night sleeping has also made a change. For nearly a month, he was fairly consistently sleeping from about 11:30pm-5:00 or 5:30am, had a quick feed, then slept on and off until 8:30 or 9:00am. Delightful. Wonderful. However, lately the Growth Spurt monster has come back, and now it's back to 2, maybe 2 1/2 hours of sleep at a time. Obviously I'm happy to feed a growing child whatever he needs in order to thrive, but my body and brain have been taking a little while to readjust. Last week (also when I was in the throes of a nasty head cold) I was really out of it, and I was cursing at H's diapers for leaking all over the couch. Then when I took off his pants to change him, I realized the diapers have only one designed flaw - you have to fasten the side tabs to the front of it in order for it stay on. Yeah. So I felt a little stupid after that. And then, just a couple days ago, I put the toast down in the toaster, went to go put the peanut butter back on the shelf, and realized there was a frozen loaf of bread in it's place. Sigh. But it's slowly getting better.

http://video.about.com/babyparenting/Change-a-Diaper.htm

We've also been dealing with silly gas issues again. I thought my oversupply was resolving but maybe not. Quite a few times a day, when he's acting hungry, I'll try to nurse him, but he will arch away from me and cry. This will go on until every last burp is out of him - sometimes two hours and eight burps will have to pass before he'll let me feed him again, and often with the help of gripe water or colic drops. Sometimes we can "convince" him to nurse by shushing loudly in his ears for awhile, but I don't know if that really solves the problem. This has been going on for a couple of weeks, and let's just say it's not fun doing this all day sometimes! I haven't taken him to the doctor because I honestly don't know if that will be helpful, but if it keeps going on, then we just might have to.

I'd say one of the biggest changes in the last little while is his ability to move around, bend forward, etc. He has a bouncy chair that holds no interest for him anymore other than reaching waaayyy forward, ducking underneath the toys, to play with his toes. Or perhaps he's reaching for the off switch.

How I have I been feeling you ask? Well, you didn't but I'm going to say anyway! Truthfully, kind of awful. Getting better (I hope!), but for awhile, I  thought there was something wrong. Exhausted, sick, overly emotional (like, leaving the room when that elder abuse commercial came on and I couldn't find the remote kind of emotional), and just...off. I know what you're thinking and no, Irish twins aren't in the near future. It could very well be a hormonal thing, and there have been definitely alot of mentally tiring things happening lately, so I'm hoping I'll feel a little better soon...especially if Hudson's nights get better again. And then I also have to remember that I've never raised a baby before, and am learning so many new things on a daily basis. It's a round the clock job, and while there are many resources to rely on when issues come up, no one ever wrote a manual on your particular child or situation.

Hmmm...other highlights? His hair was getting super puffy so we buzzed it with Ty's beard clippers. Oh, and he had his first babysitter (the grandparents, naturally) and did really well! I only called once - and it was to make sure the iron was turned off after months of not ironing anything before wearing it (which is quite the feat for me). All in all, we can't help but love him more all the time, and are so excited with each new thing he accomplishes.

Anyways, that's our little update on our little monkey!

I'm not a girl, mommy!

Sitting like he's not just 3 months old

Mmm...fingies...

Sink bath at grandma's

First taste of candy...it's all he's asking for now