Three Months
When Henry was three or four weeks old, we went to our first mommy-and-me meetup. I struggled through the door of Firehook with way too much baby gear, parked our giant stroller at one end of the table, and worried I was going to have to feed Henry in public. Then, from under the shirt of the mom next to me, popped this round-cheeked baby (who could apparently latch and un-latch at will) who made eye contact with me and smiled. It bore no resemblance whatsoever to my wriggly, floppy newborn. I asked, "How old is your baby?" Three months. It seemed so far in the future I couldn't even conceive of it.
And now here we are with our fourth three-month old! Even after four rounds, the three-month-old has stuck in my mind as some mythical creature. It seems they'll never get this big, but if they do, they're supposed to stay this age for an indefinite period. Like, "I have a three-month-old" is a permanent state of being that all parents may someday reach. These are the babies everyone envisions when they think about having a baby -- small and snuggly but adorably rounded.
BABYFWITZ is now our round-cheeked, smiley real baby. I think he's the most beautiful of all the babies.
For about two days I thought his eyes might turn hazel like Grandpa Alan's, but no, they're blue. And his fuzzy new hair is coming in blonde. Blonde over blue -- shocking, I know! His face is wonderfully expressive. He does great skeptical and worried eyebrows. And we know trouble is about to erupt when the lower lip comes out.
We had three amazing weeks of sleeping straight through the night. 8:30 to 7:00! He was also napping well, if unpredictably. At 2.5 months we tentatively declared sleep victory, but no. A week ago, he suddenly reverted to waking up once and refusing to nap anywhere but on me or in the car seat. He chews on his hands a lot and is sometimes inconsolably fussy during the day, so it could be early teething discomfort, or he may have just gotten old enough to form opinions about things. I would be more than happy to snuggle his sleeping little body all day, but that's pretty much impossible with Heidi. She would rather stand right next to me and whine than find a toy in the next room and play independently. It's exactly like having toddler Henry and baby Ingrid again.
If we want a long daytime nap, we aim to get in the car around 11:00. He falls asleep immediately and will stay asleep in the bucket through multiple transfers, sometimes long enough for me to put Heidi down at 1:30.
Fritz still goes down easily at night. We've been tinkering with the time, trying to get his sleep cycles back on track to go through the night (or at least not wake up at 5:00, which is the worst possible time). But the routine is the same -- naked time, bath, nurse, rock, sleep in the pack n play. Karl is a champ at dealing with all three of the others. I love this time, as Frederick is almost always happy and it's often the only time I get to spend alone with him.
He recently noticed that the rest of us eat food and it looks super interesting. So maybe he will get teeth early?
He despises tummy time and refuses to even try to get his head to the age-appropriate 90 degree angle. He also likes to be held upright to look at everything, but can't remotely sit up on his own, even in the Boppy. One can't be expected to lift a noggin of this size.
He does like to lie on the play mat and swat at the toys. We usually have a good, long stretch of play mat time in the morning and during dinner prep.
I hate to publicly embarrass him, but he has some serious bowel issues. The child has more, and more spectacular, blowouts than any of the other children. I tried sizing up diapers, different brands of diapers, all to no avail. We carry multiple sets of extra clothes everywhere. There are way more out-of-diaper poops than contained-in-diaper poops. It's insane.
Just so I don't leave you with that image, here he is looking perfect and adorable, which is how I will remember him at the fabled age of three months.
And now here we are with our fourth three-month old! Even after four rounds, the three-month-old has stuck in my mind as some mythical creature. It seems they'll never get this big, but if they do, they're supposed to stay this age for an indefinite period. Like, "I have a three-month-old" is a permanent state of being that all parents may someday reach. These are the babies everyone envisions when they think about having a baby -- small and snuggly but adorably rounded.
BABYFWITZ is now our round-cheeked, smiley real baby. I think he's the most beautiful of all the babies.
For about two days I thought his eyes might turn hazel like Grandpa Alan's, but no, they're blue. And his fuzzy new hair is coming in blonde. Blonde over blue -- shocking, I know! His face is wonderfully expressive. He does great skeptical and worried eyebrows. And we know trouble is about to erupt when the lower lip comes out.
 |
| My hair is not red. Mom just failed to correct her white balance. |
If we want a long daytime nap, we aim to get in the car around 11:00. He falls asleep immediately and will stay asleep in the bucket through multiple transfers, sometimes long enough for me to put Heidi down at 1:30.
Fritz still goes down easily at night. We've been tinkering with the time, trying to get his sleep cycles back on track to go through the night (or at least not wake up at 5:00, which is the worst possible time). But the routine is the same -- naked time, bath, nurse, rock, sleep in the pack n play. Karl is a champ at dealing with all three of the others. I love this time, as Frederick is almost always happy and it's often the only time I get to spend alone with him.
He recently noticed that the rest of us eat food and it looks super interesting. So maybe he will get teeth early?
He despises tummy time and refuses to even try to get his head to the age-appropriate 90 degree angle. He also likes to be held upright to look at everything, but can't remotely sit up on his own, even in the Boppy. One can't be expected to lift a noggin of this size.
I hate to publicly embarrass him, but he has some serious bowel issues. The child has more, and more spectacular, blowouts than any of the other children. I tried sizing up diapers, different brands of diapers, all to no avail. We carry multiple sets of extra clothes everywhere. There are way more out-of-diaper poops than contained-in-diaper poops. It's insane.
Just so I don't leave you with that image, here he is looking perfect and adorable, which is how I will remember him at the fabled age of three months.
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