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Friday, July 29, 2011

Three months old - already?

I can't believe Joel  is three months old today.  Where has the time gone?  I love seeing all the new things he can do each day, and I'm thankful that he's happy, healthy & growing.  But... part of me is sad that he's no longer a newborn.
~ This is for friends & family who want to know what new things he's doing & sometimes I forget to tell them when it happens for the first time :)  ~
Here are some things our baby boy is doing at three months, in no particular order:
* I taught him to stick out his tongue...now he does it whenever we tell him to...so cute! 
* He laughs all the time when we make faces or talk to him. 
* He makes "raspberries" & slobbers.  A lot.  (He almost always wears a bib!)
* He drinks about 6oz. in his bottle every two hours (like clockwork)  during the day.
* He's not spitting up near as much as he had been :)
* He sleeps through the night....only in his swing...but hey, we're all sleeping, right?  He eats between 9 & 10...goes to bed...wakes up between 6 & 7...then goes back to sleep for another hour or two.  We are so lucky!
* He falls asleep with "Monkey" every night, and then the paranoia in me makes me take it away before we go to bed.
* He looks at & grabs his hands all the time.
* He bats at toys on his play mat & jumperoo.  His feet almost touch the floor!
* He gets so excited when we put him in the jumperoo & the music starts!
* He loves "My pal Scout" the singing dog...he laughs & dances every time we press his buttons! :0   What I love most about this little dog is how he says Joel's name...it's so cute!
* We're working on reaching out & grasping toys. 
*Joel mimics the faces we make (sometimes)...and other times, he just laughs at us when we make them.
* This week, I taught him to reach his arms out when I went to pick him up.  He did it for a day, but he's not into it much anymore.
*He loves to smile & laugh when we talk to him, make faces, and dance...an excuse for us to be silly, but when have I ever needed an excuse?
* Joel still likes when we hold his hands so he can "stand up" and stretch his legs.  He bounces & laughs!
* He continues to love bath time - splashing with his arms and legs!
* He still absolutely loves his big brother & I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual!!! :)
* Overall, Joel is a happy, healthy baby boy & we're so glad he's ours!  He doesn't have another visit to the pediatrician until 4 months, but he weighs 14lbs. 6oz. on our scales at home!  He weighed 12.8oz & measured 23 1/4 in. at his 2-month appointment on July 1.
* I return to work in (gasp) less than four weeks, and I am not looking forward to it. Not one bit.  Spending the summer at home with Daniel & Joell has been so much fun, and I am going to miss our laid back mornings & restful afternoons.   :(  It seems like yesterday we were buckling Joel up for his first car ride home...and now here we are three months later.  I'm excited to see what new things he learns to do this month! 
*****

This is what I wrote at two months:
I can't believe it's been two months since we welcomed our baby boy. Joel continues to develop and grow each day! Here are some things he's doing this month...
*Joel is smiling lots & even doing some little giggles here and there. 
* He makes "raspberries" once in a while, but not a lot yet.
* He's got strong leg muscles...he loves when we hold his hands and he can stand. He bounces all over, coos, smiles, and makes a cute little face (that I haven't been able to capture with my camera yet) where his mouth takes the shape of a Cheerio :)
* He follows us with his eyes as we move around the room...and follows objects (rattles, stuffed animals, etc).
* He rolled over from his belly to back on June 15 & then screamed like crazy! It hasn't happened since, but we know he has the strength to do it :)
*Joel loves bath time. He can be having the worst day & once his tiny bottom hits the warm water and suds, it's all over...joy sweeps over his body & he just sits in there looking all around, kicking his feet. Too cute!
*He LOVES his stuffed monkey from Great Grandma Mohney....his name is "Dangles," but for now, we just call him "Monkey."
*Our evening routine includes dinner, kitchen clean-up, bath time, baby massage w/ tummy time, getting dressed in pj's (most likely a gown), and going for a walk.
*Joel likes to take walks through the neighborhood in his stroller (and sometimes in the moby wrap or sling). I haven't quite gotten the hang of tying the moby tight enough though, so he often slips, making the walk very uncomfortable for me.  Although, he LOVES being snuggled up and it almost always puts him to sleep.
* Some days, he spits up. a lot. Other days, he eats, burps, and that's that.
* He is eating about 6 oz. every two hours or so (quite often compared to the 3-4 hour stretch his big brother had between feedings)!
* We weighed him the other night (Daniel weighed himself and then held Joel and got back on) and he weighed 12.5 lbs. We have his 2-month well visit with Dr. M on Friday.
* Blowouts & wet clothes were becoming more frequent, so we moved up to size 2 diapers...this makes me so sad...last month I was sad he was out of newborns, and now size 2 already?? It can't be!!
* When he's having a good day, Joel is so pleasant. For the most part, he is sleeping through the night (mostly in his swing). The nights I start him out in his crib, he almost always ends up back in his swing...but some nights he does okay in his crib. He drinks his last bottle of the night between 10 and 11 and sleeps until 6 or 7...Score! He will get up to eat and fall asleep for another hour or two and be happy most of the day. Other days...not so much.
* When he's not having a good day, everybody knows it. He gets sooooo miserable. Today, he got up around 7 to eat and was pretty happy for a short while after. He is going through some very fussy times, crying (screaming) at least one long spell of an hour or more each day. There is no explanation. I rock him, walk him, give him gas drops, change his diaper, rub his back...nothing seems to make him stop. I feel soooooo bad, but after hours of trying to soothe him, I finally have to put him down in his crib or swing and walk away. He cried most of the morning today...Daniel finally got him to sleep in his boppy so that we could eat lunch.  That kid loves his little brother to pieces!
* But...good days or bad days...or the days in between: I love my littlest boy with all my heart!!! He has the sweetest expressions and coos...and I don't know what we ever did without him :)
******
and...this is what I wrote at one month:
Our baby boy is one month old! Some milestones:
* His birth certificate, social security card, and health insurance card came in the mail...he's official now. ha!
* He is starting to notice us and look around a lot more...so alert!
* He holds his head up very well and likes tummy time with Daniel & me. He moves his head from side to side and coos the whole time...I love to listen to him!!
* Joel's one-month appointment was on Tuesday, 5/31. He weighed 9lbs 15oz, measured 21 1/2 in & head circumference 14 1/2 in. He is growing so fast & has moved out of newborn diapers to a size 1...I am glad he's healthy and growing fast, but to think that he's already out of NB diapers makes me sad :(
*Joel is sleeping more during the night...waking around 2-3 and then again between 5-7. He drinks 4 oz at a time and typically wants to eat every two hours during the day.
*We are also trying to have Joel sleep in his crib more often. Sometimes he will scream until he's rescued, and other times he loves it! He still fits in his Moses basket, so until he totally outgrows that, he'll start out in our room to sleep.
* Joel grunts...all. the. time.
*Joel's favorite toys are his caterpillar play mat, the little vibrating bird on his carseat carrier, glowing musical seahorse, and his Leap Frog My Pal Scout...I especially love how we could program it to say his name so sweetly!!
* We're looking forward to school being out in a couple of weeks so Daniel is here to spend the days with us!! :)

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