Tenley Louise || 3 Months Old

I can't even believe it but Miss Tenley Girl, you are THREE MONTHS OLD!!!  That's one quarter of a year already!!!  The time, it just needs to slow down!

I remember reading another blogger telling how her mom told her in the middle of a particularly rough week with a new baby to just make it to the 3 month mark because after that it's like you have an all new, EASIER, baby. They are more content, you are more relaxed because you know what you're doing with this little one and it's overall a calmer experience.  Well, you haven't been a difficult baby in the least but I've still been waiting for the magic 3 month mark to hit, and here we are.

A little bit about you at 3 months old:

\\ You are very happy baby!  You give away smiles freely, even to inanimate objects!  There is an orange circle where the legs of your playmat connect at the top and for some reason that thing tickles your funny bone!  You coo and smile at it every time it catches your eye.  That cracks me and Daddy up.

\\ Speaking of your daddy, you are a BIG fan of his!  As soon as you catch sight of him you light up! You give him big gummy smiles, you make funny little sounds of love and you sigh with contentment.  He likes to call you Loulee Talulee these days.

\\ You are quite chatty.  We have many talks throughout the day and you are good at keeping me company while Tate is napping.

\\  When I hold you on my lap you like to stand up and are very strong and steady on your legs.

\\  For the life of me I can't get your to sleep in your crib during the day. At night you sleep there just fine but the second I lay you down in there during the day you wake right up, no matter how hard you were sleeping.  I have vowed 3 times now that *this* will be the week we work on it, but then something comes up and I find it's Thursday and yet again we haven't worked on it.  Oh well, eventually we'll get it figured out.  For now you nap in your swing and you seem very content with that.

\\  The swing is not just for your naps - you enjoy swinging in there while awake, too. And the seat comes off and becomes a bouncer which you like sitting in.  Besides that you like laying on your playmat, cooing at your orange friend or sitting up in your Bumbo chair.  You are just now steady and holding yourself up solidly in the chair.  I have found you prefer to be upright when being held, and if I am standing holding you, you really prefer to be facing out.

\\  You are a good little nurser.  You eat every 3-4 hours during the day.  At night you typically wake just once to eat, usually between 4 and 5, but there have been a few nights over the past month where you woke 2 and 3 times - growth spurt.  You have also blessed me with a couple of full nights of sleep!  Just this morning you didn't wake until 6 am!!!

\\  During the day you usually take 2 really good naps which last between 2 and 3 hours, then a bunch of shorter cat naps in between those.  At night you go to bed between 8 and 10 and wake in the morning between 6:30 and 8.  The books say you are sleeping through the night because you typically sleep a solid 8 hour stretch before waking for your early morning feeding but I have to say I am ready for you to sleep solidly from 9pm to 7am.  It's been months since I've had a solid night's sleep and I believe it'll take months of solid nights of sleep for me to start feeling like I'm caught up again.

\\  You can still roll over from your tummy to your back.  You seem to enjoy tummy time and you can hold your shoulders completely up off the floor now.

\\  I have finally put away all of your 0-3m clothes.  I put you in your 0-3m Valentine's Day dress turned tunic to wear with jeggings this weekend for V-Day just so we could celebrate the holiday, but there is no way it could have been worn as a dress as long as you've gotten. And girlie, you are LONG!  I can't believe how much you've stretched out!  Your growth spurt is really noticeable!

\\  All 3 of your big brothers continue to dote on you!  All the kisses from Tate!  Most times he can't walk away with giving you just one kiss, oh no, it's 2 or 3 at a time!  I can hardly blame him, your cheeks are irresistible!  I have finally given Aiden permission to pick you up and carry you - not far, just to the couch from the swing or to bring you to  me from laying on the floor - but he truly loves having this privilege.  He is very gentle with you.  Brennan loves laying next to you on the floor talking to you but 9 times out of 10 Tate, the baby hog, comes along and gets in between you two.  I swear, Tate thinks you are his baby and I am just here to do all the diaper changes. :)

\\  Like I mentioned, you are completely in 3-6m clothes.  And you are in size 1 diapers still (!!!).

\\  Last month you came down with a nasty cold which turned out to be RSV.  You were quite a trooper and took most of your nebulizer treatments without fussing and really, through the entire week of you being sick you weren't at all fussy!  You are such a good baby!  At those appointments you weighed 12lb 12oz, and 12lb 9oz (you lost 3oz in 3 days!).  My guess is that right now you are hovering just at or under 13lbs.

You have brought so much joy to our lives, Loulee Loulee Lou!  Oh how I love you!  As one of my favorite literary characters, Anne Shirley, says "I simply fall upon you with kisses".  We are "kindred spirits" and going to be "bosom friends" for sure.  I do adore you, Tenley Louise, and I feel so blessed to be your mommy.