Three months!

My sweet baby boy is three months old!  Bye-bye newborn days, hello big babyhood!

I seriously fall in love with this little boy more and more each day.  He is just such a fun, easy-going little baby and we are all smitten.  You don't realize when you only have one baby (your first baby) how sort of, ummm, I don't want to say boring, but... kind of boring, little tiny babies are.  Don't get me wrong, they are cute, and wonderful, and all that, but compared to a high energy toddler, or even an older baby, they don't do a whole lot.  But we are fast approaching the more fun, interactive stage of babyhood and I LOVE it.

Alright, here we go with the updates:

Sleeping (night time): Night time sleep has been getting better and better, it seems.  Our longest stretch so far has been 8 hours (7:30- 3:30am) which was two nights ago, but more typically the first stretch of sleep is around 6 hours.  After that I usually get another 2-3 hour stretch, and then who knows.  He doesn't usually need much help getting back to sleep in the middle of the night- usually just a quick 5 minute feed, and straight back in bed (in our room).  No diaper change, no rocking, no paci.  Occasionally though he doesn't go right back to sleep, and depending on how tired I am and what time it is, I may bring him in bed with me.  He didn't use to like sleeping with me, but now it works like a charm, and I really enjoy it!!  I'd say he ends up in our bed maybe twice a week for a few hours, on average.

Now for about 2 weeks, he fought going to sleep in his bed (rock 'n play) to start the night.  What I mean is, after bath and PJs and being fed, he would usually fall asleep no problem (being held), and I'd put him in his bed no problem, but he would wake up shortly after and cry and cry. He doesn't usually cry at bedtime, and of course we'd go try and soothe him immediately, but the ONLY way he wanted to be soothed was by nursing... definitely out of comfort.  So we would turn all the lights off and he would lay with me on the couch, and I let him comfort suck as long as he wanted, which was usually at least an hour, although sometimes he would lay with me (sleeping) on the couch for 2 hours!  I continue to try putting him in his bed every night, and the past 2 nights he's gone to sleep just fine in his bed, so we'll see.  I must admit, although it makes it hard to get anything done in the evenings, I do love snuggling with this little boy, and I know this won't last much longer.

Sleeping (day time):  Still a bit tricky.  He falls asleep in my arms with very little effort, but doesn't stay asleep for very long if I put him down.  Ever.  We're working on it.  Good thing is, he LOVES sleeping in the Ergo, and will also fall asleep in the car seat, and usually stay asleep while we're out.  He's not on any sort of schedule, but his sleep cues are pretty easy to read, so it's usually not a problem to tell when he's tired and ready for a sleep.  His awake time varies, but is usually only around one hour before he needs to be asleep again.  He almost always has a big midday sleep- usually 2-3 hours while Riley is sleeping, so I usually snuggle up on the couch with him and watch TV for a nice mental break. 

Milestones:
He laughs pretty regularly and it's so amazingly cute I can't stand it! And... he laughs in his sleep!! One of the perks of having a baby that wants to be held for all his sleeps is you never miss out on the amazingly cute things they do while sleeping- like laughing!  When awake, he laughs in response to funny sounds and silly faces, and sometimes peek-a-boo.  And then sometimes I have no idea what made him laugh...

He smiles all the time, and loves to talk to us, and coos the most when he has someone to coo back at him.  He says a lot of ahhhhs and oooos and ahhgooooos, and his little voice is just so cute.

He seems to be ticklish, and is really starting to like baby massage after bath.  Speaking of baths, he still LOVES bath time.  He has only cried once during a bath, and it was because I made the water too cold, and I knew it was probably on the cool side but I thought it would be okay, but he was clearly not pleased.  He likes to be nice and toasty in his bath!

Speaking of nice and toasty- one thing that's very different from Riley- he gets REALLY hot.  We're heading into NZ winter, and it has been pretty cold here some days, but if we go anywhere in the car, he needs to be in a short sleeved onesie otherwise he overheats and gets drenched in sweat.  And he gets SO SO hot and sweaty when he's feeding.  Supposedly feeding is one of the most taxing things a little tiny baby does, and he just gets so hot and sweaty!  Definitely don't remember that from when Riley was a little baby.

He has rolled from belly to back once, and that's it.  No back to belly, although he does try to roll on to his side every so often.  And to be honest, we just recently started putting him down on his back for longer stretches during the day, now that we've set up his pack n play and can be in there without fear of getting trampled by his big sister.  If he's on the ground, or somewhere Riley can get to him, she immediately lays down next to him (or sometimes pretty much on top of him), and there's no chance of him rolling like that!

He loves trying to sit up, so if he's left slightly inclined he will try and do a sit-up.  He holds his head up like a champ, and loves to look around and see what's going on.  If he's laying on his back, he kicks his legs like crazy, they are constantly in motion!

He LOVES his play gym now (as long as Riley doesn't steal all his toys off of it).  He stares and talks to his toys, and smacks them with his hands.  He'll hold on to rings and toys if you help him grab them, but he doesn't grasp onto things himself from his play gym.  He does love to grab onto fingers and blankets or clothes, especially when nursing.  He also loves looking at the mobile in his crib, especially when the music is going.  He doesn't ever sleep in his crib, but it's another "safe" place I can leave him for a few minutes unsupervised while I use the bathroom or brush my teeth or something.

His hands are constantly in his mouth, and he sucks on his fingers and makes loud smacking noises.  I thought he was going to be a finger/thumb sucker, but he has decided he really likes the paci now!  He now no longer likes the soothie ones he used to take, and only likes the MAM pacifiers that Riley used (and still uses). He usually takes a paci to fall asleep for his naps, but never takes it at night (well, we never offer it at night).

He is weighing in at 15 pounds and I can't remember how tall he is, but he's in the 75th percentile.  It's crazy to think that at 3 months, Riley only weighed 11.5 pounds!!  Jack is in mostly 6 month clothes, and size 2 diapers.  I love love love his chubby little legs and his cheeks and he is just so squishy and it is the best thing ever!

He likes reading stories and looking at the pictures, and he loves looking at himself in the mirror.  He loves Riley, and he is constantly watching her every move.  He's totally used to her loud toddler behaviors, and never gets startled by her loud outbursts. :)  He also loves his daddy and gives him the biggest smiles when he gets home from work.

That might have been the longest update ever, but so much is happening and changing lately!  Happy 3 months to my little boo boo!

Oh yeah, and just for comparison...