3 Months Old

Our little Lambchop (as Aunt Andrea calls him) is 3 months old now!  Sometimes it seems like we've had him longer than that, and sometimes it seems like he should still be a newborn.  One thing is for sure, we can't imagine our lives without him, nor do we want to.  This little boy is so completely loved...

He is such a smiley baby when you talk to him, and he just coos non-stop.  He LOVES carrying on conversations!  He's already talked Grandma's ear off on the phone, much to her delight.  He's starting to giggle (or do a loud, squeaky inhale) more and more now, and will even do so when I'm just making faces at him, not just when we're trying to tickle.  He's very interested in his sister, and loves to smile at her and check out what she's doing (which is usually messing with him).  These two love each other. :-)

Marek loves his baths every night - even if he's in the throes of misery, the moment you plop him into his bath he's completely content, and grabbing at the washcloths to suck on them.

Speaking of, he rarely takes a paci anymore.  He will still suck on one if we give it to him and work with him a little bit, but he's not one to keep it in his mouth for long.  For that reason, we often don't bother.  But no matter, he loves to suck on his fists, and even gets a finger or thumb once in a while (as I've documented very well). ;-)

Much to Mama's excitement, Marek started sleeping very long stretches at night just before he turned 3 months old.  I'm talking 10-12+ hours!  It was wonderful and consistent for about 1.5 weeks.  But then he had some tummy issues, and he started giving me only 6-7 hour stretches again.  But we're gradually building back up again.  He was a great napper in the morning, but has never been a great napper in the afternoon. This past week has been brutal with naps - he's really struggled (as have I).  But we're again trying to remedy that and the last couple of days seem better.

And speaking of naps, Marek has been such an easy baby during the day.  In the morning, if I laid him on his playmat, he'd "play" for a long time, and before I'd know it, I'd look over at him and he'd be sound asleep without making any noise.  If I would take him to run errands, he'd sleep as long as he was in the carseat with the vehicle moving, or in a shopping cart that was constantly moving.  He'd even go 5 hours without nursing if we were out like that because he'd be asleep the whole time!  If he woke up, he'd whine a little, then go right back to sleep.  Over the past couple of weeks, that's gradually changing a little.  He likes to be awake in the car now sometimes, but seems to be content for the most part.  He will fall asleep if I put him in the Baby Bjorn and keep moving, too.  As portable as he's been, he's starting to really let us know now when he hits the wall and needs to sleep.  He will scream inconsolably.  It's even getting more difficult to have him fall asleep on me, since it's rare that I've let it happen.  That makes me so sad - I feel like I should let him do that as long as I can since he's already growing up so fast, but I'm trying to instill good sleeping habits, too.  Ugh.  But it's hard with the second child.  It feels like I'm constantly waking him up (or trying to gently transfer) because we have to go places like to pick-up Ellison from school or to go to dance, etc.

Marek loves his ocean critters mobile in his bed.  He still likes his stuffed animals on his changing table and ceiling fans, and somebody in his face engaging with him.  He's just like Ellison was as a baby when it comes to cameras, though.  The second it gets whipped out, the smiles and cooing completely disappear and he just stares at it.  Mookie used to do the same thing.

We had Marek used to taking a little bit of formula once in a while if needed, but the last attempt ended in him screaming his head off refusing to eat.  So he's definitely only willing to take breastmilk now.  Yikes.  Hope the supply lasts longer this time!  But he does take a bottle every night before bed to keep him used to it since I have to work sometimes.

Marek is such a sweet, sweet baby who just melts our hearts.  He's got the most lovable little squishy body, and we can't keep our kisses off those cheeks of his!

[April 18, 2011]