Daddy insisted we all get in the spirit of things...just call us the Three Bears.
Hope everyone is having a great Halloween!
Daddy insisted we all get in the spirit of things...just call us the Three Bears.
Hope everyone is having a great Halloween!
On to the post...
Happy 3-month-birthday, Blueberry!!!
He's officially an infant and no longer a newborn! Assuming you subscribe to the missing 4th trimester theory of Dr. Karp's (The Happiest Baby on the Block), the Blueberry's now actually ready to be born and has certain limited coping abilities. I'm not sure I've seen them. Kidding!!! Every day he becomes more aware of and comfortable with the world around him and it shows.
For example, at 8 weeks (shown in the picture below) he would only nap in his bassinet. Now he sleeps in it overnight as well as he did in the Rock N Play.
After initially being terrified, he finally began to enjoy hanging out in his swing. I've never seen it, but according to his Daddy, he even naps in it.
9 weeks
3 months
At 10 weeks, give or take, he began loving his playmat.
He's also got quite a bit of traveling under his belt, including a trip to Virginia Beach and Colonial Jamestown at 6 weeks.
He also visited friends and family in Chicago just a couple of weeks ago. We are so very fortunate that he loves sleeping in his car seat.
And was tasted by met his first dog.
He even offered to help with the driving when Daddy got tired but he couldn't quite reach the pedals.
After initially being terrified of the big stroller, now it's one of his favorite places to nap.
In addition to becoming more comfortable with himself and in his new environment, I'm constantly amazed at how much he's grown--especially his head, which wasn't small to begin with.
3 weeks
3 months
Happy 3-month-birthday to my amazing little guy!
I love you so much (and not just because you're so cute)!
However, I cannot help but admit that he looks absolutely adorable in this outfit from Ralph Lauren. Plus, I also love that I can dress both him and Daddy in pretty much the same outfits.
Just a few days shy of 13 weeks, here's the Blueberry modeling the latest from the Ralph Lauren baby line:
Shoes are from Gymboree. Not exactly practical or preppy, but Mommy loves them.
I've mentioned before how we are slowly learning "baby cues" so I thought I'd do a post about them. Several are classified as reflexes in the baby literature but others seem to be unique to the Blueberry. Some cues have come and gone, but I'll list then here anyway. My goal is to update this as we go along.
1. Head butting - usually means he's hungry, though may generally mean that he wants something like a pacifier. I noticed this behavior very early on and 3 months later it's still a reliable cue.
2. Rooting - this consists of making a small circle with his mouth (just big enough for a nipple) and means he's hungry. This is classified was a reflex and has been present from birth. It may be accompanied by smacking lips.
3. Red Face - may come and go as a flush. Usually means he's pooping or has something gastro-intestinal going on.
4.Rubbing eyes - often accompanied by yawning unsurprisingly means he's tired.
5. Looking away - means he's over-stimulated. The fix varies from putting him down, especially in a cozy place like in his Rock N Play (sort of a baby hammock) or holding him to my chest.
6. Gnawing on his hands - in the first few weeks, perhaps up to 6 weeks, meant he was hungry. Now he does it to self-sooth and may also be a sign of teething.
That's about all I can think of at the moment. Plus, the Blueberry's finished eating and has been dozing for a while now on my shoulder so I should attempt to put him down. As I think of more cues or the change, I'll keep you updated.
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The Blueberry's first trip to the zoo was very brief--we got there about an hour before closing and it was cold. He did stay awake for our entire visit, which surprised me, looking all around. However, from his vantage point he probably couldn't see much other than the trees and me, of course. Next time we go to a zoo, the Blueberry will likely be mobile or at least ready for a forward-facing seat in his stroller.
My friend offering a tasty little morsel for the lioness.
The highlight of the visit for my friend's son was the playground. It's a very cute jungle gym laid out in the shape of a train. The Blueberry wasn't particularly impressed, but he no doubt will be as soon as he can walk.
I loved this "slide." Though it probably confused my friend's son that we encouraged him to climb up it (an obvious no-no on a traditional slide), that didn't diminish the fun one bit.
It's so hard being a baby. I know I say that often, usually in a mocking manner , but it really must be frustrating for the Blueberry not to effectively be able to convey his needs and wants. Simple things like "I'm hungry" or "I'm sleepy" would be so much easier on both the baby and his parents if they only could be verbalized. Yes, I know there are baby cues--my husband insists he can recognize the "low" cry of hunger, but so much of the figuring out what a certain baby behavior means is dependent upon getting a consistent result (i.e. happy baby) from our responses. When the Blueberry cluster-feeds or otherwise deviates from the "normal" schedule, my confidence that we've figured him out, even a little, flags.
I guess it began on Tuesday when the Blueberry skipped his morning nap. Actually, I rather think of it as the third leg of his night's sleep rather than a nap. Typically, he goes to bed shortly before or when we do--somewhere between 9:30 and 11:00 p.m. Then he wakes up to eat around 2:00-3:00 a.m. and will sleep until 6:00-7:00 a.m. and eat again. Finally, there's one last nap until 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. Other than the middle of the night feeding, which isn't so bad when it's brief, this schedule works great for us.
On Tuesday, the Blueberry skipped that last nap which meant so did I. Not a tragedy, especially since I often putter about instead of sleep but it was the start of an odd few days.
Wednesday seemed rather routine, except for longer naps. He added about 30 minutes to an hour to each nap. I barely noticed, other than that our afternoon walk was a bit later than usual.
Then came Thursday.
Thursday, Thursday, Thursday.
What a day.
It actually doesn't seem that bad now that we're back to "normal," but it wasn't fun. As I indicated, Wednesday was ordinary except for the longer naps. Apparently they added up. On Wednesday evening, the Blueberry went to bed at the usual time and woke up at the usual time to eat...they STAYED up! He wasn't particularly cranky, just awake even though he knew it was sleepy time. He tried to go down, but couldn't. As a result, he and his mommy were or less awake from 3:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. when he finally took a longer nap. During those 12 hours, he slept for 20 minutes here, maybe 40 minutes there, usually only in our arms.
These shots are from the evening, but you get the idea.
He also did what he hadn't done in quite a few weeks--wake up the second he was put down. He also would not nap in his bassinet, despite having done that successfully for several weeks. Throw in a whole lot of cluster feeding (about 5 hours worth which was probably more for comfort than hunger) had me doubting everything from the sleep schedule I thought we'd developed, to where he slept, what he slept in, and how he ate. It seemed as though I'd imagined "normal."
Finally, I guess it hit him and he managed to nap where he had never slept before:
Now it feels like a distant memory as we're back to "normal." For the moment, anyway. I'm sure they'll be more days like this and even stranger days to come.
It's so hard being a baby!
He's been sleeping for about an hour now but only 30 minutes lying in his bassinet and I already hear him stirring. (*sigh) At least he looks super cute in his Pooh sleep sack, even minus the hat with bear ears.
Update: This week the Blueberry's tipping the scales at 12 pounds, 4 ounces!
For the Blueberry this trip meant a whole lot of time in the car as we drove from Virginia to Illinois. On the road for about 19 hours on the way since we did a bit of unplanned sight-seeing with an overnight stop in Pittsburgh, traveling went very smoothly with none of the screaming fits we had on the Virginia Beach trip a month ago. Things that we learned from that first road trip came in handy. First of all, I fed him nothing but bottles filled with pumped breast milk. Though we use slow-flow nipples, it still takes him a much shorter time to down a bottle than it does to nurse, about 15-20 minutes versus 30-40 minutes, so it made our rest stops considerably shorter. Gas wasn't really an issue (thank the maturing digestive system coupled with the glass bottles, possibly), though I gave him gas drops just in case. My husband and I also made sure that we ate while the Blueberry ate so we maximized time spent on the road. As a test-run for our trip at Christmas, I think it worked quite well to stop on the way there, since we left after lunch time and hit some mid-day traffic passing through DC, but drive straight back when we were able to leave at dawn. Driving on Columbus Day (which wasn't a construction holiday, unfortunately) it took about 16 hours (not counting our overnight stop or sight-seeing detour) to Illinois and 14 hours back on Sunday when there was no construction. Not bad at all considering we made at least 4 stops each way to eat. (Driving alone, it takes me about 10-12 hours, though I only stop a couple times for gas.)
I'll have another post or two with more reflections and pictures from our trip but here are some shots of the Blueberry hanging around his grandparents' house.
Waking up with a big smile on his face ready to start the day. My husband's room at his parents' house gets a good bit of morning sun which was a nice change for the Blueberry.
Playing with his Daddy on the floor of the family room.
Story time with Grandma as she multi-tasks.
Meeting his 95-year old Great Uncle Silvio.
Having a snack and watching the Tigers game with Grandma.
Being toasted (on?) by Grandpa.
Meeting his de facto cousin and aunts.
Stay tuned for pictures of the Bluberry's first trip to the zoo and more!
Note the adorable Pooh sleeper.
Tomorrow we're driving to Chicago to visit the Blueberry's grandparents and aunt and uncle for the week. For me it's usually a 10-12 hour 1-day road trip with only brief stops for gas and food. However, since the Blueberry eats at least every 3 hours during the day, sometimes more frequently, at a minimum I figure that will add about 4 hours to the trip for these stops. Thus, we'll stop overnight halfway there and play it by ear on the way back. Our trip to Virginia Beach last month taught us a lot about traveling with the Blueberry (e.g., we must eat when the Blueberry eats to maximize time on the road) so hopefully this trip will be a bit more streamlined. However, going away for a week involves bringing quite a bit more gear for the Blueberry and ourselves, not to mention the fact the fall clothes are a we bit bulkier than end of summer items. We're definitely excited to see family and friends and show off the Blueberry! Look forward to lots of pictures.
Off to pack!
At first he stares. What are these funny orange things hanging from all this blue? (Note: sometimes he'll simply stare at the blue arch if I don't have anything hanging in front of him.)
Next, he bats at them (they rattle).
Finally, he decides that they're okay and he gurgles and talks to them for quite awhile. How's it hanging, fellas?
The Blueberry appears to much enjoy this little play mat. He stares and gurgles at the carrots, peas, lettuce, and snail, though the carrots are by far his favorite. I was amazed that he likes the carrots even more than the mirror. Perhaps, like his mommy, carrots will be his favorite veggie as a kid. There's also a huge bumble bee, but since it's larger than his head, I haven't introduced that one yet. We're still working on tolerating tummy time, so the baby boppy you see over his right shoulder comes in handy. Though there are far more interactive baby gym/playmats on the market, this one suits that Blueberry for now. Maybe he'll help me with the balcony mini-garden next spring--or at least eat dirt while I plant?