3 months – Our little charmer

Yesterday, our gorgeous girl turned 3 months old. And I remain in awe of just how much she has grown, both physically and mentally, during the last 13 weeks.

It has been so very wonderful to watch her personality grow, and there is one thing I know for sure..

She is most certainly a daddy’s girl. Lighting up as soon as he walks in the room.

Charlotte

There is no mistaking that Charlotte is awake and aware these days – taking in all the sounds and sights around her. She seems to be quite a passionate baby, letting us know when she is happy (with big smiles and giggles) or not so happy (with LOUD cries and frowns).

Oh and did I mention that she is rather expressive…

I spend a lot of my day just wondering what it is that she is thinking!

This month has also been all about her mouth and hands. Lots of bubbles, saliva and dribbles.

And hands.

Oh the hands.

No sooner had Charlotte started reaching out and holding onto toys and other items, they found their way into her mouth almost immediately.

A sign of the times once teething starts perhaps?

Feeding

Breastfeeding continues to go well, and Charlotte has become quite efficient, with each feed taking only between 5 and 10 minutes (generally). Despite our attempts, she still has no interest in taking a bottle, and I think she may just be one of those babies who does not take a bottle. While this doesn’t overly concern me, it does mean that I (aka the food source) can never be too far away.

Sleeping

I know that we are very lucky to have a baby that sleeps fairly well. Over the last month, we have started to get more into a sleep routine, of sorts, with Charlotte taking short naps during the day (usually 3 or 4) and then aiming for a bed time of 7pm. Some days it works fine. Other days, not so fine. But we are slowly starting to see a pattern emerge, and getting better at reading her tired signs.

(haha not so happy to be going to bed….)

At 12 weeks, Charlotte did have what I think was a growth spurt, and the evening periods of inconsolable crying returned, as did the extra wake ups overnight for feeds.

This period has now passed though (fingers crossed), and she has returned to generally only waking to feed 2 or  3 times after her 7pm bed time. We have noticed that she will wake up initially at 8pm or so, but we are trying to encourage her to settle herself back to sleep. By this I don’t mean that we are letting her ‘cry it out’ (something I don’t feel comfortable doing), but if she is just having little grizzles, we find that she will often fall back asleep after 5 minutes or thereabouts, without us having to go in and pick her up.

Each night really can be a new sleep adventure, so we just take it one night at a time.  It sometimes feels like just as I think we have ‘figured it out’, the next night is completely different!

Milestones and achievements

The last month has seen quite a few ‘firsts’.

Charlotte has given us her first giggle, along with lots and lots of smiles, which continue to melt our hearts. Her giggles, which sound more like grunts initially, keep Mr BBB and I laughing for hours.

She is also quite chatty, having conversations with us (and her toys) which is simply too adorable for words.

As you may remember, our local health nurse pointed out that Charlotte has a little bit of a flat spot on the back of her head, and was not so great at tummy time either.

So this month we have been religious with her tummy time, and are pleased to see that she is getting much better!

While she initially grizzled pretty much as soon as we put her on her tummy, and made little effort to lift her head, she will now tolerate around 10 minutes at a time.

I don’t think she has quite figured out that she can use her arms to push herself up , but once she does, there will be no holding her back!

Me – the physical and the emotional

I wrote about ‘my’ progress at 2 months here, and at 3 months I don’t think much has changed. I still have weight to lose, I don’t get out to exercise nearly as much as would like to, but at the end of the day becoming a mother has fulfilled me more than I ever thought possible.

Exercise has been rather hit and miss – with time (and energy!) being in rather limited supply. I have treasured the few runs and rides I have fit in however – as they do wonders for both my physical and mental health.

I also continue to meet up with other local Mums once a week, which is nothing short of wonderful for my mental health. Although our ‘scheduled’ sessions are now finished, we are meeting up weekly at a different venue, and are even heading to a ‘Mums n Bubs’ movie session this week. Good times!