Three Months Old

 Developmental Milestones this Month: Andrew  still is pretty textbook for his development. He can do the following (all age-appropriate according to What to Expect the First Year): lift his head and chest 45 and 90 degrees while on his tummy using his arms for support, roll from his tummy to back, smile in response to others' smiles and smile spontaneously, squeal in delight, bring both his hands and feet together purposefully, follow an object as small as a raisin 180 degrees, reach as short distance and grasp onto toys, hold his head steady when held upright, bear some weight on his legs when held in the standing position, turn in the direction of mommy and daddy's voice, make LOTS of sounds in all different vowel-consonant combinations.

Physical Growth this Month: These are "at home" measurements because Andrew doesn't go back to the doctors until four months.  On Wednesday at WW, Andrew weighed in at 13.9 lbs (gain of 1.5 lbs in one month that I swear is all in his face).  I tried hard to measure his length and got three different measurements, averaging out at 25.5 inches.
Things Andrew likes: Mommy, Daddy, and Aunt Melissa are his favorite people right now--although, anyone who is willing to play with him and make high pitched sounds, he'll smile at.  He still loves Mr. Octopus and his play mat, along with his crib mobile.  His hands have also become a constant toy (they are always in his mouth) and he loves playing with his tongue.  He has a lion that crinkles and he loves it in the car; from the front seat, I can hear him crinkle it for over 15 minutes as he tries to eat the lions ears.
Things Andrew doesn't like: his acid reflux/GERD makes Andrew hate spitting up, but other than that, he's a pretty laid back baby.  He gets "scared" at loud noises, but doesn't cry.  He doesn't like the process of going to sleep, nor when you take the bottle out of his mouth during a feeding.  Raspberries on his belly make him stick out his lower lip in a quiver.

I had to give you a 'melt down' picture or it wouldn't be a monthly update!

Sleeping: Andrew is a champion sleeper thanks to the Baby Whisperer (I love this woman).  During this third month of life, he slept through the night (that means 6 hours or more), 27 of the 31 days!  The nights have gotten longer and longer, averaging about 9.  Last night, he gave us 12 long sleeping hours.  During the day he takes three naps ranging from 45 minutes to 2 hours.  Usually the morning nap is shortest.  He's also proved that he can pretty much sleep anywhere.  When we went to Bakersfield to visit Great Grandma Bennett he slept well in his pack in play, he's also sleep on the floor at many places, in several beds, in the RV, in the car, and on mommy in his sling.
Eating: Andrew transitioned himself to a four hour schedule during week eleven and because of this the amount that he eats has gone up dramatically.  He now eats 6 oz (or more) in one bottle five times a day.  We needed to switch this past week to the medium flow nipples in the Playtex bottles because it was taking him almost 45 minutes to eat one bottle (with medium, he's back down to 20 minutes or so).  He was eating about 27-30 oz at the end of his second month, and now he's eating between 30-32 oz so in reality he doesn't consume all that much more.  We started him on Zantac for his GERD on June 14 and upped his dosages just this week (it's weight related).  The medication helped the pain from the reflux go away, so we no longer have a cranky baby who wants to eat, but hurts when he eats.  The spit up amount has not decreased, but at least it isn't bothering him anymore.  Mommy and Andrew both change clothes at least twice a day and average about four burp cloths a day.  Also, Andrew no longer wakes up from his naps starving.

Playing: Andrew now stays up almost two hours after every bottle, so we have started playing together.  We spend the first 15-20 minutes after a bottle sitting upright on mommy's lap or in his rocker chair (to help with reflux/spitting up) playing with our hands and feet, singing 'this little piggy' and 'if you're happy and you know it.'  We then move on to a circuit of different activities; 1)to the play mat to practice being on our tummy, rolling over, talk to the baby in the mirror, shake Mr. Octopus, kick the elephant and whale, and scoot around, 2) in the crib to practice more tummy time and rolling over (on a super padded surface this time), talk to the mobile, or sing the nursery rhymes with the CD, 3)in the Bumbo to practice assisted sitting, or 4)in the Baby Bjorn or sling to walk around the neighborhood with Reese.  All the time Mommy is talking to Andrew (or reading Facebook out loud to him) and he has started talking back and making up his own conversation. Andrew is learning and watching all the time and strangers always comment on how alert he is when we are out and about.
Diapers: We switched to size 2 in the middle of the month because we ran out of size 1 and I didn't want to purchase another huge box from Amazon Mom (by the way, if you haven't looked into this mommas, you want to).  There were a bit big for the first two weeks and we had a few leaks, but now they are fitting fine.  In total we used 557 size 1 diapers and we have already used 92 size 2 (don't you love that I keep track for you?!?).

Clothing: Andrew is (still) wearing 0-3 month clothes. He's outgrown the sleepers, but hasn't been wearing them anyway because it is so hot at night.  His tallness is all in his legs, so the 0-3 month clothes are perfect right now.  I'm sure in the next few weeks we'll switch to 3-6 months (I've already gotten them from Tawni and Rachel and started organizing so they will be ready when we need them).  Most of the pants/shorts that we have in 0-3 (still) fall off his belly so we roll them up to fit.

Photos were hard this month because Andrew wants to MOVE and his hands are constantly in his mouth!

Important Events of Month Three: Fathers' Day, 4th of July, met Aunt Pauline and Uncle Ralph, visited Great Grandma Bennett and first road trip, and mommy's favorite, learned to SLEEP well!!