Emma: 3 Months!

Dear Noodle,

My little Emmy, truly you are the happiest, most content baby on this planet Earth.  You are always smiling and just taking in the world around you.  I never saw a baby smile as much as you do!  All we have to do is look at you, and out pops that beautiful little grin.

You love the activity mat, and when I put you under it you light up like you've just seen an old friend.  You are usually happy and smiling under there for a good half an hour before you get tired of it.

Sometimes you play so hard that you fall asleep under there, despite any noise and chaos that surrounds you.

You also love to play in the tub.  I have taken countless videos of you splashing around in your little whale tub, and it's the cutest thing.  Your little movements are still so spastic and you startle yourself when you splash, which is really funny to watch.  You are all smiles during your bath, and Aunt Tina says it looks like you live in your own little happy Emmy world.  So true little lady, so true.

Here you are.  All smiles in your tub :)

You enjoy watching the mobile in your crib, just as your sister did.  If I ever need to get things done in your room, I place you under that mobile and you just pleasantly watch it go round and round.  

You've started drooling, so bibs are popping into your wardrobe these days.  You were never much of a spitter- upper like your sister was, (she lived in a bib from day 1 of life), but now that you're drooling we use them on you here and there.

This past month we started putting you in the Bumbo seat every once in awhile.  You are still a little bit young for it because you can only handle sitting up for about 10 minutes or so before you get tired, but it gives you a new view of life for those ten minutes, and you seem to like it.

We are still going strong with breastfeeding, and right in between the 2 and 3 month mark, you finally figured out how to latch on right and we have been smooth sailing ever since.  Both you and your sister gave me a run for my money with nursing, but we stuck with it and now we're golden.  You also were very resistant to the bottle up until recently simply because we barely ever gave you one.  I mean, who has time to pump and feed a baby and watch a toddler?  Not me.  So I found that I hardly every pumped, and therefore you hardly ever got a bottle.  And that became a problem when I went back to work and pumped milk was your only option.  My very first night back you kept Daddy up from 3AM-5AM before you would even entertain the notion of a bottle!  Once you tried it, you chugged it like a champ, but getting you to take that first sip was a trial of Daddy's patience I'm sure.  My goal is to nurse you for a year like I did with Addy, so barring any major problems, I think it'll be doable.  I've figured out the key to nursing a baby while keeping an eye on a toddler.  That key is electronics.  The IPad is what I use.  Addy knows that she can play with the IPad while I feed you, and ONLY while I feed you.  Therefore it remains a special treat for her during our nursing times, and she'll stay put for those 10 minutes.

On sleep news, my dear lady, you are an amazing napper!  You have started rubbing your eyes when you are tired, and seeing a little baby rub their eyes is such a precious sight.  So, so adorable!  You can sleep anywhere, and you are still at that amazing stage, where if I time it right you will sleep through an entire outing of ours.  And at home we often have to WAKE you from your naps for fear that you'd sleep all day.  Yup, you heard me right.  We wake a sleeping baby.  Many, many times.  Especially after your morning nap.  We usually put you down around 10, and if you aren't up by 12:30 I wake you.  Then in the afternoon, you take another 2+ hour nap, and around 5 you take a 45 minute catnap.  Where your sister was a napping nightmare, you are a napping queen!  And you sleep all night!  We put you down between 8-8:30PM and you typically get up once to be fed around 4ish, and then go right back to sleep until around 8AM.   And of course, true to your little personality, you almost always wake up happy and smiling. 

I would say pleasant is probably the best word to describe you.  It truly doesn't take much to keep you happy, and Mommy and Daddy appreciate that sooooo much baby girl!  Sometimes we even forget that you are there because you're so quiet!  Even when you are cranky (which is rare), your cry wouldn't scare a mouse.  And as soon as someone pays attention to you, you're fine.  My sweet, sweet baby girl.  I absolutely adore this angelic, innocent stage.  You are so incredibly perfect in our eyes, and those sweet little baby smiles of yours bring out our smiles every time.  Even on the roughest of days (with two kids under two, there are definitely some rough ones!), all you have to do is give me one of your famous Emmy smiles, and all of my problems melt away.  I absolutely cannot help but to smile back, regardless of my mood at that very moment.  You have the gift of making everyone around you so happy, and that is a powerful gift.  We are blessed to have you in our lives Emma Jane, and we love you so, so very much!

Love,

Mommy