Lily is three months old! This makes her only nine months away from being one year old, and it means that I only have one more month left of maternity leave. I am astonished by how fast time is flying by and how quickly Lily is growing and changing. Yesterday was my first day/night away from Lily, and I missed her a lot. She is a sweet soul, and she gives me the biggest, brightest smiles which absolutely make my days. At three months, Lily is becoming more and more aware of the world around her. She is finally starting to tolerate tummy time, and a couple of days ago she lifted her head up very high. Frankie and I were laying on the floor next to her, cheering her on! She is still eating only approximately 18-20 ounces of formula a day, and she is pretty consistently eating 4 bottles during the day and 1 bottle at night. She usually barely eats anything of the final daytime bottle, but then she wakes up starving at some point during the night, usually around 1:30, but it can vary anywhere from midnight to 4:00 a.m. She is sleeping at night from approximately 8:00 to 7:00, with one wake up in between where she chugs a bottle and goes right back to sleep. Her naps are completely unpredictable and constantly changing. She took a 5.5 hour nap last weekend, and I finally woke her up because I didn't want her to sleep all day! Yesterday she took two three-hour naps, and the timing worked out perfectly, so that she did not fuss at all during the day. I would love to make this her consistent routine, but I am sure she will change things up on me within the week.
One night last week she broke out of her swaddle and then fell asleep again once she wriggled an arm free. I took this as a sign she may be ready to get out of the swaddle, so we tried swaddling with one arm out, and she slept great. We are now swaddling with both arms out, and she seems to be sleeping more peacefully this way. Before, when she was completely swaddled, she would wiggle all around the crib at night, and you never knew where you would find her. But now, with her arms out, she generally sleeps in the same spot every night and stays there.
She loves laying on her back and "talking" to you. It is so funny, because it almost seems like she is carrying on conversations, as her "replies" are intoned just like regular speech. She laughs, and she makes a really funny squeaking sound, which Frankie says sounds like a mouse (he is right!). She loves to blow bubbles, and she drools a ton. She loves to suck on her hands, and this is not a reliable sign of hunger, because she also does it when she is tired, and I think also just because sometimes. She is now mostly wearing size 3-6 month clothes and size 2 diapers, and I think she is growing really fast right now and will probably move up to the next size soon.
When she gets really fussy or worked up, not much will calm her down. We cleared out an entire room at Buca di Beppo last weekend when she had a screaming tantrum while we were trying to eat dinner. She still sometimes has very fussy periods in the evenings, but I think those are usually tied to her being tired and not having a late afternoon nap. She is generally not fussy at all most days. She still loves her swing, her bouncy seat, and her play mat. She now grabs for and holds toys and other objects.
She continues to be beautiful, unpredictable, and sensitive. I am so excited to watch her grow, and I am glad that I get another month to bond with my sweet girl.
