Abby can now clasp her hands together, in front of her.  It's so funny. She doesn't really look at them with interest yet, but she does enjoy holding onto her own hands.

We also moved her up to the level 2 nipples on her bottles. She was taking so long to eat on the slowflow newborn nipple & I think it was frustrating her. Feeding time is going much faster now :)

I don't think she likes to be swaddled anymore either....last night we were trying to put her down in time to watch the Breaking Bad finale and she kept crying & squirming to get out of her swaddle. As soon as I took her arms out, she took her pacifier with no problem and just went to sleep!

Abby had her 3 month dr visit today (a little early, she will officially be three months on October 2nd) 

She is 11 lbs 11oz and is 22 and a half inches long. She is now in the 30th percentile for height & weight. It was 20th before, so not quite as petite. :)

She was a total crab at the dr, but I guess that is to be expected. Now she is a little more vocal about things she doesn't like. So we can be absolutely sure she does not like the scale in the office, having her body measured, or having her ears checked.

She did however thoroughly enjoy the rotavirus vaccine (it's a liquid that they "feed" to the baby - it must be sweet b/c she slurped it right down). Strange kid.

***

She was much less crabby tonight. Thank god!!! Maria laid her back down this morning around 7am instead of letting her stay up until 9am and it made a difference. She was really missing those few hours of sleep!!  Tonight was so much better than yesterday. I'm feeling quite relieved to be honest!

overtired & cranky at night

Some nights Abby has a really hard time getting off to sleep.  I am trying to figure out what to do b/c it's awful when she gets overtired, for her & for me!

I generally lay her down around 8pm after giving her a bottle.  She is usually good at putting herself to sleep but lately, she seems to be having a hard time if she goes beyond tired to overtired. (A place you don't want to be.....trust me) I even got a white noise machine to try & help her drift off on those days she is having a hard time settling down.... it helped one night but not the next....so trial & error.  She does enjoy the sound & the projector though.  When she sees the projector she is very very interested in it!

As an aside, she is very interested in lights...we have a chandelier in the dining room & in her bedroom and she loves to stare at both!

So I think I am going to try & implement a bedtime routine and see how that helps. I hope it does b/c it is so stressful when she is overtired & can't settle down. I have asked Howie to bring up the recliner from the basement and I'll use that to rock with her for a little bit in the dark before laying her down.

three months!

Abby goes to the pediatrician tomorrow for her 3 month checkup. It is hard to believe that it has been almost 3 months already! I was just thinking yesterday about how much she has grown and changed since we bought her home from the hospital. She is fitting perfectly into sleepers that were once too large on her. She is developing more of a personality with her own preferences for things -- for example, she really dislikes being in the other room while we are eating (ie, in the swing in the living room - still in view but not right near us) she would prefer to be right by us in her bouncy seat. She is starting to take 6oz of milk now, seemingly overnight, LOL. She's getting so big!! I am curious to see how she has grown since the last appointment...less excited for her to get shots :(

i have been meaning to make a baby book for abby for some time...i haven't been able to find a physical book that i liked, though so it has delayed me from starting.  i figured i can write up little journal entries & print them out & keep them in a book or folder for her. so what if it's not in a cutesy little book? the idea is there & i'm sure she'll appreciate it all the same. i know i would love to have a baby book to read but alas, my mom is the least sentimental person EVER.

so, abby is almost 3 months old now (better late than never to start a blog, i suppose). she is very smiley & is starting to become a little more interactive.  she really listens when you talk and i believe she enjoys hearing stories now.  

she no longer likes her rock & play sleeper and would rather spend her time in the bouncy chair - furiously kicking her feet & making the little birdies on the mobile jump around.  of course she still enjoys her swing - esp seeing herself in the mirror under the mobile.

she is starting to enjoy peekaboo and "i'm gonna get you!" games.  she likes to watch the tv too. anything with lots of movement and color.  she likes children's programming and watching daddy play final fantasy!

she is such an easy happy baby.  she really doesn't fuss unless she is hungry.  we are starting to have a hard time getting her to go to bed at night, so i got a white noise machine and we are hoping that will help her to drift off. otherwise, she is generally pretty good at putting herself to sleep.   some nights are a struggle still, so hopefully the white noise machine will help.

we think she is on the verge of laughing!! i think she may have laughed this weekend, it certainly sounded like a laugh but she didn't do it again, so i'm holding out (same thing with the rolling over - she did it three times but i don't think she *knew* what she was doing or how she did it)  hopefully soon, b/c baby laughs are SO funny and they laugh at the funniest things!

First things first, Abby's ultrasound came back normal. I didn't get to talk to a dr, I just talked to a nurse so I am not sure if the murmur is gone but as long as everything is normal. I'll talk to the dr in more detail at her next appointment

In other Abby news, she has cradle cap!! So gross & annoying, LOL.  She doesn't have it really bad -- mostly it just looks like bad dandruff on her head but the flakes don't brush off.  My ped said to rub her head with baby oil and then brush her scalp, so I've been doing that nightly and it has been helping a lot.  Then today I gave her a bath & even more came off! So hopefully it will be completely cleared up in a few days.

I made my six week appointment for next week...so crazy.  I can't believe that if I had delivered vaginally I would be back to work already....ugh. I couldn't imagine. I have about four more weeks of maternity leave. I'm glad I am finally feeling back to myself. I can lift things like I did before, etc.  My incision seems completely closed, too so I have been putting lotion on my stomach. I was avoiding doing that while it was still kind of open -- the skin was so dry!

she is doing good. she is sleeping in her crib now. we just have to make sure she is swaddled really really tight.  i have given up on swaddling with blankets and just use the sleep sack exclusively.  that seems to be working!! she sleeps in there during the night and we put her in the crib for naps. sometimes she ends up in the rock & play out of necessity but for the most part she is in the crib, which i think is what matters most.

she is also sooo gassy. it doesn't seem to bother her most of the time. if it's really bad, we use the little remedies gas drops.  i use the dr brown's bottles and we burp her frequently during feedings. she seems to eat really fast though - and i am wondering if that has something to do with the gas. i'm not sure how to remedy that, though.... it's funny  -- she totally freaks out if you pull the bottle away during the feeding. i take it away sometimes to wipe her mouth and she gets all frantic.   so we'll see. the pediatrician didn't seem to be worried about her gassiness - said it's normal. i am just glad it's not the formula. the kirkland is cheap - i would hate to go back to shelling out the $$ for similac.