Juliette: 3 Months

Juliette

3 months

My little bun is 3 months old and I just looooove her. I wouldn't say mothering three little geese is always the easiest thing ever, but I am at least experienced enough at baby-parenting to be able to really enjoy this little one. I am just soaking up her babyhood. I should probably be taking more pictures, videos, writing more about her, but I am really just basking in her loveliness and the sweet spirit she brings to our home. Her sibs love her, and she loves them. Steve and I can just see her itching to get moving so she can play with them whenever she watches them. We are very thankful for every minute with this baby girl!

At three months, Juliette:

Sleeps from about 8pm until about 6:30am. We dared to drop the 10pm feeding about two weeks ago (she was consistently sleeping through it) and she didn't mind a bit. Which is wonderful because (pathetically) I was really wanting to get myself to bed before 10. :)

She's starting to be very wiggly in her sleep, too. We never see her moving around, but when I go to get her in the mornings she is always in a different place than where we left her the night before. :)

Eats on a fairly regular schedule now. She does mostly 3 hour stretches, except for a 4 hour stretch in the morning which--thank goodness--has her wake up and eat before we go get Gracie from school. Her first couple months she was falling asleep in the car and getting a bad nap, but now she stays awake until we get back home. :) So she's eating about about 6:45/7am, 10:30/11am, 2pm, 5pm, and I wake her for a feed at 7:30pm before she goes to bed for the evening. (I know you don't need to know this, but I have to take notes for myself or I will forget!)

It's fun to see how she is similar and different to Grace and Charlie. Pretty much since birth she has swatted at her mouth/me/her bottle (which makes her very angry) when we try to feed/nurse her, so I mostly feed her while she is swaddled. I just pick her up from her crib, cart her down the stairs, and don't un-burrito her until she is full fed and ready for a burp. She is also much calmer than her sibs about switching sides during her meals. Both the older two were convinced that once they were unlatched from one side they would never eat again, and would wail piteously until they were proven wrong. Juliette doesn't appreciate a long delay, but she does at least give me the benefit of the doubt for a few seconds--usually long enough for me to have moved her on to phase two. :)

Baby sneeze!

Wears 6 month sized clothing, though she isn't quite long enough to stick her hands/feet all the way out the sleeves/legs. But she was looking a little trapped in her 3 month jammies, so we moved her up. She is very fun to dress, the little dolly.

She is gaining some wonderful little baby rolls and chubs. Her cheeks are cherubic, and Steve said to me one night, "She doesn't even need a pillow--she has her cheeks." So true! She has wonderful pillow cheeks! She also has some precious thigh rolls, or, as her daddy puts it, "Thighs on thighs on thighs." We love them.

The beginnings of thigh rolls.

Loves sucking in her hands. For about three weeks she was only interested in the left hand, but last week she discovered the right one and now switches between them. She thinks they are delicious. She also loves to lay on a blanket and kick around, swing in her swing, and watch her siblings. She likes to gurgle and coo and chat, and gives us big fat smiles and even more chats when we make her sounds back at her. She's also a big fan of snuggles, and of being sung to.

When she is tired or fussy she likes to be held with one arm tucked against your chest and the other tucked under your arm. Unless she's starving, she pretty much won't cry at all if she's being held. Another little snuggle puppy. :)

Her sibs make her grin.

Does NOT love being laid down alone in her bed--she seems quite offended by this. Weren't we having a good time? Weren't we all getting along? Why would we leave her in her bed for nap?! She does not love sleeping anywhere but in her bed or carseat--she is far too interested in the happenings at church, for example, to fall asleep in our arms easily.

She is also rather suspicious of baths. This is mostly my fault, because (poor third child) she hasn't had very many. I could say this is because it is better for her skin not to be bathed every day (which is true per her pediatrician) buuuuut its really just that its hard to find a moment when her sibs are not hovering adoringly over her. She had a bath today, for example, during which Charlie kept dropping bath toys on her (lovingly, and with great excitement--he is anxious for her to be able to actually hold toys). To his credit, he also lavished her with praise afterward because she didn't cry in the tub, and gave himself a little pat on the back because he didn't cry during her bath, either. :)

So far she seems to be the mellowest of our three babes, though she is also a little more hesitant to talk to us than the older siblings. She smiles a lot, but--at least so far--she isn't overly chatty. We love this squishy baby girl, and call her "lovely" multiple times a day--because she is. :)