Life A.D.–3 months

Can you believe this little peanut is already 3 months old?

For some reason, 3 months feels like a big milestone to me. Maybe it’s because baby clothes are split out in 3 month increments (0-3, 3 mos., 6 mos., 9 mos., 12 mos., etc), so it means she’s reached the next level. Whatever the reason, my little girl is certainly growing!

She is a very happy and laid back baby. She smiles and talks all the time and it just makes me all happy and gooey inside!

Here are some of the changes we’ve seen since last month:

Grasping – she has a really strong grip and is grabbing more and more things lately. She almost always grabs ahold of one or 2 of our fingers during feeding. She particularly likes the thumbs.

She also grabs at toys during mat time. In the beginning it was accidental – as if her hand was getting “caught” on the toy. Now it’s a little more purposeful. She’s not totally in control of her movements yet but getting closer everyday.

Head Control – while not able to fully support her head just yet, her neck is getting stronger all the time. She used to flop over immediately upon sitting her up. Now she can balance pretty good!

Tummy time is key for building up that strength but she hates it so we don’t do it as often as we probably should. We didn’t with Isabella either though and she turned out just fine. No head flopping issues there!

Hearing and eyesight – both of these are really good. She focuses on objects and can follow them all around. She hears noises and will look in the direction of them too. She’s not super sensitive to loud noises though. The fireworks over the 4th of July didn’t bother her, which I was grateful for.

Eating and sleeping – we’re making slow and steady progress on this front. She has finally started stretching out her nightly feedings from every 2 hours to every 3 or 4. We’re still not getting a full night’s sleep but it’s better. During the day she still wants to nosh every 2, which is fine. The more she eats during the day, the less she’ll need at night.

Cradle Cap – both of our kids had bad cradle cap. Isabella’s lasted for over a year until we finally talked to a hair stylist that told us baby shampoo was probably the culprit. Who woulda thunk it!? We were buying shampoo specifically made to be gentle on baby’s skin and it was causing her dandruff! So we switched to using good old Head and Shoulders, after doing an olive oil treatment and voila, it went away in a few weeks.

So with Cora, we started off right away with the treatments and dandruff shampoo and it’s gotten much better in the last month or so.

Here’s a pic of how she looked when it was at its worst –

See all that scaly stuff at the top of her forehead? Yeah. It was that way all over. Looks gross but isn’t harmful at all.

It’s still there but is gradually getting better. Admittedly, I’m not as good about doing the treatments as regularly as I should be. Who knew that treating and bathing 2 kids could be so hard? Heck, if I wasn’t going to work every day, I’m not sure I’d be getting a daily shower!

Baby acne and skin conditions – Cora was born with baby acne, as you can see here, as she’s giving us the stink eye.

It’s the little white dots all over her face.

But it’s now totally gone. The only skin issues are the cradle cap and just plain dry skin. Not sure why her skin is so dry given that we fully bathe her only about once a week (in the meantime we do little sponge baths on areas where spit up gathers, like the folds of her neck and face) and I put lotion on her everyday. The pediatrician suggested putting a layer of Hydrocortisone cream and then lotion on top of that. That didn’t seem to make much of a difference. The only thing I can think of is that the lotion we’re using, Aveeno for Babies, isn’t strong enough and we need something more petroleum based, like Aquafor.

As for me, I feel fully back to normal on all fronts. No more soreness or pain – thank God!

I’ve finally started to see some progress in the weight loss department too.

I’ve been on Weight Watchers for a month now and have lost almost 5 lbs. Doesn’t seem like a lot but I can tell a difference in my clothes. I traded in my maternity jeans for regular ones, in a size bigger than I used to wear, and bought some new shirts so that I could wear cute fashionable clothes that actually fit. Amazing what that can do for one’s spirits!

Don’t let this picture fool you – it looks like I have a flat tummy but I don’t. It’s the magic of wearing clothes in the right size…that are dark!

Here’s the side view:

I’ve definitely made progress from where I was here.

I’m feeling much better about things than I was 4 weeks ago, that’s for sure. Still have 15 or so pounds to lose to get back in my pre-preggo clothes. I’ll get there eventually. I am really liking Weight Watchers so far. The plan makes a lot of sense to me and has been easy to follow. The meetings have been great too. Hearing other people’s trials and tips is beneficial. I actually look forward to them each week!

My return to work has gone very smoothly. Getting back in to the swing of things for me really wasn’t that hard. It helps that I had a week to work from home. It was also HUGE having CJ home and not having to leave the girls, and Cora in particular, with a daycare. I think that’s the hardest thing for most moms – putting your little tiny baby in to the hands of someone else.

CJ probably had the hardest adjustment. Having 2 at home is no picnic. I saw that during that time that I was still off work. He handles it like a champ though and does an amazing job with them. No the dishes aren’t always done when I get home and I don’t usually walk in to find dinner on the table, but I don’t expect that either. The important thing is for the girls to be happy, healthy, safe, and incredibly loved. There is no one that could do a better job of that for them than their dad.

Isabella, well she’s doing better with Cora every day. I think this quote from her pretty much sums it up. I asked her how she felt about the baby at first and she said, “I was kind of happy but the rest of me was mad.” I inquired as to why she was mad and she replied, “I didn’t want to be the invisible girl.”

How does she feel about her now? “I’m a little more happy and less mad.”