I seriously don’t know how mommy bloggers do it. I am a SAHM with only one baby and even then I can hardly find time to go to the loo, let alone blog. I figured its best I stop apologizing for my lack of updates as I simply can’t help it.
Leah is now 3.5 months old. My mother in law, Leah and I flew back to Italy on 4th February. And knowing my luck, it was the coldest winter in many years when we flew back. To make matters worse, we had to fly into Milan, abt 3 hours from my place instead of Bologna which is a mere half hour away, all due to some paperwork problem that is so charateristic of the Italian system. When we reached Milan airport, it was -12 degrees, icy and foggy and in a nutshell, DREADFUL especially for a little baby. Needless to say, I was worried sick about Leah and how she would handle the cold. Thankfully, she was ok. She was a real gem throughout the flight and didn’t fuss at all. She slept in her bassinett, and when she was awake, she just cooed and smiled and melted some other passengers hearts (I like to think 😉 )
It was a dreadfully cold 2 weeks after we arrived. We were pretty much snowed in and I got sick and tired of the snow after just a few days. Snow is only fun when its Xmas, when you have nowhere to go or if you’re a kid (cos schools are closed if theres a lot of snow). Thankfully the weather is a lot better now and the snow has gone.
Boy oh boy has my life changed. I am typing this with one hand as she suckles and drifts off to sleep. I wake up at least 3-4 times a night to nurse her and during the day I go through my chores like a tornado. I havent had the time nor opportunity to bake and dinners now are pretty simple too.
( I had to save this draft and continue this post the next day as the little one was fussing >__< )
Month 2-3 progress
7kgs at 3 months old
1. Recognizes faces. Above all, she recognizes mommy (ME!) yayyy. She has this big grin that is reserved for me and she breaks into smiles and coos when I talk to her. She isn’t this responsive towards others, and its a bummer for her poor daddy coz he feels pretty forlorn that she isn’t that receptive towards him, but I guess its normal since she’s always looking at me, and its mommy who wakes up 382920133 times a night to feed her, carry her, rock her back to sleep etc.
2. Tracks voices (mine?) across the room and follows our movements when we move around.
3. Starting to grab her toys at 3 months old. She is rather cautious from what I noticed, and will only slowly move her fingers around toys that are placed near her. She has only recently started grabbing at toys in front of her when placed in her bouncer. And at almost 4 months now, she is still as obsessed as ever with her fist. I have a truckload of pics of her staring at her right fist and focusing at it, complete with scrunched brows and pouting lips. Very cute.
4. Is still nursing through the night. When we first arrived in Italy, there was one week where she woke up every.single.hour. I suspect it was a growth spurt, and I sure as heck nearly died of exhaustion having to soothe her back to sleep as she kept fussing and crying. As of now, she wakes every 2-3 hours for feeds, and if I’m lucky, 4 hours. Strange this is, she doesn’t really fuss for milk during the day time.
5. We started off co-sleeping in the same bed, but the hubs had a cold and we decided that perhaps its time I move her into her crib in our room. It was a bittersweet moment for me (geez I cant imagine her leaving for college!), and tho its more difficult for me as I have to wake up and walk to her crib all the time, I guess the hubs gets better sleep. The things a mother has to do for her husband baby.
6. Its ironic as she started out in life being SUCH a poopy baby, pooping up to 6 times a day, and then it got lesser and lesser, and the longest she went was 5 days without a poop. And then she gave me a nice explosive Valentines day present – 5 days worth of poopsplosion.
7. She is still fully breastfed and I’m mighty proud of it coz it ISN’T easy. I can’t leave the house peacefully knowing that she might get hungry and since I don’t plan to introduce her to the bottle, she may just get hungry and throw a fit. Thankfully that hasnt happened yet.
8. Sleepwise, gosh I wish it would get better. She is SUCH a light sleeper, and is real daughter of ours. Both hubs and I are very light sleepers, me especially. She only catnaps throughout the day, and sleeps for 20 minute stretches maximum. And that too, is if we rock her in the bouncer.
9. She LOATHES tummy time and though her neck is stronger, as can be felt when we carry her, she still can’t hold her head up while on her tummy.
10. From time to time, she still gets gas/slightly colicky and will suddenly wail in the evenings/at night. This is usually accompanied by her passing gas, so it’s quite obvious that she experiences tummy discomfort. My poor baby. The only thing we can do is feed her with a bit of Dentinox, and so far it seems to be helping. I do hope that she outgrows it soon, as its heartwrenching when she cries in pain.
11. How can I forget this. At just 2 months old, Leah showed obvious dissatisfaction when removed from her bathtub. She ADORES bathtime and coos and is as happy as a lark while in water. A few times, when I removed her from the tub, she started crying, and I was afraid that she was in pain/had some discomfort. But after a few times of it happening, I did a little test, and immersed her in water again when she started crying after her bath. And what do you know. No more tears but instead, she broke into a huge grin! Drama much? So now I’ve learnt to prepare loads of her toys around her after bath, so the moment I start to dry her and dress her, and she starts crying, I’ll have the toys to distract her. Phew.
12. Language development wise, Leah rules! She “talks” really well and some days I can hear her talking in the living room while I’m in the room. She has different intonations and can show displeasure. Just yesterday, after tummy time and she wailed, I carried her and consoled her, and she looked me in the eye, scrunched her eyebrows and began “complaining” in her Oww Oww OWWW voice. Super adorable!
All in all, I would say that this little girl of mine isn’t exactly fast in the motor development department, but is great at social/emotional development. I’m in no hurry really. I’d much prefer she develops at her own pace and I’m not the kind of mother who worries if her baby develops slowly. Already, I feel that she’s growing too quickly, evident in her pile of clothes she’s already outgrown. I do wish time would slow down….