Baby A---3 months

 well, my little girl is now 3 months old.  she is so alert and becoming more active and interactive with us.  she is awake for a lot of the day now, and likes to play.  she is still such a little sweetheart.  she is all about her hands right now.  she holds them together and interlocks the fingers of one hand with the other.  she chews and sucks on her fingers and tries to stuff her entire fist in her mouth.  she is also becoming very vocal.  she makes all kinds of different sounds and just started doing raspberries.  she likes to stick her hands in her mouth and make noises with her mouth.  it's great.  she is so interested in watching people now.  she of course loves watching her big brother, but she watches me, especially when i'm eating.  i will make funny sounds with my mouth and she watches so closely and tries to mimic.  she is super smiley and lights up when we talk to he.  she is requiring more attention from me now, and will complain if i'm not paying attention to her when she wants.  she is very strong and loves to stand up.  i will grab her hands and she basically pulls herself up to standing and gives a big smile, and looks around, checking out the place from her new perspective.  it's the best.  she is so delightful.  i have noticed that she is a little more clingy to me these days.  if i try to put her down, she holds on tightly to my shirt and cries a little if i set her down.  when we nurse, she holds on to my shirt or my chest.  she calms down if she is crying and i hold her.  she is kind of a mama's girl right now.  probably like most infants.  Z is still mostly really sweet with her.  he still gives her lots of hugs and kisses and says, "you're so cuuuuute baby sister!" and he will put her binkie in her mouth, cover her with her blanket and pat her on the head and say, "it's ok baby sister, don't cry" when she is upset.  he brings her the glow worm or musical seahorse to help calm her down.  but, i think the novelty has worn off, because when he is acting out, he now will sometimes wake her up if she is napping, or grab her feet too hard or one time he pinched her arm.  he also tries to pick her up, which scares me.  one time, he grabbed her and rolled her on top of him, he was lying on the floor, and he was holding her on his chest.  i kind of had a mini heart attack and told z not to pick her up like that.  so then he roller her off his chest, and thankfully she rolled onto her back on the nursing pillow, otherwise she would have hit her head on the ground.  phew!  but i really have to watch him around her now.  i don't think he wants to hurt her on purpose, but it could be dangerous if he is trying to pick her up.  but, he is mostly really great with her still.  the last couple of weeks has been challenging with z.  he has been throwing a lot of tantrums, and just generally being cranky, not sleeping well, and all of the unpleasantness that comes along with that.  he has had his moments of being awesome, but mostly he is really making me work!  i had a couple of meltdowns myself, not gonna lie.  i basically decided that i neeeeeed to get out and be by myself for a couple hours at least, every week, for my sanity.  i have enrolled z in a class at little gym once a week, which he loves, and he attends children's classes once a week, and i'm looking into getting him into a preschool one day a week for a couple hours.  we'll see.  but, it's been nice to have some activities for him to participate in outside the house, especially since it has been so damn rainy here.  so, anyway, we're just chugging along, day by day, trying to figure this all out, haha.  here's the three month update;

-feeding: still exclusively breastfeeding, and will be doing so until she is 6 months old

she was not happy that mama set her down

-growth: we don't go to the doctor until her 4 month checkup, so i'm not sure her weight, but she is filling out a little bit and is definitely longer.  she seems to be a tall, slender baby. she is in her 3 month clothes now, but some outfits are a little short on her but roomy width-wise.

looking at her hands

-development: she is moving around a lot now, very talkative with her cooing, gurgling and raspberries.  is very interested in what's going on around her and other people.  she likes when i squeak her sophie the giraffe at her.  she has giggled a couple of times, which absolutely melts my heart.  she hasn't quite grabbed her toys yet, but today she was holding onto her binkie, in her hand.  and she is a rockstar at tummy time, although after a few minutes she is over it.  she still moves her legs as if she's riding a bicycle.  she also tries to sit up while she is lying down, she pulls herself up with her ab muscles, she also does this to look at her feet.

-sleep: is sleeping less during the day and doesn't sleep through all the loud noises her brother makes anymore.  most days, she doesn't take really long naps anymore, she will catnap a couple times and maybe take a 2 hour nap.  whenever i think we are on a schedule during the day, it changes.  night time is pretty much the same still, she is asleep for the night around 10-11pm and sleeps until 4, 5, or 6 to nurse and then sleeps until 7 or 8.  so, she sleeps pretty well during the night, thank goodness.  every once in awhile she doesn't fall asleep until really late, or she wakes up multiple times to nurse, but that's not too frequently.

sibs

-temperament: still pretty easy going, very smiley and social and cuddly and inquisitive and strong

-likes: baths, being warm and cozy, cuddling with mama, chatting with people, chewing on her hands, staring at her feet, sophie the giraffe, music, her big brother

hanging in there while big brother "cuts" her hair

-dislikes: she does not in any way like having her hair brushed, being cold, being messed with, loud noises

holding her hands

-nicknames: buddy, pumpkin, muffin, muffin butt, little girl, little one, ava bebe, ava joon, sweetheart, baby sister, pookie, pookie pookie pookie, pooks

wearing the dress that z picked out for her before she was born

-me: i posted about this earlier, but life is like a roller coaster right now, one minute we are up and the other we are down, and that's mostly a function of z's mood and behavior.  i feel comfortable mothering two kiddos now, although it does get overwhelming at times.  i'm so so so thankful for hubs, he is amazing.  and i'm so thankful for the friends and my family that can commiserate with me, let me vent, offer support, get together and just generally offer support.  it's so helpful and i appreciate all of them!