13 weeks

Baby girl is three months old!  She is growing up so fast!  

This week has shown so much growth!  Many changes too and she is adapting so well. 

I am back at work and we left her with the sitter for the first time this week.  Our sitter is amazing!  I have spent so much time with God over finding the right sitter and to have him lead us.  I've been praying for strength and the ability not to worry, because I was just dreading leaving her.  Not only would I miss her, but the fear that she would not be taken care of as well as Dave or I would take care of her. 

The very first morning I dropped her off, she was crying.  (The reason she was crying is because she hates the car!  How is that possible?!)  I took her out of the car seat, showed the sitter how to swaddle her with the kiddopotamus swaddle (I am in love with these!!!) and she picked her up-- within three seconds, baby girl was staring at her, silent!  It was a miracle!  No one can calm her like that other than her parents!  It was that 'ah ha' moment that God gives you.  She would be fine.  I am totally at peace with leaving her their.  Missing her on the other hand, is a totally different story!  I truly think that Leah likes her sitter.  She looks at her, smiles.  It is so precious!

Over the weekend, we celebrated big sis's 11th birthday by going to Olive Garden.  11 years old-- oh, goodness, 11.  How did that happen?  She's getting so big!  Leah did wonderful!  She was awake when we got there-- again, she hates the car, so we were just thrilled she wasn't crying.  I held her for a bit, then Dave, and then she got sleepy, so we put her in the car-seat.  She fell asleep as our food was coming.  Perfect timing!  She slept for about 20 minutes, then woke up, and stared at everything in the restaurant- quietly!  She loved looking at the fancy plates hung on the wall.  She was such a doll!  Oh, I just love the car-seat luggage rack type contraption at restaurants!  I hate putting her on the cold ground and bending down to fuss with her.  This way, she is eye level and stable and out of the way.  Sadly, the first time I saw one, I had to ask what I was to do with it.  I never saw one before!  The waitress was so sweet and put her in it for me.  I is was like 'ooohhh'.   Duh.

Leah is now a grabby little thing!  She's moved on from her hands to toys.  Rings and her teething rabbit arms.  She's getting a much better grip on the rings than she ever did before.  The cutest thing is when we are cuddling, she'll start rubbing on her silky!  Oh, too cute!  Last night we put her in her exersaucer for the first time.  She kept pushing off the ground and thought that was the funniest thing ever! 

Our bedtime routine is going rather smoothly.  We are not on a set schedule, but its around 7-9 because I let her determine when she wants to eat and how tired she is.  I change her into her jammies, put nighttime lotion on her, nurse, read Goodnight Moon, lights out, sing You are My Sunshine, say our prayers, then put her in her bassinet.  She still isn't looking at the pictures of the book; she's pretty groggy by this point, but I love when the old lady says 'hush' because the old lady at our house says it a few times and the little things eyes get soooo heavy- it makes me want to melt!  She'll sleep for about 5-10 minutes and then I can hear her just fuss, so we put her plug back into her mouth.  She'll do this one or two more times and then she's out cold for the rest of the night.  Sleeping through the night has been so amazing!  I am so blessed!  This mama loves her sleep so thank you thank you Leah!  I've been reading that sleeping patterns change, so I pray that if anything, she sleeps LONGER not LESS.  She doesn't nap much during the day-- two hours total tops, so I wish she would sleep longer at night.  She's only getting about 9-11 hours sleep a day.  I've read that she should get 12-15.  Oh well.

Dave is watching her on the days he is off.  He enjoys it so much.  Much more than he thought he would.  He said was was so rewarding the week he took off to be with her.  As he is still ill, I find it so sweet that he is taking care of our daughter during the day.  I know that when she gets older, it will mean so much to her that her daddy was able to take such good care of her. 

Books we are reading:

I went to a website that listed the top books for babies.  My library is amazing and I can request just about anything and have it within the week.  Right now we have been reading Dr. Seuss's Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?  She thinks this book is hilarious-- especially when I 'slurp' when the big cat drinks.  She coos and smiles and moves her little arms when she hears that!  Santa brought her Go Dog! Go!website's list.  White on Black, Mrs. Mustard's Baby Faces, and Baby Einstein, Mirror me!.  She totally digs the baby faces.  Stares that them forever and then will squeal!  It cracks me up!  The White on Black book gets her attention really well too.  She'll look at the pictures for as long as I leave them in front of her.  Haven't had as much luck with the mirror book yet, but I'll try it more in the coming weeks.