Month 3

On Thursday Benji will be 3 months old. Although I feel like he has been a part of our life for a long time, I also feel like I can't believe that he is already that old. Wasn't it just yesterday that I gave birth?

Then again, as he is growing up, he is now much easier to "manage" (I have no better word for it). He has lost the fussiness of a new baby. He now interacts with us- smiling, making sounds, "playing" intentionally, and actively enjoying life.  He can hold his head up, look around, follow objects (and people) with his eyes, and hold things in his hands. Now, he only cries for specific reasons: he is tired, he is hungry, he is uncomfortable. His personality is clearly emerging now... A little shy around new people, fascinated by the world around him, constantly observing (so much so that he has a hard time "shutting off" when it is time to go to sleep), happy but serious, and loves to play and move.

As of late, I have watched him become more physical. He is a very big, strong baby and he loves to move. While playing on his tummy he moves his legs like he is trying to crawl and has rolled over on to his side already by pushing with his legs. He kicks very hard while sitting in various seats and if he is supported by us, will stand on his legs. When he spreads his arms straight out on either side of himself, he has a huge wingspan...

In terms of sleeping he is taking more consistent naps and is better about going down with less coaxing. At night he normally will sleep for 5-6 hour chunks, and he has had one 8 hour night (we are waiting for a repeat performance that hasn't happened yet). Up until now he hasn't been good at sleeping anywhere other than his swing at home, but is finally now able to sleep a little while we are on a walk or shopping.

If nothing else, he is a man with a schedule in mind and is nice and predictable. The challenge lately is deciding how much of that schedule to abide by- how much do I stick around the house because he wants to sleep, and how much do I ask him to try and sleep while we are on the move? I feel like that is slowly getting a bit easier to figure out... But traveling still gets him off and he is a far cry from what I would call a "flexible" baby.

Benji's feedings are finally spreading out and that makes life feel incredibly more sane than it was. Although he still pretty much refuses pacifiers, he does suck on his hand or blankets and can hold himself off just a bit before a feed. I no longer live in fear for when he would just start screaming out of no where to be fed and couldn't be brought down without eating (this proves to be challenging while you are in the middle of Target). The next phase will be getting him to reliably take bottles during the day (he will always take the bottle from Jff in the middle of the night). I will soon need to figure out where and how often to pump at work, just as he will need to be soothed by bottles at daycare. That part makes me sad, as much as I want to work, it just feels wrong for us to be separated when I have what he wants most. :-)

 So as we move past the three month mark, I am sure that life will continue to get easier. Even though Benji always continues to change and grow so that new tricks quickly become outdated, we have gotten to know him pretty well. We have spent almost a 'semester' studying him and now are feeling like seasoned pros (most of the time). The newest challenges appearing on our horizon will be traveling to the east coast with him next week (for work), day care, returning to work, and oh, the illustrious teething that seems to be right around the corner! Can't wait for more of our little person to emerge!