Three Months.

Charlotte is three months old and officially no longer a newborn. Goodness gracious! Here is an update on her third month:

• She is very much a growing girl. She weighs 13 pounds and is 26 inches long - that's half an inch longer than I was at 4 months! She can no longer wear anything newborn and even 3 month clothes are iffy. She can wear 3 month onesies, but she needs 6 month shirts to fit her long arms, 3 month pants to fit her skinny waist, and she can't stretch out in her 3 month pajamas anymore. I have a feeling she will have a problem finding clothes long enough for her later on in life - a problem I have had for awhile.
• We have officially gotten a giggle out of her a couple of times. It is very random as to what will make her giggle and she will only do it a few times before she is over whatever we are doing. But it's at least a giggle!
• Charlotte can now roll over to her side when I lay her on her back. It makes diaper changing very challenging sometimes.
• She likes to do crunches - no really. She does crunches when she is laying down, in her bouncy seat, in her swing...pretty much anywhere. I'm hoping this will help her sit.
• Her sleep schedule is much better. She is still having troubles staying asleep for awhile between 7-12, but she goes down much easier now and falls asleep easier when she wakes up to eat.
• She will grab toys now for much longer. She also likes to grab onto my hair and her burp rags. She also loves to grab my shirt while she is nursing.
• She likes to stare at the KU Jayhawk when either of us are wearing a KU shirt. Definitely makes Bryan happy that she is already a KU fan.
• She definitely inherited our allergies. Sneezing and needing to get boogers (sorry that is gross) out of her nose are common occurrences.
• She still absolutely hates having a wet diaper. She could care less if she has a poopy diaper, but if she has a wet diaper she will definitely let you know it.
• Charlotte loves sucking on her hands. She has some good hand-to-mouth coordination. It's actually making her face break out again, because she is wiping slobber all over her cheeks.
• She knows that when she spits her pacifier out that she needs to use her hands to try to put it back in. Only once has she actually been able to grab it and put it back in. Otherwise she usually tries to push it back in with the back of her hand.
• She suddenly hates the end of bathtime. We went from hating her entire bath, to not crying at all, to now smiling at the beginning and screaming at the end.
• She is even more of a talker now. She loves having "conversations" with us. She has even started having them with me when I take a shower and she is sitting in her bouncy seat in the bathroom.
• She hates being in the car at night still. If it is dark and she can't see anything, she cries.
• Charlotte has starting "singing" to herself when she is tired. Her cousin, Penelope, does the same thing, so I think that is where she picked it up.
• She went on her first flight after Thanksgiving to go see my family. She did amazing and the trip went smoothly with having a baby on a plane - not to mention doing it without Bryan since he had to stay home.

Thoughts about our third month as parents:

• I developed new mom tendinitis. I was having severe wrist pain so I went to the doctor and that's what she called it. Apparently it is very common in new moms. I had two options to help my pain: a splint to immobilize my wrist and thumb or a steroid shot. I opted for the steroid shot. It's more pain for a couple of days, but long-lasting results and I can still take care of Charlotte then. I wouldn't be able to with a splint.
• Bryan has been a big help taking care of Charlotte lately with all of my wrist pain - even helping roll out cookie dough for me!
• I am a very protective mom. I figured I would be, but I realized I get annoyed if things prevent her from going to bed on time or if she is around someone who might be sick. Definitely a momma bear.

I made Charlotte this reindeer onesie - this is the only time she wore it before she outgrew it.

She loves looking at Christmas lights.

Nine weeks.

Ten weeks.

Eleven weeks.

Twelve weeks.

Thirteen weeks.

She discovered her feet while I was trying to take her picture.

Three months.

Santa Baby.

We recently took Charlotte for her very first trip to see Santa. Of course this is something I was looking forward to. I had picked out the cutest dress and shoes. I kept asking Bryan when we were going to take her; however, part of that is because I wanted to make sure we took her before she grew out of her adorable dress. So, finally last week we made the trip to the mall to see Santa. She fell asleep right before we got to the mall, which meant we had to wake her up to get her out of her carseat to see Santa. I had a feeling this would make her mad but she held it together. She went to Santa just fine, but the gentleman taking the picture was very loud and very happy. I think this was just too much for Charlotte. She didn't know where to look or what to do and the more the gentleman tried to get her attention I could see it on Charlotte's face that she was about to have a breakdown - and sure enough she started screaming. The gentleman then kept trying to talk to her and she just kept crying. We did get a good picture, though. I think for an almost three-month-old's first trip to see Santa it went pretty well.