Three Months and Counting

Our baby girl is three month old today. I feel like it was literally two days go that I was marveling at the fact that she was already one month, two months, and now another month bites the dust? It's crazy. Can't say I like it.

She started sleeping through the night (by my standards, which means 9 hours) the week I went back to work, so when she was 7 weeks old. Adrian had gotten really sick, so I had to take a day off on my 4th day back, which meant that I was in charge of Selah from Friday to Sunday the whole time. Miracle of miracles, it seems I somehow stumbled on a formula that seems to work. She takes her last bottle between 10:30-10:40, and then she was asleep by 11:56 and didn't wake up until 8:52 the next morning. I was ecstatic.

Her sleep pattern has continued and the last few nights has been lengthening! She has nursed a little at 9:30, taken a smaller bottle at 10:30, asleep by 11:30 and doesn't wake up till 10 or 10:30. To say we are grateful for how awesome she is doing with sleeping is an understatement. She's amazing, especially for sleeping 11 hours at 3 months old! Now, if I could just be in bed right after her, we'd be on to something.

In addition to the new sleep pattern, she has also developed a new vocal range. Girlfriend can squeal. The last month she began cooing and making all kinds of sweet gurgling sounds when she's happy, which is pretty darn frequently. The last few days though, she has begun to sound like a pterodactyl every time she is awake. Seriously, squawking the likes of which I've never heard! She lays on her back and squawks and squeals and just learns all about the sounds she can make. It's obvious she's pretty proud of herself because she'll do it when she's all alone and then I catch her smiling really big about it.

Selah is also developing a lot more body control, and its hard to remember how floppy and smooshy she was as a newborn. She's reaching for toys on her mobile, she grasps fingers for a long time and she can sit up with just some light support to keep her from falling over. Pretty soon she'll be rolling over (doesn't hate her tummy time, but doesn't prefer it) and sitting herself up. Although I look forward to when she can sit up on her own, I know it will be more one milestone of growth and I won't be ready for her to be growing up so quickly! Additionally, she has discovered that her hands are great fun. She waves her fists in the air, but more often, tries to shove them whole into her mouth. It's amazing and a little scary how close she is to accomplishing that! She's drooling a lot and combined with the preoccupation of her hands in her mouth, I'm wondering if she'll be teething early.

Later this month she'll get to experience Harry Potter for the first time when we do our annual Thanksgiving marathon, though hopefully she'll be in bed for most of it. She already loves watching sports, especially football and basketball, on TV with us, so we think she's gearing up to beat us both in Fantasy Football at some point.

I am so, so, so, so excited for the holidays with her. I can't wait to see her reaction to a Christmas tree, all the lights and the fun of ripping wrapping paper (Ben will show her how it's done)! So, without further ado, here is her 3-month photo!

Traditions

I might become one of those people I scoffed at. One of those people who begins decorating and celebrating Christmas before Thanksgiving has come and gone. Oh, the bittersweet irony.

In the past, I was always adamant that each holiday had it’s time, and not to rush Christmas. Trees were for putting up AFTER Thanksgiving, carols were to be sung in December (although January 1^st was acceptable) and gifts were to be bought Christmas Eve. You know – all the same rules everyone holds to, right?

This year though, with a baby girl in tow and a beautiful home of our own to decorate, the itch for Christmas is hitting MUCH earlier than ever before. So much so, that as I’ve been laid up in bed this week, I have been all over Pinterest like spit-up on a newborn, i.e., a lot. Visions of craft days with Selah fill my head.

And yet, I’m already cautioning myself against burnout. Maybe it’s from not feeling 100% lately, but I’m already a little weary and nothing but anticipation has begun! It’s been blogged to death, but Pinterest really can set some ridiculously high expectations, especially this time of year. So as I’m thinking through things I want to do and establish, I want to be mindful of making wise choices on how we spend our money, time and energy. One thing I’ve kind of prided myself on is establishing intentional traditions for our family and making intentional memories, not just during Christmas, but throughout the year.

We always buy a coffee mug from big trips or places we’ve lived. We started a family-portrait-in-front-of-a-cornfield tradition this year. (Now) We always take a picture on our anniversary, holding a picture from our last anniversary (and we always take a trip on our anniversary). We always make several pots of various soups and have a Harry Potter marathon the whole week of Thanksgiving (one of our favorite traditions!!). I’m going to start a new tradition this year for Christmas for Adrian, to remind him he’s my first priority. So my question is this: What traditions do you recommend?

Obviously there are some big gaping holes in our traditions. Journalist that I am, I like to commemorate with words and pictures. I need some traditions to just ENJOY. We need some traditions to focus us on Jesus and not on ourselves. We also need some Christmas traditions – a meal to bake, an ornament to make, a picture to take…you get the idea. So, friends – hit me with your best shot. Fire away.

What traditions have you found especially meaningful for your family or yourself? What traditions help you draw close to Jesus? What traditions are just great memories from Christmas or whenever that we should consider implementing? Ready….GO.