3 Months!
It sounds bad, but during those early newborn days, when most of our time was filled with sleeping (Aubrey, not me), eating, and crying, I couldn’t help but wish for the day when she would reach the “magical” three month mark. The time when her sleep would be a little more organized (meaning mom could actually get some sleep too), wake time would start to involve some actual playing and interaction, and the crying…I prayed the crying would start to decrease, because I was convinced we had the unhappiest baby on the planet.
They aren’t kidding when they say babies change when they reach week 12. I won’t say Aubrey turned into a mellow, easy baby overnight, but man did she finally start to brighten up and make it a little easier on us.
Smiles started coming regularly, instead of at random and rare moments. We suddenly started enjoying 6+ hour chunks of sleep at night, and sometimes even the whole night! Her eyes finally opened to realize all the toys, colors, and fun things to look at all around her. She started to coo and babble and “talk” to us in her own little language.
She suddenly was able to sit in the car seat and not scream at the top of her lungs, and even fall asleep from time to time!
She found her hands, and gave us a few laughs as she held them so close to her face that her eyes were crossed trying to get a closer look.
She caught sight of her feet one day, and almost fell over forward trying to figure out just what those strange things were.
She stopped being SO by the minute in her self imposed schedule. Allowing me a short respite when it came to feeding or napping time.
We finally gave up the paci…for good.
She is still the most demanding baby I have ever met. She’s independent, absolutely knows what she wants and WHEN she wants it. She’s so alert, and seems so smart (as smart as a baby can seem I mean), and makes our hearts swell with pride and love every day.
I do miss those days when she would willingly fall asleep on my chest, when being snuggled in her wrap next to me was her happy place, and when knowing what she needed was easy to determine (it pretty much narrowed down to sleep, food, or a fresh diaper), but I’m SO happy we’re finally getting to the point where her personality is coming alive and the fun is really starting.
It’s been 3 crazy months. An unbelievable amount of love, stress, exhaustion, learning, euphoria, pride, work, and faith…LOTS of faith. I’m not sure there is anything like having a child that forces you to come to terms with losing just about all control over your life and so many of the pieces in it. Or anything that requires you to put your needs last, where you are more than obliged to do so. This little munchkin owns me…and I’m pretty sure she knows it 🙂
I can’t wait to continue watching this little one grow into the little girl I can’t wait to get to know. We love you Aubrey Eleanor!
