Three Months!

[rms10]

Yesterday, Sam turned three months old! He celebrated by having an ear infection, poor guy!

Even with an ear infection, he is the happiest little guy out there. He loves to kick kick kick, and a couple weeks ago he started interacting with toys! I think he's also deliberately reaching for the toys on the playmat, but I'm not sure. Music seems to make him really happy, but honestly, he's just a happy guy.

Breastfeeding is going well -- he's gained two pounds in the last month -- and I'm working on improving my pump output. We're having a bit of trouble getting him to take breastmilk from a bottle, but I think it's because he's sick.

Sleeping is also good -- he will actually fall asleep on his own if he's swaddled! And sleepy, of course. It doesn't work if he's playful. We had a good nap schedule for a while, but again, that has sort of fallen apart with him being sick.

And now for the milestones -- again from What to Expect the First Year, because I'm tired and don't want to look them up in the AAP guide to the first year:

Should:

• On stomach, lift head up 45 degrees. Yes.
  

Probably:

• Laugh out loud. Not quite.
  
• On stomach, lift head up 90 degrees. Yes.
  
• Squeal in delight. Yes.
  
• Bring both hands together. Yes.
  
• Smile spontaneously. Yes.
  
• Follow an object 180 degrees. Not usually.
  

May possibly:

• Hold head steady when upright. Sometimes.
  
• On stomach, raise chest, supported by arms. Yes.
  
• Roll over (one way). Yes, front to back. And we have a feeling that he'll do back to front as soon as he wants to.
  
• Grasp a rattle held to back of fingers. Yes.
  
• Pay attention to object as small as a raisin. Not quite that small.
  

May even be able to:

• Bear some weight on legs when upright. Yes.
  
• Reach for an object. Yes.
  
• Keep head level with body when pulled to sitting. Almost.
  
• Turn in the direction of a voice, particular mom's. Maybe.
  
• Say "ah-goo" or similar vowel-consonant combination. Occasionally. He's pretty vocal, but doesn't regularly use consonants yet.
  
• Make a wet razzing sound. Nope.
  

I'm doing pretty well, too, I think. I no longer feel like I'm going bonkers. I had a tough day the other day (see: sick), but even on that tough day I had breakfast, coffee, a shower, lunch, and a pumping session. In the first month, that was unheard of.

To my surprise, I've been using what little spare time I have for photography, not for reading. That's starting to change, though, as the weather gets worse, and as he is finally sleeping a bit earlier in the evenings. I read Burma Chronicles, by Guy Delisle, which I quite enjoyed, and now I'm reading . . . okay, do photography books count? Anyway, some of you have also raved about Vanity Fair recently, and I have that on the e-reader on my iPhone, so I might tackle that at some point.

I'm going back to work on February 1. Eli and I will each "work" from home one day a week, so he's only in daycare three days a week. I think that will be good for all of us, except I'm not sure how much work we'll each get done on the day at home. Well, if we put in 9-hour-days the other four days, we'll be okay. I'm a bit worried about how Sam will take a bottle, and what his nap schedule will look like, but other than that I think he'll be fine at daycare.



And of course, the gratuitous adorable picture of Sam!

Comments

[cangetmad.livejournal.com]

I know I say this all the time, but your Sam is damn cute. And in the same clever adorable elf way that my Sam was as a baby. You can see those looks are going to last, too, even when he grows hair. He's got a beautiful, individual wee face.

Re daycare: my kids just behaved totally differently in daycare than they did at home. They napped, they took bottles, they ate... they saved all the hassle for me, basically.

[rms10.livejournal.com]

Aw, thanks! Your Sam is adorable, too! And your Sam has really looked like himself from a very young age -- it must be the lack of chubby cheeks.

Re daycare: my kids just behaved totally differently in daycare than they did at home. They napped, they took bottles, they ate... they saved all the hassle for me, basically.

Of course! We're slowly starting to realize that while he seems to want to nurse every two hours during the day with me, he might not want a bottle quite that frequently. Well, we'll figure it out, and I'm sure as soon as we do it'll change anyways.

[cangetmad.livejournal.com]

Ha, you have an ideal attitude for surviving daycare! Send lots of small bottles, rather than a few big ones, and make sure the workers understand that every drop is precious and not ever ever to be thrown away. But yeah, he'll get his snuggles without milk when it's not on tap...

[kylegirl.livejournal.com]

Oh, he is such a cutie! And I loved Burma Chronicles, and also Pyongyang by the same author.

[rms10.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I looked up Pyongyang, and my goodness, Delisle gets around! He also spent some time in China, giving us Shenzhen. I'll have to keep an eye out for both of them.

[kylegirl.livejournal.com]

Seriously, Guy Delisle is the go-to guy for graphic novels about inaccessible places! Shenzhen and Pyongyang he visited when he was working for a French animation company - apparently they outsourced a lot of the animation for their crappy kids' cartoons to North Korea (!) and China and Delisle went to supervise. I didn't like Shenzhen quite as much as Pyongyang and Burma Chronicles, but still enjoyed it.