Three Months and it's Golden!

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I tell you it’s like a whole new life.  Naomi is out of the”wah-wah phase” and into the smiles and almost giggles phase.  She is starting to go to bed earlier (8pm–6am on Sunday night.  Can we please make this a habit?) and will usually take a nap after she eats in the morning so I can sleep a little longer too.  She is more aware of her surroundings and loves to watch TV and is now starting to notice toys. 

Naturally, we had to go out and buy her a little play gym to celebrate!  She finally gets her own pink pony! :)

Just the $19.00 version from WalMart will do, thank you very much.

But then see how she chooses basketball over her play gym. :o)

 

Last week, she watched almost an entire episode of Full House while we ate dinner with Hylan’s parents. (Um, trying to relive my childhood, anyone? She'll either grow up to be just like me or despise me for it all!  Ha ha!!)

A few weeks ago Naomi discovered her hands.  She likes to stuff a whole fist in her mouth, or sometimes just lick it like a lollipop, but the cutest of all is when I caught her sucking her thumb.

 (around 10 weeks)

Hooray for self-soothing!

Another funny Naomi-ism is when she's in her swing she prefers to discover her binky on her own.  If you try to shove it in her mouth she resists and fusses, but if you put it just below her mouth she lowers her head and slurps it in. This has happened so many times it's just comical and it's cute game to watch.  I'm all for her first signs of independence.  You go girl!

I had started to write an update on Naomi last week, but I feel like she has changed so much since then that it no longer applies.  She seems to be right on par with the developmental milestones, and I’m just grateful and feel more and more blessed every time she flashes a smile.

I don’t feel resentful, depressed, and moody as much anymore and really am starting to enjoy this thing called motherhood.  Yesterday, I’d say, was basically the perfect day.  I was able to eat a decent breakfast, lunch, and dinner, did resistance mat work, strolled Naomi around the park in the morning, fed her, got her good naps, even clipped her nails without incident, showered, brushed my teeth and even got dressed and put on makeup all  by 1:00 pm (I may or may not have the habit of staying in my house in my house clothes a lot of the time, especially on tired days), went to the grocery store (alone with her for the first time which is huge for me because the thought of that overwhelmed me so much before), unloaded the groceries, went for an evening stroll with Naomi and Hylan, and even tested Pillsbury recipes for the Bake-off, not to mention, read a little, wrote a little, and watched TV a little!  Wow, I’d say that’s exceptionally normal and awesome.  Feeling well-rested is invigorating.      

It wasn’t too long ago when brushing my teeth and even going to the bathroom were accomplishments, to say the least.

I am definitely a fan of the “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child” book by Dr. Matt Weissbluth.  Two of the most important things I've learned are sleep begets sleep and babies will become overtired after more than 2 hours of wakefulness. 

With that said, sometimes our nap timing is just off.  This is how I learned what Naomi’s overtired cry sounds like.  It is the loudest most piercing cherry red tomato-faced cry you ever did hear.  I certainly can empathize with tiredness because it makes me sad too!

Naomi’s hungry cry is a much more tolerable “wah, wah.”  Rarely is she over-hungry but sometimes she gets hungry and tired which can produce the piercing cherry red tomato-faced cry.       

Oh, and the aforementioned agony cry also applies to the torture of immunizations—gosh, I feel your pain little one, no one loves being pricked by needles. 

Also, there may or may not have been an injury to her finger that Hylan has sworn me to secrecy about that caused her poor voice to go hoarse from so much crying.  That was a very sad night last week, but don’t worry she’s all healed up—finger and voice!

Anyway, church has been quite a struggle for the past several weeks (but not last week because we only had Sacrament Meeting and she was an angel: observing, eating, sleeping, and not crying the whole way through!)   

Previously, (and maybe futuristically but let’s hope it’s better now) Naomi hated church because she didn't sleep well in her car seat.  Too hot, uncomfortable, or not enough movement, I guess, but she wouldn't stay asleep, which obviously produced the overtired cry and consequently me traipsing around the chapel in some of my not so Mommy-friendly heals.  I never knew how active the foyer and church hallways were during meetings because I've almost never had any reason not to be in the chapel or a classroom during meetings.  Hmm...    

It kind of stressed me out.  Especially a week ago Sunday when I had to teach Relief Society and Hylan had to pretend to be Joseph Smith for the Primary (we were sure the beard would confuse the kids, but they got over it).  That took quite a bit of help and coordination but it worked out just fine.  

 

 You can't see it, but he folded his collar and tied up his tie in a bow to look more authentic like this:

And while I'm on book recommendations, the other book my sister gave me to read was Dr. Harvey Karp's, "The Happiest Baby on the Block."  I read this when I was pregnant and thought his methods made sense.  

Now, after having put the 5 S's into practice, I have definitely found swaddling to be absolutely critical, along with sucking, shushing (or white noise), and swinging.  The "side or stomach" position I haven't found particularly helpful or unhelpful with soothing, but tummy time sure has improved her spinal flexibility and neck/back strength!

I tell you, it was only a few months ago that I had no idea what people were talking about when they said "tummy time."  You sure do learn a lot in a short amount of time.  And some days, you feel like a pro, but a lot of days you may feel like you know nothing, or at least that's how I've felt.  

So mommies, have there been particular baby phases that you've loved more than others?  Because for now, I am loving being out of that newborn phase (or, the 4th trimester as Dr. Karp calls it)!  I'm also loving feeling a little more normal, though, if I'm being honest, I don't think I'm totally healed from pregnancy and delivery, but it's sooo much better than it was and I feel much more capable of dealing with it.  

It's hard work, but I'm making fitness progress too, particularly with core strength.  And that feels good!  So, now it's time to ramp it up with the cardio!

pensive Naomi

happy baby