Alexandra is 3 months old!

Dear Alexandra-

Today, my sweet girl, you are 3 months old!

I'm sure I'm going to say this every month, but I can't believe that you have been on this earth for 3 months! And they have been three such sweet and wonderful months too!!

I am loving being a Mommy! Taking care and nurturing you is truly my calling in life, and I am so proud to be your Mama!

This month you have discovered so many things and it has been amazing to watch you learn and see the world! I love showing you new things, reading to you, talking to you, and looking into your beautiful eyes! Just as I am showing you things, you too are teaching me even more important things-patience, humility, peace, to slow down. You have given me so many gifts already in just three short months and I only hope that I can give you as many in your lifetime!

You are definitely a mommy's girl right now and often have your "fussy time" right when Daddy gets home. He is getting better and better are calming you down, though, which is a big help to mommy and sometimes a needed break to have a few minutes to myself. But after a few minutes of silence and time to clear my thoughts, I miss you and want you back! It's hard being away from you for more than a few minutes!

You are getting more coordinated. During tummy time this week you grabbed the monkey from you gym that I took off the beams and lay next to you. You grabbed it and held on as you moved him around. I don't think you intentionally reached for it, but it was the first time I'd seen you pick something up! You also reached for the tag on your car seat that was sitting next to you and felt it for a few seconds! You are very interested in the animals in your gym, and I have fun telling you about each one and helping you touch them! You also like it when the elephant kisses you, or I make the squeaky sound on the gym-it always gets a smile!

Your fingers are in your mouth all the time and you have started blowing bubbles and drooling! It's very cute, though the front of your outfit gets wet and I get worried that you will get cold! If putting your fingers in your mouth is one of the ways you learn, then you are definitely learning a lot! You also suck on your fingers which is a self soother for you!

When your fingers aren't in your mouth, I've been trying to get you to take a pacifier. The Nuk seems to fit your mouth best (we learned this when trying out different bottles) and when you want to suck, you sometimes like the pacifier. You are still not taking a bottle, but we are continuing to try! The other day, you took a 1/2 ounce. You still seem to have trouble with what to do with the nipple and haven't started sucking yet, but you do put it in your mouth and s compress the nipple. I think the flow might be too fast for you and you don't know what to do with it because of that! We'll keep trying though! I'm trying to pump more often and am building a frozen milk supply for your bottles when you eventually take them!

You are now just over 13 lbs-I had you weighed at Milkilicious last Wednesday when we went to see how much you eat in a feeding. We'll go again this week and see if you take the same amount (5 oz!!) again! You have a healthy appetite!

I was just saying to your Daddy how fun you are getting! At first I just wanted you to stay small and newborn, but I'm seeing now how exciting it is as you discover the world and grow! You smile and sometimes even giggle often! Making eye contact makes you happy and you often have a smile for those who look at you which always charms them! Your smiles are big and so full of joy and it's clear that you are elated to be engaged! Once you lock eyes with someone, especially me, you can keep that eye contact for minutes on end without breaking it!

Everyone who sees you always comments on how beautiful you are! I love just looking at you because they are right! Lots of babies are cute, but you are beautiful! I could stare at your for hours!

I can't wait to see what this month brings, my little one! If it's anything like these first three, I know it will be amazing!

I love you!

Mama!

Alexandra is 2 months old!

Dear Alexandra-

I'm writing this a few days after your 2 month birthday. Your actual 2 month birthday weekend was busy with events and visitors and I never had a chance to sit down and reflect on this past month. I wanted to really have the time to think about everything that has happened this past month and how you have grown.

You have really blossomed this month and have gone from a tiny newborn to a baby who is much more alert and aware of and interested in her surroundings. You have started smiling, which just melts my heart. You smile a lot especially in the mornings when you first wake up. There is nothing better than picking you up when you are crying in the morning and seeing that cry change into a smile when you see me! And it's not a little smile, when you smile, you have the most amazing, enormous grin on your face and you look so elated-it's pretty wonderful! Auntie Gretchen captured it while we were iChat-ing when you smiled at her!

You are spending more and more time awake now, and we have little conversations. You coo and I coo back at you and we go back and forth for a little while. Our conversations are interspersed with your smiles and grins and my laughs and exclamations at your wonderful smiles!

You are very calm as long as you are not hungry or need something. You like to look around and take everything in. Sometimes you will wake up after I've moved you to your bed and you kick your legs and move around and turn your head, but you don't cry. After about 15 minutes of this, you often will fall asleep again, especially if I turn on your sleep sheep to the rain sound! I'm so thankful that you don't get upset but are content to take everything in! What an amazing thing to have a baby who can self-soothe! I'm so lucky!

You are growing so big! I don't know how much you weigh, but I'm sure it's at least 10 lbs already, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was more! (Added note, at your 2 month well-baby visit, you weighed 12 lbs (88th %ile) and you were 22 inches long (55th %ile)!

You are a good eater and our nursing time is so special. Sometimes you just want to stay and linger and suck (I'm your pacifier). I think you'd be permanently attached if you could! Nursing seems to be a cure-all. If you are upset about anything, I just pop you on and all your troubles are gone and you are completely relaxed and soothed! You clearly love breastfeeding-it's our special bonding time and I'm so happy that you enjoy it so much!

That said, you have decided that you hate the bottle, which we tried to introduce about a week ago. You cried and screamed when your Daddy tried to feed you with it. The next time, I tried leaving the room and then I left the house completely (and walked the dogs) but it didn't help. You cried and got very upset. Your Daddy said that the most recent time he tried, you got more and more upset when he tried to give it to you and it took him a long time to calm you down! It makes me upset to think that you don't like the bottle and that it makes you upset when we try to give it to you. You'll have to take it when you go to day care, so I'm definitely worried that you dislike it so much! We're going to try some different nipples and hopefully that will help!

We've had a lot of visitors this month-Grandma Didi has come to visit twice. The week before your 2 month birthday when she was here, she exclaimed how big you were getting! You gave her lots of smiles and she just loved you and loved you! We all wish that she lived closer and could help take care of you while Mommy and Daddy go to work!

You also have had 2 visits from Grandma Mai (where you get your middle name from). She really liked holding you and you guys got to know each other better this time. We gave her some photos of you in a little book (we said it was a present from you!) and she was so happy to have her grandma brag book!

Grandma DiDi helped us look at several day cares while she was here. We didn't find exactly what we wanted, so Mommy is looking at several others to see if we can find just the right place/person for you. My priority is finding you the best person to watch you-you are my heart and soul and I really want to find someone who will love you like their own!

You seem to be sleeping better this month! You are developing more of a pattern, with a morning and evening "awake time." You've also had 2 or 3 nights this month where you have spelt for over 4 hours! How happy this makes your Mommy who has had a hard time with so little sleep! It's a joyful morning when you have slept so well! Even when you don't sleep as long, in the last week or so, your sleep seems to be deeper and more profound. Your startle reflex is fading, so if your hand(s) break free from your swaddle, you don't wake up as quickly!

The day before your 2 month birthday, you rolled over-twice! We did tummy time with Grandma DiDi and you rolled from your tummy to your back...then we turned you back to your tummy, in shock of what we had just seen...and then you did it again, and we caught it on video! You are such a strong little girl! When we do tummy time, you push your legs like you want to go somewhere! I think that you will crawl early!

Watching your Daddy with you is amazing! He is so enamored by you! Even now that we've known you for 2 months, he constantly exclaims at how beautiful or amazing or precious you are! I think I've been replaced as his favorite girl! You love him too and you like to stare at him all the time! It's clear that you love him a lot!

It's been an amazing two months watching you grow and change! I can't wait to see what the next few months will bring, my beautiful girl!

I love you!

Mommy