Happy 3 Months, Carter!

Dear Carter,

Today, you are three months old! A quarter of a year! How time flies...

Over the last month, you have acquired several new tricks. You can now roll over from your tummy to your back. You can fit your whole fist in your mouth and do so often. If you're feeling really ambitious, you try to cram both fists in there.
You can also make bubbles. When playing on your Baby Einstein activity mat, you can pump those legs like you're swimming the butterfly stroke in an Olympic race. And oh, how you love that brightly colored, blinking star that flashes with the music!

Just last week, you discovered your feet. I looked back into the megasight mirror in the car to see you hunched over and staring at your feet. You haven't tried to cram those into your mouth, but I am sure it won't be long until you try. In the meantime, you simply enjoy staring at them.

You aren't quite reaching for toys yet, but you still have a strong grasp. Your favorite thing to take hold of is your mommy's hair. You get a good fistful several times a day, thus her thinning hair.

Just a few days ago, you began sticking your tongue out. Daddy, in particular, thinks this is really funny. You kept trying to lick your towel when I got you out of the bath, so perhaps you're discovering textures.

You have taken notice of our dogs, Sadie and Jackson, and enjoy watching them chase each other around the den. You even like it when they lick your toes. You actually got a fistful of Sadie's hair right at her mouth, but she patiently and gently waited until I could release your grip.

You love your animal mobile in your crib, and you 'll sometimes fix your gaze on one animal and track it as it circles around.

You sat in the bumbo seat for the first time. You looked around like you were seeing the world from a whole new viewpoint. I guess you were...

You currently weigh right at 15 lbs. I can't get you still long enough to measure your length, but you seem longer every day! You're already wearing some 6-9 month clothing. Your eye color continues to lighten, so you may end up keeping those baby blues after all!

Most excitingly, you are now sleeping through the night! You have slept from approximately 7:30 pm to 6:30 am for 9 nights in a row. If Mommy and Daddy had discovered the keys of swaddling and white noise machines earlier on, you would have been doing this much sooner, I believe. Thank you Natalie and "Moms on Call" for showing us the path to sweet dreams!

It is so much fun to see your personality begin to emerge. When company is around, you absolutely will not fall asleep. You don't want to miss out on anything. On Sunday, you stayed awake for your first visit to the church nursery. You stayed awake during the baby shower that afternoon. And you continued to fight off sleep at our church core group early that evening. Unfortunately, as we learned this past weekend, too many missed naps result in a fussy evening. You had taken so much in throughout the day that you didn't know how to soothe yourself to sleep. So now Mommy knows that, while you're an angel during the day, brief naps or no naps equal a rough evening and an unhappy, overstimulated baby. We continue to learn. I hope you'll forgive us for our mistakes.

Most of all, we love to see you smile and laugh. When you're really excited, you scrunch up your nose and open your mouth really wide.


Carter, we are so proud of you and all your milestones this month. We love you more every day. Happy 3 Months!

Love,

Mommy