Three Months Old

Three is the number of the week around the Fowle household; yesterday was Natalie's three month birthday, meaning that Nathan is 3 years old, Natalie is 3 months old, and Todd and I are 33 years old!  Whew!  Next month I will ruin it by turning 34, but still... that's pretty nice symmetry if I do say so myself. :)

This month has been MUCH easier than last month!  Natalie turned a corner for sure, and is much less grumpy about life and much more interested in the world around her.  She's settled into a really good eat, activity, sleep routine, and she is giving out huge, gummy grins on a regular basis.  It's like night and day from the last monthly update!  She is really strong, and really interested in being upright and looking at all the activity going on around her.  She's noticed her big brother, and watching him play is one of her favorite activities.

One of Natalie's favorite spots to hang out is on her changing table.  She loves all of the focused attention she gets from Mommy and Daddy, and kicks her legs and wiggles her arms and coos like crazy.  She also loves the bird mobile that I made for her.  The bouncy seat and activity mat are also favorite hangout spots.  She still is not a fan of tummy time, although in the last week she'll tolerate it a little longer before crying.  

Natalie spends a lot of her free time with her fists in her mouth, working on excavating her thumb.  Just yesterday she got only her thumb in her mouth for the first time, so I think very shortly we will have a thumb sucker on our hands.  In the interim, if she's in the right mood, she'll take a pacifier.

Nursing is still going great--Natalie is a big fan, as am I.  I love the sweet snuggle time I get with her, especially now that I know just how fleeting that time really is.  The gift of the second child.

Natalie's a pretty good sleeper.  Nights go really well, for the most part we can count on sleeping from 11ish to 6:30ish--definitely nice!  Every few nights she'll wake up for a feeding around 2ish, which is never welcome when it happens, but really I can't complain.  She'll usually take a nice long nap in the morning, and then a few afternoon cat naps.  She's recently started taking her afternoon nap in the swing, which keeps her lulled to sleep a little longer, which is good for everyone. This will also help with her transition to daycare in two weeks, as the babies each have their own cribs, but often nap in the swings.

Her first dress, courtesy of her Great Grandma Joan. :)

Staring intently at Nathan, since he is always doing something fascinating!

When she sees something interesting, she opens her eyes WIDE!

Big, gummy grins melt my heart.

Hi Mommy!

She's becoming more vocal--finding her voice with squeals and coos.  She's recently started this kind of talking cry.  She's not really crying, more like complaining about her current situation--it's really kind of funny!