today you are three months old!
that's one quarter of the way to your very first birthday. ONE QUARTER DONE WITH YOUR FIRST YEAR. can you believe you're already this old? i can't. and it only gets better from here, kiddo. before you know it you'll be turning thirty one and wondering how in the world did you get to be THIRTY ONE, and where in the world are my car keys because that downhill slide into forgetfulness starts pretty early in our family, let me tell you. boy howdy.
monster socks from aunt kerry
to say this month was exciting is kind of an understatement. besides it would get old pretty quickly because everything for you is new and exciting right now, and i think i will continue to be excited by you for the rest of my life. at any rate, it was still a pretty exciting month for you. for starters, grandma pam came and stayed with us for a long weekend and you just loved being cuddled by her. she couldn't get enough of you and i certainly appreciated a break from changing diapers. it's getting kind of old, kiddo. can you please be potty-trained soon?
this month was also your first overnight stay without us! our five year anniversary was on august 1, and you stayed with nana while daddy and i had a special night out together. we thought we would be okay, because we knew there's no one else who could take better care of you than nana (except us, of course), but we really missed you. so much so that we came back to get you a little early on sunday. i think nana was kind of disappointed by that. she was just over the moon to have you to herself for such an extended period of time. i think she would come live with us if we would let her, just so she could see you every day. don't go getting any ideas in your head because i am quite territorial.
you also had your first big trip this month - you and i drove 8 hours down south to stay with grandma pam for a week. daddy is flying down to join us in a couple days, because auntie alice is getting married at the end of the week. you have gotten lots of time in with grandma pam and have gone with me everywhere and met so many new people. you were very well behaved for alice's bridal shower the other day and everyone thought you looked so pretty in your dress. you just loved being held and loved on by all the ladies. thank you for smiling for them and making me look like a good mommy.
you finally fit into all these clothes we have for you, and boy are you ever cute, every single day. one day two weeks ago we stayed in our pajamas all day and just cuddled and nursed and read, because you looked so adorable in your sleeper, the white one with the pink trim, that i couldn't bear to take you out of it. you seemed just fine, because hey! you got to nurse all day long! and as long as you are attached to my boob, That From Which All Good Things Flow, you are a happy camper and all is right in the world.
you also had your two-month checkup this month, and your first shots. the pediatrician says you are so perfectly healthy and growing so well, which was good news to your dad and me. i knew you were growing just fine, though. after all, i'm the one who lugs your round little body up and down the stairs each day and MAN are you ever getting heavy. you did not like getting shots, of course. the nurse stuck you with the first needle and you were fine for about two seconds and then your head turned into a tomato and you screamed like nobody's business. you did not even like the oral rotavirus vaccine and tried to spit it out, just like you do sometimes when i try to give you your vitamins. some days i think it might be easier to give the vitamins to the cat.
you are figuring how to wiggle out of your swaddle most days, and just a few days ago you figured out how to roll from your back to your tummy! unfortunately, you are only doing it at night when you sleep, while you are swaddled. you are sleeping on the floor on a quilt next to me down here at grandma's, and i woke up to find you sound asleep on your belly three nights ago. when i rolled you back onto your back, you promptly rolled back over onto your belly. two nights ago i woke up three times to find you sound asleep with your nose mashed into the quilt. every time i wake up i have a minor heart attack that you've suffocated yourself, but you don't sleep more than 20 minutes unswaddled. i guess this is just a taste of what your teenage years will be like.
this month we have also been doing a lot more tummy time, and you are getting really good at holding your head up. you even grin and seem to enjoy it at first sometimes, especially when i give you a lot of verbal encouragement. you like to be cheered on, that's for sure. it's really cute to watch you scrabbling around with your hands and feet and finally push your shoulders up. you kind of look like an upside-down turtle, when they get turned on their backs and their legs wave helplessly in the air. we usually get about five good minutes in and then you start to melt down, though i usually make you stay there for another minute or two after you start fussing because i don't want you to learn that you can fuss your way out of the hard things in life.
i'm sorry that i do that, even though it is for your own good. it breaks my heart to listen to you crying and watch you so frustrated and upset. i'm sorry for all the awful things in life that you have to endure, shots and dirty diapers and 8 hours stuck in your carseat and bored. i'm sorry i have to pull clothes over your head and swaddle you and that sometimes i have to do things like laundry and cook dinner and you can't be attached to me 24/7. it's frustrating but ultimately it's sad, because i know that before long you'll be fourteen and won't want to have anything to do with me, and all i will be able to see is the baby who grins up at me when i rescue her from the loneliness of her crib.
i love you, my banana.
love,
mama
