Three Months

You’re 3 months old! This is late and will be later still by the time I post it. Forgive me — you take up a lot of my time on a daily basis so this blog has to take a back seat. And you’re really the centre of all attention these days. I feel both like 3 months has passed too quickly and yet like you’ve been in our lives for a long time. It’s funny that.

This was a busy month for you, with Christmas and all its festivities. Your first Christmas! I think you must have wondered what all the fuss was about as Daddy and Mummy dragged you on shopping trips and to various gatherings. You were quite tired out but you continued to be quite the trooper the whole time, and didn’t really fuss much. Mummy is real proud of you. I’m sure you’ll love it next time once you grasp the concept of presents. We’re now into the new year and 2009 promises to be an exciting one as we watch you grow, though again, I’d ask you not to grow too quickly so that we can continue to savour the baby-ness of you.

Thinking back on the month past, I would label it the month of the car seat rebellion. Whereas you previously used to love your car seat and make a routine of falling asleep in it, this month you changed your mind and would struggle desperately to get out once you’re all buckled up. And when given the pacifier (which used to calm you), you get madder. The first time you made a serious protest, your Daddy took the stand that we shouldn’t take you out and you cried yourself hoarse before we decided to stop the car and take a break. We ended up feeling all guilty when you later threw up a whole lot of milk, probably from all the struggling. Yikes.

So your Daddy and I decided that maybe you were a bit too young to be trained to sit in your car seat but you know what? On the following Saturday, you pulled the same stunt of crying loudly when put in the seat when Daddy was all alone with you. Daddy tried to soothe you but had to give up cos he just had to drive off. And when he got up and left you alone at the back, you gave him a shocked look, and then looked and saw that no one else was next to you and stopped crying! And when Daddy got in the front and started driving, he heard you give a huge yawn and you popped off to sleep! You can imagine the indignation we felt at being manipulated by a 2.5 month old baby.

Since then we’ve been more insistent about putting you in your seat and your protests have been getting shorter though there have still been tussles between us. You’ll just have to accept that that’s where you’ll stay. And so far we’re holding out pretty well.

Conversely, you’ve come to be really happy in your stroller, which is a great thing cos we’ve been able to go on more outings, and not just to Vivo City. The trick was not to lay you flat. Prop you up into a sitting position and you’re good to go.

You continue to be awfully strong. I’m glad since it means the milk is going somewhere! We’d always figured you would be strong cos you used to kick SO HARD when you were still in my tummy. We put you down to sleep on your tummy regularly (which is not recommended, we know) cos you seem to sleep so much better and as a result you don’t need any scheduled tummy time. Instead, you regularly practice lifting your head everytime you wake up and yell for attention.

Ooof.

You’re also pretty good at “crawling” to different corners of your cot, dragging your face along the sheets. Sometimes we honestly don’t know what position you’ll end up in after we put you down for a nap.

You love your reflection and always kick excitedly and smile at the baby in the mirror. Mummy wonders if you recognise the Mummy in the mirror too.

You’ve started to notice and grasp things now, on top of being interested in faces. Your biggest fascination is with your blanket which you can study and chew on for quite a while. Mummy is always relieved when you self-entertain cos it gives me a bit of a break!

You’re REALLY into your fists. You look so funny furiously sucking on them — your chubby cheeks surrounding your chubby fist — that I always laugh when I see you at it. Which is very often.

But the best part of you growing up is how responsive you’ve become. You smile readily at everyone, which is always a great party trick since everyone loves your smiles and loves to elicit them from you.

It’s been a good month, with us getting more into our groove together, which makes it all the more difficult for Mummy to be thinking about going back to work. Mummy’s maternity leave is coming to an end and while Mummy had planned to take a full 6 months off work, my boss recently asked me to come back to work in March, slightly earlier than I’d planned. In return, she’s offered to let me work on a part-time basis, working 21 hours a week. It seems like a good plan since it’ll give me some time out of the house, keep me meaningfully occupied, and yet still allow us to spend quite a bit of time together. Pray with Mummy as she thinks over what’s best for all of us okay? And don’t forget that even if Mummy isn’t with you all the time, it doesn’t mean that I love you any less. Till next month.