I’m amazed that we are already on Ally’s 3^rd month; she is growing up way too fast!  However, I do love this age because she is eating more efficiently, she’s on a little more of a schedule (more so than last month), and the biggest thing is all the smiles we get when it’s awake time.  But we are still struggling with giving too much or too little attention between our baby and toddler, when does this get easier?  Dinnertime is the hardest part of my day because Matt gets home so late since he is working 10 hour days over the summer (4 days a week) and I have to balance baby, toddler, and cooking all at once.  Let me tell you, it’s a real life juggling act!  And of course any chaos that occurs happens with all three parties, for example: Bode will need me to help him in the bathroom, while Ally is screaming because she is hungry, and the water is boiling over on the stove-top… Yes, this is my life every night!  Luckily I’m not back at work yet because I can’t imagine how much patience I will have for this chaos once that day comes, I guess we’ll just have to take it one day at a time!

Sleeping/Feeding

Ally still gets 100% breast milk (woohoo!), this is a huge personal success story for me and I feel so lucky that I am able to provide this for my baby.  I have nothing against formula (obviously because Bode was fed it primarily after about 4 months) but I put a lot of pressure on myself after I had Bode to breastfeed and I was unable to do so once I went back to work.  This time around I’m putting a lot less pressure on myself and I have had a lot of success.  Ally still spits up a lot but I feel like we’ve settled into our feeding routine a little better.  She is more of a ‘snacker’ in the sense that we feed for about 10 minutes, then I burp her and then maybe 20-30 minutes later we feed again.  This allows her to digest the milk better so she isn’t spitting up so much altogether.  However, this past week I got mastitis, and this is not my first time getting the infection.  I had this with both Bode and Ally at around 2 weeks old and it was absolutely awful, this time I had the slight flu-like symptoms but it didn’t seem as bad until 4 days in…  I had tried to avoid the antibiotics by taking Tylenol and my fevers seemed to have disappeared, I was still getting some dizzy spells and redness and then 4 days in I started up with the fevers again.  I decided to cave and take the antibiotics my doctor had prescribed when I called him on day 1 of realizing I had mastitis.  The reason I avoided the antibiotics in the first place was because I was worried about it affecting my milk supply since I felt like it did last time, however I was also only 2 weeks into breastfeeding so that might also be why.  Anyways, I’m now on day 3 of taking antibiotics and I don’t feel like my supply has dipped at all.  I’ve been drinking a ton of water, nursing frequently, pumping if I don’t feel like my breast has completely been emptied, and resting when I can.  I’ll have to include an update on this next month but so far so good!

Unfortunately, I can’t say that her nighttime feedings are really that consistent. Three weeks ago she was sleeping for 6 hours straight and another 2-3 after that, two weeks ago she was sleeping 7-8 hours a night and then another 2-3, and then last week it was back to all over the place (I think that might be either because she was going through a growth spurt or possibly because of the mastitis). I’m also still swaddling her because she isn’t rolling over yet; however I know that the day is coming soon where I will need to get rid of the beloved swaddle.  The good thing about the night feedings is that she is very consistent and we are only up for about 20 minutes for each feeding so that makes going back to sleep a lot easier.  I’ll probably attempt ‘cry-it-out’ (CIO) around 4-months as long as the doctor confirms she is gaining weight efficiently.  We did this with Bode around that time and although it was hard to handle as a parent, in the long run it helped him sleep through the night and only took about 3 days before he adjusted.

Miscellaneous

We didn’t have a wellness check this month so I did all the stats myself.

I’ve noticed that Allyson has a lot more ‘awake’ time which has been really fun since we can play and I can take her out shopping and she will stay awake without crying.  Of course, her patience is still only about 15-20 minutes, but that gives me just enough time to run into Target to pick up a few items and get back in the car before she gets upset.  I find that the ergo carrier helps a lot too because she usually ends up falling asleep in it and I can get all of my errands done at the same time.  I love how she has become quite the chatterbox always making noises and having conversations with me during her awake time.  I chat back with her and it makes me so happy that I have a little girl to talk about female stuff with.  Having a little girl is seriously like having your own real life baby doll.  I love that I get to dress her up in cute clothes and although I haven’t bought much yet, it’s fun to browse the stores to see what I will buy her next.

We have also noticed a lot of biting and chewing so we finally got Ally her very own Sophie the Giraffe which she absolutely loves!  She also loves to chew on fingers and burp cloths when Sophie is not available.  I have a feeling we have another early teether (Bode got his first tooth around 4 months).

Funny Moments

I forget sometimes how exciting it is when your baby poops and of course the color of the poop is very important!  So far Ally hasn’t had a day go by where she doesn’t poop and they are always yellow (which is typical for breastfed babies) but I think this is such a funny thing to hear if you aren’t a parent.  And I even find myself cheering my baby girl on when she has gas because I know in the long run it will make her tummy feel better.  Gotta love being a Mommy!

Diaper size – size 1

Clothing size – 0-3 months

Nicknames – Al, Ally, Squishy, Ally-Boo, Ally-Bear, babygirl

3-Month Hair color – brown, maybe a hint of red

3-Month eye color –blue

3-Month Weight – 10lb 11 oz (weighed at home)

3-Month Height – 23 inches (measured at home)

What’s up with Bode?

I don’t want to neglect my first born, so I decided to add a section at the bottom for my favorite little man.  He was recently potty trained and has become so independent when we go out to public places, I’m really amazed at how quickly he adapted.  We are also excited that he will be starting preschool at Sunshine after Labor Day and we even visited his classroom to meet his teacher and some of the students in his class.  He is excited about the new adventure and while my baby is growing up, I can’t wait to hear about his days at school and all of the things he’ll be learning.  In my opinion it feels like he is entering the ‘terrible three’s’ and the reason I say this is because everything he does is a negotiation.  He wants everything to be on his terms and I think he is doing this because he wants to know what to expect out of each situation.  Actually its pretty smart and cute sometimes but for the most part its just plain exhausting!  I’m happy that he is becoming a better listener and that he talks so well because our communication has improved so much that I’ll take the ‘terrible three’s’ over the ‘twos’ any day.

Sorry for the long post – thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures!