Three Month Old Esther

• No official stats from the doctor's office this month but according to Wii Fit Plus Esther weighs around 11 1/2 pounds.
• She must be getting longer, too, because I have had to move her up to 3-6 month sleepers. Most of her 0-3 month daytime clothes still fit, but there's something about wearing cloth diapers with pajamas...she just needs more room.
• Esther's beautiful eyes are still dark blue. Perhaps for good?
• I no longer think Esther looks like a newborn. She doesn't make so many scrunchy newborn faces anymore. Sigh. But now she makes a whole new set of adorable faces.
• Esther is a smiley baby now. Sometimes she smiles when I come to get her out of bed. You melt my heart, little one! No real giggles yet, but she makes cute breathy sounds that will turn into laughs soon, I bet. She also coos a lot. Sometimes I swear she's saying "uh-huh" when I ask her a question.
• Esther eats 6-7 times a day. She is such a fast nurser! That is quite helpful, with a two year old to keep track of. Bottles are a different story. She'll take one, reluctantly, but is pretty slow. No way to know for sure, but I think she eats significantly less from a bottle than when she nurses.
• If she is awake, Esther usually sits in her bouncy seat in the corner of the dining room while we eat meals. She spends most of her time watching me. At the risk of sounding conceited, I must admit that I love this. I think she loves her mommy.
• Esther definitely hit a few rough patches, sleepwise, this month. For a few weeks we were enduring 3-4 hour crying spells as we attempted to put her to bed, at least a few times a week. That does not bring out the best in me, as Zach can attest. (Sorry again, honey.) I think that is behind us now, though. We have been trying to teach her to put herself to sleep with a gentle sort of "cry it out" plan that involves periodic visits to comfort her after 5, then 10, then 15 minutes. Most of the time she falls asleep during the 10 minute interval, which means within 15 minutes of being put down. Then she usually wakes up to eat once during the night.
• Esther can hold onto things like her little toy keys now, if you help her grab them. (And by help, I mean wrap her fingers around them.) But then she'll hold on for awhile.
• Esther pays lots of attention to Austin when he's nearby. She turns her head to see what he's doing. (No wonder, he's usually the most exciting thing in the room.) I have an adorable video of Austin "reading" to Esther while she just gazes up at him. But that's another post, hopefully coming soon.