Baby Todd’s Third Month

Todd at 3 months old – November 21, 2014

THIRD MONTH
(OCTOBER 21 – NOVEMBER 21)

WEEK 10 (AND PART OF 9)

Todd’s third month started out with a rough evening on October 21st, when he had one of his (infrequent) bad crying episodes at bedtime.  It seemed that nothing would work…except cuddling with dada.  It was really very sweet to witness.

(Notice that Todd is wearing the Halo SleepSack Swaddle.  That’s because the SwaddleMe wrap was getting too small.  I was also experimenting with letting one arm stay out.  He would wriggle his arms loose eventually, anyway.)

Todd & Eric – October 21, 2014

The next day, Todd went in for his 2 month pediatrician appointment.  He was weighed and was given his vaccines (I declined the Hepatitis B vaccine).  Other than a brief cry when getting poked with the needle, Todd handled his vaccines well.

Todd is a little guy, in the 6th percentile for weight, the 10th for height, and the 18th for head circumference.  He’s skinny but he’s strong!  (I got on the scale, too.  I was 113.2 pounds, which is ~14 pounds over pre-pregnancy weight.)

This week I started reading books to Todd with regularity.  We also started using the bouncy seat.  In the past, Todd never liked it.  Now, we could sit him up on the kitchen counter and he’d stay happy while we were cooking.

Another exciting activity for Todd was sitting in the front of the mirror with Eric.  He just loves to stare and stare.

Eric and Todd – October 28, 2014

In general, Todd was getting a lot more alert and interested in everything going on.  He was staying awake more during the day.  On October 30th, I sat him in the Bumbo seat with toys in arm’s reach.

• Appointment:  Pediatrician (10/22)
• Todd’s weight at 2 months = 10 pounds, 1.5 ounces
• Visit to Eric’s work (10/21)
• Visit to my former work (10/24)
• Todd sticks his tongue out

WEEK 11

Todd doesn’t have much hair, but I brushed it for the first time on Halloween.  He looked at me with a cute mixture of surprise and pleasure.

Getting his hair brushed – November 2, 2014

On November 1st, Todd held Eric’s hand the whole ride home from Dr Snip.  Our friends Ken and Daisy came up for a visit on November 2nd.  Daisy brought a homemade vegan chocolate and salted caramel cake.  (I “redeemed” my cake coupon, which was a baby shower gift.)

Vegan Chocolate & Salted Caramel Cake – November 2, 2014

Todd LOVES to stand…

• Visitors at home:  Ken & Daisy (11/2)
• 1st pee in the potty (11/6)

WEEK 12

On November 8th, Todd had his 2nd visit to the mountains.  We drove east on the North Cascades Highway (SR 20) to the Rainy Lake Trail.  This is another stroller-friendly path, 2 miles round trip.  It was cold so we really bundled him up.  Unlike his first trip to the mountains, Todd was awake for the walk and he seemed to enjoy looking up at all the trees.

Todd all bundled up – November 8, 2014

Rainy Lake

Tree huggers

On November 10th, I bought the Infantino Swift Soft Baby Carrier (at Target for $15, on sale), to give us options for carrying Todd.  He loves to check out his surroundings while being held upright facing forward.  This carrier is nice and small for his size.  (Todd is still too small for our Ergo.)  A couple days later, I carried Todd in it while shopping for an item at Kohls.

Infantino Swift Carrier – November 10, 2014

WEEK 13

All through the 3rd month, Todd typically woke up for one night feeding and then he’d wake up again in the 5 or 6 AM hour.  The length of the first sleep stretch per night varied considerably.

On November 13th, I started dressing Todd in a flannel sleep sack for bed instead of swaddling him.  He was ready!  He had his first 8.5 hour sleep stretch on the night of November 17th to November 18th.

1st night in the sleep sack – November 13, 2014

On November 14th, Todd fell asleep on the floor for the first time.  I guess he wore himself out playing!  On November 17th, we did a little photo shoot for grandma.  He likes to be propped up in sitting.

Photo shoot – November 17, 2014

I was able to weigh Todd 3 days before he turned 3 months old.  His weight put him between the 5th and 10th percentiles for weight, which maintains his previous trend.

• 1st time in sleep sack, no swaddle (11/13)
• 1st time falling asleep on the floor (11/14)
• 1st full-on giggling episode (on play mat, 11/17)
• 1st 8.5 hour sleep stretch (11/17 to 11/18)
• Visit to Eric’s work (11/18)
• Informal visit to birth center (11/18)
• Todd’s weight at ~3 months =  11 pounds, 12 ounces
• 2nd pee in potty and first pee for Eric (11/19)

THIRD MONTH WRAP-UP

Other things to remember about Todd’s third month:

• Sticking tongue out
• Drooling
• Longer sleep stretches.
• Loves to stand (initiates the push-off w/ legs)
• Can sit in Bumbo seat without assist but doesn’t like it much.
• Likes the bouncy seat. Especially the red star.
• More attentive to the left (was focused more on the right in previous month)
• Longer attention span on the play mat.
• Accidentally grabs the ring on his play mat toy.
• Brings both hands together to try to “grasp” toy
• Uses base of palms to grab items
• More chatty “g-la”
• Reading to Todd, alphabet
• Imitates “ah”
• Doesn’t use the pacifier much
• During tummy time, holds head up and turns it to the side
• Sucks on fist during tummy time
• Able to roll from sidelying to tummy and gets arm “unstuck” from underneath him
• Using quilt on floor for tummy time because he moves off the smaller play mat
• Loves when Eric sings to him, especially The Beatles “I Will”
• Manipulating/”playing” with his face wiper washcloths