Sally 3.5-Month Update

Sally is changing so quickly! I feel like there's always more I should be updating about her.

• If you can't tell, she's started drooling. A ton. Her spit-up rags of have transitioned to drool rags.
• She's much better at nursing now. I don't really have to even pay attention anymore to make sure she's not gulping or latched on correctly. It's super nice because now I can read during each nursing session. I've missed reading so much, so I've been on a major binge lately.
• In related news, she doesn't really have to be burped after nursing anymore either, which is pretty awesome.
• Sally's getting so good at gripping things. Too good, actually. When I carry her around in the front pack, her tiny fingers manage to grip onto the extra skin on my forearms. I didn't even know that was possible. Sooo painful!
• On the same note, it's adorable how well she can grab items. She grabs her feet while her diaper gets changed. She grabs pretty much whatever you put in front of her, especially our fingers. It's her newest and bestest trick.
• Sally loves music. I sing to her while she sits in her bouncer while I shower (you gotta do what you gotta do). And I sing her to sleep each night. Johnny plays music for her in the mornings while we're all trying to catch a little extra shut-eye. And we always have music playing in the car. More than anything else, music really seems to calm her down and keep her calm.
• My lunches usually happen while Sal is in the front pack. Lately, she's been getting super grumpy when I eat in front of her, and she tries to grab my hands. I think our girl is wanting human food. Not yet, baby girl!

I can't believe Sally will be four months in just a little over a week! The time is flying!

First Post-Baby Run

So I've been meaning to start back running since Sally was about six weeks old. I finally succeeded in going on my first post-baby run last night, only about, oh, two months later than planned. Woo yeah!

The trouble is lack of sleep and lack of time! Sally gets up to eat at 7:00 (never, ever at 5:30 like this morning... or 6:30 like yesterday morning). So I could go running right after I feed her and lay her back down, but I'm so exhausted that it's a struggle. But we're slowly trying to better organize our time, and Sally's becoming more manageable, so we actually went out and ran as a family last night. And I brought our camera to take pictures of the pretty horses on our run, but that never happened. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

It's funny because my older sister told me that she didn't start back exercising until her first was four months old, and I chuckled to myself and thought I'd be different.

Anyway, it was a beautiful night — perfect weather, the smell of spring in the air. And we paused about halfway through to get some pictures together and of nature. But then Sally started crying and wouldn't be soothed for anything! It was almost her bed time and about 15 minutes past her feeding time. Sal don't mess around when it comes to getting fed on time. So next time I will make sure she's well fed before we go.

We ended up sprinting the last half mile to get her home as fast as possible, and she screamed at the top of her lungs the whole way. Lesson. learned.

Still, it felt great to exercise. Johnny said something like, "It's nice to feel my lungs stretch again." Since we haven't gone running since we lived in Boston, that's an understatement. We ended up going a mile and a half, and we'll slowly build up from there. My lower abs are the most sore today. Pregnancy really does a number on those muscles.

Duke Gardens

Earlier this week I met my friend Alyse during my lunch break for a stroll through the Duke Gardens. It was so gorgeous — I can't wait to take Johnny. I wish I could have taken more pictures, but alas, it is difficult with a baby.

I really love spending time with moms who have babies. There's just an instant common bond. Alyse's baby, Dane, is about three months older than Sally, so it's fun to see him and think that Sally will be at that stage in a few months!

Unfortunately, our trip got cut a tad short because Sally started screaming/crying and I couldn't get her to stop no matter what. I packed a bottle for her, but she refused to take it. And I even tried to nurse her in the gardens, but she refused that, too! So we headed out. I ended up nursing her in the driver's seat of my car before we went home. Let's just say I rewarded myself with Chick-fil-a for lunch after that. Love me some waffle fries and Diet Dr. Pepper.

And onto the interesting part: the pictures — proof that I got out of the house this week!

Favorite Evening Walk

Johnny and I love us some evening walks. It's one of our favorite warm weather activities. No matter where we've lived, it's been our thing. Our current neighborhood is rather cookie cutterish, and a full loop is only half a mile long. But don't fret! We crossed the street and found the most perfect place to walk. It's a dead end street with only a few homes, AKA no cars. And it's quiet and naturey with farms and horses to boot. It feels like we're going into a portal of nature when we enter it, and by the time we get back to our own street, we're back in the real world again. On most nights between the hours of six and seven during the summer, you can probably find us there!

First Laughs

Little Sally discovered her laugh this weekend! Saturday night Johnny was tickling her, and boom, she giggled. Before that moment we'd ever just gotten big grins. There's not a sweeter sound in our house right now.

On Sunday we tried to replicate her giggles by tickling her again, but no dice. And then Johnny sneezed on Sunday afternoon and guess who burst into giggles? And with every subsequent sneeze, Sally laughed harder. Sally loves the mirror, so we were able to get her to laugh by bouncing her in front of it (go figure). Here's our girl:

3 Months

I can't believe Sally is three months old! I had no idea posting monthly photos of her would be such a big undertaking, but life is crazy, and I barely have time to brush my hair, let alone write blog posts. 

I feel like at three months Sally has turned the corner with becoming her own littler person. She's a very happy girl (aside from last weekend when she was going through a growth spurt I assume). She's sleeping in her own bed in her own room, and if all goes well, she wakes me up at about 7:00 each morning. She doesn't cry... I just hear her yelling from her room. It's the best alarm clock ever.

Sally loves to play on the floor and loves having conversations with us. She is so vocal. She's also grown to love being on her belly because she can finally hold herself up. She's trying so hard to learn to roll over and move her legs as if to crawl.  

Sally loves nursing. And when she's not nursing, she's drooling or putting her fists in her mouth. She is obsessed with her fists... forget those boring baby toys. Fists are much more fun. More and more she's aware of what's going on around her. It's so fun to see Sally soaking in her surroundings and being curious.

getting ready to fight

suddenly noticing her fist

taking a fist break

talking to me as I take her picture

more talking

If it isn't already obvious, we're head over heels in love with this three-month-old.