Three months

We interrupt the Holiday Adventures Program to bring you this vital update...

Little One is Three Months Old.
Which means that (*sniffle*) She is no longer, technically, a "newborn". Little One is officially a real baby now. Awww. And She has been working hard to prove it. No more of this immature, newborn business for Her. She's all about the advanced, complex, and sophisticated world of Babydom these days. These are just some of the ways She is asserting Her new identity of "Infant":


She sleeps. What's with waking up all the time? Psht. Kid stuff. Little One (miraculously) has decided that Real Babies get their sleep on at night. She gets her Big Girl story read to Her in Her Big Girl pajamas and goes to bed *in Her Big Girl crib in Her own room* at 7pm every night. And, as of the last two nights She has Xed out her 1:30am snack, so She sleeps away until 4 or 5 am. Then she eats and dozes off again until 7am. Very grown up.

Babies do baby-talk, right? Little One heard about that. So one of Her new hobbies is to have long, deep intellectual conversations with grown ups. She is big enough now to get how a conversation works. So She does it right, with good manners. She will start the conversation off (generally with one of the following topics of interest: "coo", "goo", or "roo") and then watch attentively as the other person responds. Then she will reply ("gurgle, ahhhh, eeep! GOooooo") and then wait for an answer. We have discussed a LOT of important things. She has some excellent points.

Little One also likes to participate in grown up life. Helping vacuum the house is particularly fun, sort of like the baby version of drinking mai tais on the beach. Very zen. As is providing moral support in the kitchen. I mean this is like watching a cooking show with 3-D glasses on! Plus since I'm the one cooking, it's a comedy too!

Other Big Kid interests include anything involving being outside, even when it is cold enough for Her mother's butt to be freezing off. (Almost. If only it would actually freeze OFF, She might get to play outdoors more often.) She likes listening to music, no matter if it is Pavarotti or a parent in the shower. Reading books is also very enjoyable. She is quite studious, and is also working really, really hard at figuring out how those page things turn. She's pretty sure that Babies know this secret, and She's determined to get it soon.

She has a more mature set of friends. The Bee toy is Soooo yesterday. Apparently, a newborn's best friend is just an annoying bug to a Baby. And, to Her dismay, that guy is stalking Her! Every time She goes for a little exercise in Her bounce chair- he's like right there. All up in Her face. She's tried to remove him by physical force, but he's persistent! So She has to tell him off until Her trusted adults come over and escort the dude out. Jerk.

Her new best friend is the nightlight over the changing table. She searches lovingly for it every time She gets up there, smiling and waving at it. And when it's dark enough to be actually lit up- whoa. explosive giggles. Dances of joy. Professions of undying love. This new crush may be why Her new preferred place to be is the changing table. Just plopping Her down there is often enough to stop tears, though removing Her again tends to have the reverse effect.

Her least favorite place to be is anywhere on Her tummy. For a girl who so forcefully resisted being on Her back as a newborn, She certainly has had change of heart. "Tummy Time" produces histrionics which even GERD cannot compete with. We are working on this.

Little One knows that babies put everything into their mouths. She is working hard, doing the Rocky thing with the toys on Her playgym to get the hand-mouth coordination down for that. In the meantime, though, She is like me, and hates germs. So She has begun manufacturing a natural antiseptic, the scientific name for which is "drool". Oh yes. There's not lot of it, but it's definitely there now, and has the added bonus of sometimes turning into bubbles, which Little One thinks is pretty darn cute. And it is.

Even though Little One has been working very hard at all these new things, She really didn't need to convince me. I knew already, because after our big trip, I had to clean out Her closet. Yup, it's really happened. Little One has grown out of Her newborn clothes. Which means that I had to retire all those teensy outfits and the cradel. I confess I'm a bit wistful. I feel like I barely get to soak up each phase before She's on to the next thing. And I actually kind of miss Her when She sleeps so long.

But in the end, I'm pretty proud of Her for doing such a good job at this whole baby thing. And all these changes make me pretty excited for everything that's coming up next. Newborn Little One was pretty awesome, I have to say. But I have a feeling that Baby Little One is going to be super super fun. (Plus now I'll have had enough sleep to remember it!)

Happy Birthday, Little One!