Pumpkinhead

Ethan,

Guess what? You are three months old! Well, you were newly three months old 11 days ago but you're still three months old now, so it counts. And at three months, you are becoming such a fun little dude.

We just started you sleeping in the crib this month and it's going perfectly. When you were born, you'd spit up your milk if we laid you flat on your back to sleep, so you've been sleeping in a bouncy chair loaned by your Aunt Sara and Uncle Dustin. Now you're too big for it, which ends up being perfect timing since you seem to enjoy sleeping all stretched out now.

 

You are the happiest in the mornings, as I suspect most babies are, after you've had a nice long sleep. It's easy to make you smile and chuckle, just talking to you will do it, and your occasional hoots of laughter are extraordinarily satisfying to us! I like to blow gentle zerberts on your stomach, because you get startled if I do it too quickly or hard, but when I get them just right they tickle you. Dad loves to make faces and see if you copy them, which you sometimes do! Other times, you try to contort your face into the right shapes while we cheer you on.

We usually wait to go into your room in the mornings to greet you until you've called us, but on the rare occasion you sleep until we've finished up all our morning pre-work tasks, it's kind of hard to wake you. You'll open your eyes for a moment and glare at us, then determinedly shut them and try to go back to sleep. Which is so dang cute that I'm always tempted to let you sleep and just go to work late...but then I'd have to leave work late, and pick you up late, and then I know your post-work snack would turn into your bedtime nursing and we won't get to spend any time with you. And let me tell you, it already sucks going to work and missing eight hours of your daytime activities. Maybe I will just have to dream up a way of working at home! Anyway, it always takes you a few minutes to get your bearings when we have to wake you-- you look around grumpily with slitted eyes and a furrowed brow, but we can usually get a smile out of you before too long.

You love to wiggle and fling your arms around, and you especially love to kick. I can always tell when you've gotten an idea or something has excited you, because your legs go crazy! It almost seems like a manner of communication for you-- sometimes when we're in the middle of a diaper change, I'll lean down to give you a kiss, and several times you've lifted your foot and placed it directly on my shoulder. And left it there while staring at me. It's kind of hilarious. Your dad is convinced you'll be a great soccer player and I hope he's right! Right now it's looking like you use your left hand and foot predominantly. But, you know, you're three months old. We're probably wrong.

Today we took you to the pumpkin patch! Not because you'll care or remember it, but because we wanted cute pictures. Even though you had just gotten up from a long nap and were happy as a clam before leaving the house...you were not a fan of the outing.

You kept turning your head as far to the left as it would go-- which, by the way, wow-- so here, your dad's trying to encourage you to look at me so I could maybe make you smile.

 

Clearly I was successful!

 

But seriously, you are a delightful baby and every day with you is a total joy. I want to go into your room and snuggle my face into your squishy baby rolls right now!

 

Just kidding. Keep sleeping, baby boy!

 

Love,

Mama