Carter: 3 Months

He's three months old!! (While this post is late, the picture was right on time... so yes Becky, it's accurate!) When I was pregnant and daydreaming about life with a baby, I remember preparing myself to live in survival mode for the first three months. Three months seemed like the magical age when things would get easier. I'm very happy to be at this point, even if it doesn't truly feel that much easier.

Carter is starting to spend much more time awake and happy, which makes him so much more fun. He's more interactive too -- he smiles at certain things reliably and is able to be "cheered up" when he's fussy. Life is still stressful, and often times we still don't feel like we've settled into our new "normal," but we're having SO much fun with this boy!

Likes:

• Clapping. When he's happy, or just starting to be unhappy, clapping his hands makes him smile like crazy.
• Reaching for toys. He's completely uncoordinated still, so it's pretty funny to watch, but he's begun to reach out for toys, faces, etc.
• Flying. My friend Chris found out that if you lift Carter up by the midsection and hold him horizontally over your head, he lifts his legs and head up to stiffen and (usually) smiles. Especially if you sing "Super baby!" loudly enough to get his attention :)
• Sleep. (Yay!!)
• Ernie (his elephant) and Mikey (the moose). These guys hang over Carter's changing table and he has conversations with them during every diaper change.
• TV. This one's going to be a problem. He cranes his neck to see it way too often.
• Pacifiers. We won this battle, he no longer needs a finger. Any piece of silicone will do :)
• Mornings. Cutest thing. He smiles all morning long.
  
• Bathtime -- still a hit every night:
• Grandma. Holy cow does this boy love Grandma. I'm actually a little jealous.
• Jumping, with some assistance of course.

Dislikes:

• Being burped. He really really hates it. With a fiery passion.
• Naps. Actually, this is a toss-up. Some days he can't stay awake and others he's up for hours and hours on end and won't sleep no matter what we do.
• Having his nose cleaned. But really, who wouldn't hate having their nose sucked out? Ugh.
• Shots :( This wasn't a shocker, exactly.

New Mommy Knowledge of the Month:

• Formula isn't poison. In fact, it's a Godsend :) Carter gets 99% breastmilk, but the occasional bottle of formula saves mommy's sanity.
• The high standards you set when you're pregnant are not the be-all-end-all of being a good parent. Babies will survive and be just fine even when cloth diapers don't work out, or if they get a few ounces of formula every now and then. Perfection is just not a realistic goal.