Gabe & Alexa: Three Months.

3 months!!!

12 weeks.
Wearing a headband from my sister-in-law's shop,
Queeny Belle Frills.

Peyton is 3 months old!!!! I can hardly believe it. I gave birth to that little cutie 13 weeks ago. She's so big now. She's in 0-3 month clothes! Finally. That happened a couple of weeks ago. The shirt she's wearing in the picture above is newborn, but Target newborn runs a little big. She also finally moved from newborn to size 1 diapers about 3 weeks ago. It just blows my mind how fast she's growing. Which is funny because people told me she's be in size 1 in the first couple of weeks, but it took her 10. I am really grateful that she's going slower than other babies. I'm getting more use out of her clothes, which is nice. At her 2 month appointment (she was 9 weeks), she weight 9lb 5oz & was 21 inches long. I had to take her back a week & a half later & she was 10lb 4oz & 22 inches long. She had a growth spurt in that week & a half, obviously. That has slowed down a lot though. She's gone from eating 6 hours a day to 3-4 hours a day. It's nice. A break for my boobs.

10 weeks.

The girl is getting really strong. The picture to the left is from 10 weeks. She was holding her head really well. Now she's a ton better, as you can see from the top photo in this post of her sitting in the Bumbo today. She LOVES to stand. She can hold almost all of her own weight & we just hold her for balance. She started doing it a few weeks ago. It lets her have better control of what she sees. She's still a cuddly little burrito, but she wants to look at everything. When she's really awake she will just turn her head side to side constantly. She loves to look at lights in particular. I'm almost scared that she's going to stare at the sun & go blind or something. Ha! She stares at the lights in Gabe's hobby room for a long time. My eyes hurt immediately if I look directly at them. They're really bright. But she just loves lights. It's so cute.

Mr. Moo, 13 weeks.

Peyton Loves...

Mr. Moo, her cow.

Making eyes & cooing at my cell phone.

Baths.

Cuddling with mommy.

Being swaddled.

Sucking on her hand.

When daddy makes silly noises.

Ceiling fans.

Lights.

Her bouncer.

Mobiles/hanging toys.

Standing up.

11 weeks.

Peyton hates...

Getting out of the bath.

Tummy time longer than 5 minutes.

Waiting to eat.

Being in her car seat too long.

Silence.

10 weeks.

She's growing too fast. I love where she's at right now though. Looking at everything. Smiling when she sees me. It makes me sad that she won't always be this cuddly little burrito. But I'm definitely excited about what's ahead. I can't wait for her to giggle. She coos a heck of a lot, & little squeals, but no giggle yet. Sitting up on her own, walking, talking... I love watching her grow & see her make milestones, but it makes me sad at the same time. Someday she won't need me! Sad.

This little girl is sleeping SO MUCH BETTER NOW! I don't believe books about sleeping. I think they're crap. I think some people get lucky with their babies, & some people don't. From other reading I've done beyond things like Baby Wise, I've found out that the average baby will start sleeping better around 12 weeks. This was totally true for me. A week ago I started a full on bed time routine, which I think was what helped the most. I now bathe her every night, & then feed her on one side, swaddle her, then feed her on the other. Usually she falls asleep then, but if not, I rock her a bit til she's really drowsy. She usually opens her eyes & wakes up a bit when I put her down, but she goes straight to sleep after that. When she's tired, if she's swallowed & comfortable, she'll sleep. I'm now putting her down 15 minutes earlier every couple of nights. She's down to 930 now. She sleeps until any time between 4 & 6, then wakes up to eat a little, & then goes back to sleep until 730 or 8. I cannot tell you how great it is to sleep longer than 2 hours at a time at night. I'm still completely exhausted, but there's a massive difference. I do my best to nap with her during the day too. She takes 2 40 minute naps usually. I'll usually use one of those to grab a quick sleep with her.

12 weeks.
That's the heart I crocheted.

Not much house work is getting done, which I hate. I vacuum once a week or so, but I really need to do it more than that. & scrub my floors & bathrooms. I guess it'll come with time, being able to do that kind of stuff with her around. I need to figure it out soon though, cause I also need to move things around to start making it baby safe for when she becomes a baby on the go in a few months. Lots to do!

Gabe & I are doing pretty good. We're doing a lot of thinking about what's next for us & where Gabe wants to go with his career. It's all very grown up, talking about that sort of thing. Ha! I am considering going back to school. Key word: considering. I really don't like Wright State. I wouldn't mind doing BYU online. Then we wouldn't have to pay for daycare. I'm also looking in to community colleges. I have so much I want to do with my time, but of course, I don't have that time. My time is no longer my

12 weeks.
She fell asleep like this at church.

own. It's weird. My body wasn't my own for 9 months, & really, it's still not. & now neither is my time. My life revolves completely around Peyton's schedule & all of her needs. It takes some getting used to. Gabe & I have briefly discussed me taking photography classes. I loved that stuff in high school, & I think it'd be really fun to get in to. This past Friday when Peyton went to bed, I had a mild breakdown & Gabe walked me to my drawer of crafty things, got my crochet hooks & some yarn & sat me down in front of pinterest. I spent the next 3 hours learning to crochet. I'm very thankful he got me to do that. I really like to crochet! It's very repetitive & makes me pretty much unable to think about anything else since I have to keep count. I like it. Friday night I just practiced stitches. Saturday I made a little crochet heart, & that night I started a baby turban (it's a hat) for a Peyton. I haven't finished it yet because I haven't had a chance, but I look forward to it. It's nice to sit down & do something I enjoy. I also really want to learn to sew, but that will take more effort & a lot more practice. Crocheting isn't too hard to teach myself. Of course, I'm not trying anything too complicated at this point.

Wow, this is a really long post just to say that my baby is 3 months old. I just can't believe it. The main thing to know is that she's doing really well. & we love her immensely. She's a very very loved little girl.

Here are a few more pictures that I couldn't resist posting.