The Lucky Layman's: Nora Kay Love ~ 3 Months

Well...we're officially a week late in posting, but this little girl turned 3 months old last Monday. Last Monday Nora also got to spend her first night in the hospital other than when she was born...but that is a much longer story that will wait for another day. And honestly, we don't quite know the full ending to that story yet...so let's just talk about what a cute chunky baby my little Nora has turned into!

Weight: At the hospital on Monday, Nora now weighs 12 lbs 4 oz. She's still sporting some serious chub and some serious rolls. I can't believe how much bigger she seems than Elyse was at this age! We should actually be putting her into size 2 diapers, but we still have some 1s left that we're going to be able to use for awhile longer!

Clothes: She is still working with a lot of her 0-3 month stuff...I don't think I've actually moved her into 3-6 month yet. Elyse & Nora have both been fairly long for their age, so I still think Nora will be able to wear most of the clothes I had for Elyse. She's just going to fill them out a little bit more and may outgrow them a little more quickly. I have a box of 3-6 month stuff waiting to wash and unpack, but most of it is for the when the weather warms up a bit more...so we'll stick with what we've got for now.

Food: Nora is still my eating champ. She's now eating 5-6x per day (depending on if she wants an overnight feeding) and is typically taking 4-4.5 oz when she takes a bottle of expressed milk with my mom. She literally only eats for about 7-8 minutes total and we're good. For the most part she only nurses on one side each feeding and seems to get enough...and then the next time we start with the other side. It is working well for us so far and my body seems to have finally figured out what Nora needs. Combine a super-efficient nurser with a momma who produces milk like a cow...and it doesn't take long for mealtime around here!

Sleep: Sleep for her entire 3rd month was pretty awesome. We still struggle a bit with waking during naps occasionally, but our nighttime sleep is amazing so I'm certainly not complaining. Currently she takes 2 long naps (one late morning and one during the afternoon) and has two shorter naps (one early in the morning and one in the evening)...she's starting to stay asleep for the long naps more consistently and I think that will continue to improve once she gives up her other short naps for the day. For nighttime, she typically goes down somewhere between 7:45-8:15 and will sleep until 3:30-4:00. At the end of February she started sleeping until 4:45 so I had her Daddy help us fight through those next couple of hours so she would actually start the day off on the right schedule. However...then her hospital stay happened and she's started nursing again overnight. Not a huge deal, but I'd love to get her sleeping through the night soon...she was oh so close!

Activity: This little girl enjoys her downtime. I try to just leave her be on her activity mat for fairly extended periods of time when she's awake and happy. She has started to grab at the toys hanging down and is starting to latch onto momma's hair--which is why I have an appointment tomorrow to cut it off! She loves to suck on her hands, and I'm afraid no matter how hard we try we may not be able to force her into the pacifier...but I'm still crossing my fingers. She's also getting better at holding her head up and tolerates tummy time for longer periods of time. I'm still not sure how close we are to rolling over, but she'll do it when she's ready!

Personality: Oh she melts my heart. She is quite the talker and will engage in extensive conversations of coos and laughs and giggles which I absolutely adore. She also seems to smile more than Elyse did at this age and also will smile on command if I click my tongue or blow raspberries or play peek-a-boo. She still really only fusses when she's hungry or tired...but even then she doesn't get really worked up about much at all. I do think she has a pretty consistent witching hour which happens if she doesn't get her catnap in the evening. This can make for some long evenings trying to keep her happy before it's time for her last feeding & bedtime.

Likes:

Elyse--Nora watches her every move & Elyse is always wondering where Nora is. It truly makes this momma's heart explode!

Her Momma--She seems to be much more of a momma's girl than I remember Elyse being...which I'm perfectly ok with! She loves for me to cuddle her close and rock in the rocking chair. While sometimes these moments become tiresome, I'm also soaking them in because I know they won't last forever.

Floor Time--She loves to be in the floor just kicking her legs and stretching out. I think she gets tired of being cooped up in the carseat or being held all the time so she enjoys just chilling out!

Dislikes:

Nose-Picking: I have a slight obsession with picking her nose (yes, I know...it's gross) and she truly does not enjoy this. I've had to cut back on this since her hospital stay and I know she's pretty excited about me not messing with her so much!

Clothing changes: This girl much prefers wearing zip-up or button-up jammies instead of anything that goes over her head. I definitely have to catch her in a good mood if I'm going to dress her in anything too fancy. What can I say? I feel the same way and would rather be in comfy clothes all the time too!

Being Alone: She goes to bed for naps and bedtime by herself in her crib, but when she's awake she does not like to be left out! She wants to be in the same room and wants to be able to see everything that's going on...I don't blame her, I'd wouldn't to be left out either!

Elyse & Nora:
As I mentioned above Nora LOVES her big sister! She follows her every move and I know these two are going to be best friends, or Best Sisters as Elyse calls them. Elyse loves to hold her hand or pat her on the head or help out in almost any way imaginable. It warms my heart to see their love for each other grow each day!