Quarter Birthday

We call his hair strawberry blonde...it looks very different in different light, but in the lighting I used for today's pictures it has a very red tint!

One of my best friends, Holly, has been known to celebrate her half birthday.  Today we're taking it a step further and celebrating Jack's quarter birthday!  That's right...we've got a 3 month old!  Tyler has said multiple times today that he wishes Jack could stay this way forever because he's just so darn cute.  He gives us the biggest smiles all the time and has become quite the active baby.

I stopped in the pediatrician’s office one morning this week and saw all the new mom and dads in the waiting room waiting on their newborn appointments. The babies were so tiny and it seemed like yesterday I was there with Jack. He has changed so much since that day!

Sleep:
Your sleep is starting to get more consistent…finally. You still have to be coaxed to sleep during the day and like to take cat naps with one longer nap. I definitely notice you are less fussy in the evenings if you have had a good nap day. If you are fussy, the go to things to calm you down are taking you outside or rocking you to sleep while holding you on your side while sucking on your pacifier and swaddled.

At night you eat around 8 and then fall asleep around 8:45. I have been feeding you again before I go to bed around 10:30. You usually wake up once in the night to eat (anytime between 3 and 5) and go back to sleep until 7. I love this! I will love it even more when you sleep through the night, but I am very happy you are consistently going to bed early in the evening (no more of that late night stuff) and that you are not waking every 2-3 hours. It so much easier to somewhat know what to expect.

When you wake up at 7 you are so happy and well rested. You normally just play in your crib and look at your mobile until I’m ready to change and feed you.

Just like during the day, you move a lot in your sleep. Two nights ago you did a 180 in your crib. I checked the monitor and you were facing the correct direction, later your were facing sideways in the crib, and the next time I checked you were facing the opposite direction. You had wiggled your arm out of your sleeve and I think since only one arm was really moving you spun!  I also went in to check on you one morning and you had literally wiggled out of your diaper. You were naked! I learned that I must not have been putting your diaper on tight enough!

Eating:
You eat about every 3 to 4 hours during the day. Since you are starting daycare, I have been experimenting with how much milk to put in your bottles and this past week you emptied bottles with 5oz each during the day. At night you will go 4-5 hour stretches between feedings. You are eating 6-7 times per day.

Sizes:
You are wearing size 1 diapers and are still wearing 0-3 month clothing. You haven’t quite outgrown anything just yet, but might soon. I have so much fun picking out what for you to wear each day and love that everything doesn’t swallow you anymore.

Things you love:
You love to watch your mobile or be under your jungle gyms. You could watch them all day long and just kick and move those arms all around. You also love “watching tv.” We can just sit you up next to us on the couch or face the swing towards the tv and you just watch all the colors and changes and are mesmerized. You love changing colors and all the music that your toys play.

Activities:
You spend most of your day (especially in the morning) exercising. You move your arms and legs all over the place and just kick, kick, kick. You also still run lots of errands with mom in your new stroller. You are able to face me and be much higher up than before and love to just watch me (and give me smiles) and watch everything going on around you. You are so much more alert when we are running around. Previous months you would always be asleep.

New things:
You smile and talk all the time! When you are playing you coo and ahhh and when we talk to you, you make noises back. Not only do you smile, but you’ll open your mouth up wide and make the happiest expressions.

Your neck control is excellent and every once in a while you’ll still bounce around, but for the most part you can hold it up on your own and turn and look around to both sides. We still support it as much as possible especially when you are tired.

You have also discovered your hands. You have started pulling them to your face and sucking on them or looking at them. You grasp things and love to grab on to your blanket, mom’s hair & necklace, or anyone’s shirt when they are holding you.

In the past month you have done lots of travelling. You went with mom to Plano for a week and met all your great grandparents and many of mom’s friends you had not yet met. During this trip you also went to Duncanville & Wichita Falls, out to eat at many restaurants, and shopping with mom and grandmom. You went to Lake LBJ for Rob & Kristen’s wedding shower and then over to Aunt Taylor and Uncle Jeff’s place in Austin, followed by dinner at Guero’s on South Congress in Austin (all in one day!).

Aunt Taylor, Grandma Marshall, and Grandma Bloomer all babysat you while mom started transitioning back to work. You start daycare this coming Monday, August 22nd at the Pineapple School.

Mom finally got you a new Uppa Baby stroller and you love going on walks in the bassinet (putting you in the car seat previously was what I dreaded about going on walks). You have already made a couple of trips to La Cantera in it, too.

You are the sweetest baby and we just love watching you grow, learn, and change each day. 

Happy Quarter Birthday, Jack!