Dear Hadley,
Today you turn three months old. That’s a quarter of a year. How is that even possible? A year always seems like such a long stretch of time, but we’ve blown through a fourth of it already! It’s been so much fun spending time with you. You are full of smiles and love to coo and squeal. We have some very entertaining “conversations” where I alternate talking to you and listening to you babble on in your own little baby language. I always love to hear what you have to say.
You are such a happy girl and are more than willing to just go with the flow. Our schedule is quiet full, and let’s be honest, a little hectic, but you are always mellow and happy to check out the myriad of entertaining places we go, whether it’s play dates with our friends, out to dinner, or just driving around running errands. I love looking back in the “baby mirror” in my car to see you gazing out the window, just enjoying the world around you.
Earlier in the month you developed a new “skill” of bringing your fist directly to your eye and then dragging it down your face to get it to your mouth. But now, in a matter of days after practicing that skill, you are now able to bring your hands straight to your mouth. Just like that. BAM. Hands to mouth? Mastered. It’s amazing how quickly you are able to figure things out. Now you are working on using your hands to bring other things to your mouth, such as your clothes, Ana’s hair, and just about anything else within your reach. Needless to say, I have to really be on top of trimming your nails because those little things are sharp and grow like you wouldn’t believe! So we have a standing manicure date every Monday to trim your nails. Anything I can do to make hitting those developmental milestones as painless as possible!
While I stay home with you during the day, there are often times when I need to leave you with your Dad at night so we have had to experiment with giving you a bottled of my (pumped) milk. The first time you were NOT a fan (and threw it up all over your poor Daddy). We understand there is often a learning curve to things like this, so we tried a few more times and the past couple times you have started to get the hang of it. But you still clearly prefer your milk directly from Mama… and that is just fine with me!
(Once you were better at taking a bottle we let Ana help feed you. She was SO excited to get to be involved in the feeding process.)
Bath time is easily your favorite time of day. We recently let you take a bath in the big bathtub with Ana. Sure, Daddy had to hold on to you the whole time (rather than letting you rest in your little baby hammock in the little tub) but you loved splashing in the water along with your big sister. In fact it was hard to tell who was enjoying sharing their bath more, you or Ana!
Well, my little sweet pea, it’s been another amazing month. I love watching you grow and can’t help but imagine the person you are going to become. You have your whole life ahead of you and I want to help you to have every opportunity you could ever want. I can’t wait to hold your hand along the way, stand behind you when you need someone to have your back, and be the first to hug you whenever you need me. Until then, I’m going to practice by holding your tiny hands in mine, soothe you by rubbing your back, and hugging you as much as possible.
All my love,
Mama