Dear Alex —
This month passed even faster than last month. Does this get worse with subsequent babies? Is this why mommies get so wistful?

You’re three months old and starting to get the hang of things. You’re a little over 25″ and a little over 14lbs. and your big giant head is in the 98th percentile. Your hair hasn’t changed at all since you were born, but your head is bigger, so it looks like your little widow’s peak is receding at an alarming rate.

Much like your brother, you appear to be teething early but without any results. Which is to say you’re drooling like a hound dog and chewing your hands so hard that I think you’ve made yourself cry a few times. There was a teeny bit of fever one night, but it was also the night after you got your polio and Hep B vaccinations, so…you know. Might not have been your jaw jacking your temp.

You’ll accept a pacifier only under specific circumstances, and then only for so long. You are super pissed about the Miracle Swaddle but you can’t stay asleep without it, so tough bananas, kid. When you do manage to wiggle a hand out you gnaw on it and wake yourself up doing that before you can whack yourself in the head.

(Babies are funny.)

Last week, you started trying to roll over and have made it up to your side on the left. You’ve started reaching for toys with your hands and have managed to get one to your mouth. You’re kicking the hell out of the piano playmat and we know it’s time to find a new Circle Of Neglect (what Toys R Us calls an “activity center” or something). You kick the hell out of anything in reach, buddy, and you have punched me in the neck countless times. This is just how your energy comes out.

It’s nice that you’re so small.

(<– Baby race face.)

Daddy says you’re starting to like him a little bit more now, which is good, as Daddy’s in charge after Memorial Day. You’ve started accepting the bottle…at least enough that I can get out and have a root canal every now and then.

(I know, it should be a pedicure, right? Alas. Pray you have your father’s teeth, now matter how tough they are to straighten.) (You’re going to have braces anyway.)

Mostly, though, I’m still far and away your favorite. One side effect of going with the Diono carseat from the start is that we don’t have an awkward-to-carry baby bucket in which to haul you around. If we’re out and about, I’m wearing you. This is fantastic (and should really be doing more to build my core back up but isn’t helping), but it also means that you are Mama’s boy through and through right now. I get (almost) all the gummy grins and I’m the only one who’s made you laugh…although you found laughter terribly upsetting. The first time was when I played an Arms Up, Arms Down game. You giggled wildly and then looked very surprised and horrified before collapsing in tears. You did roughly the same thing when I happened to hit a ticklish spot after a diaper change.

It’s okay, kid. Emotions are hard.

You’re still working out how you feel about your big brother, who is just larger than life for you right now. He is LOUD and BIG and FAST, and sometimes you just can’t handle it. It’s a shame, because he loves you to bits and just wants to be near you and be your best friend. Good thing, too, because he’s struggling with all the time I have to spend with you. It’s hard to adjust to a new person in the family — fortunately, all of his frustration comes out at us, not you.

Grayson is probably also responsible for your incredible experiments with volume. I remember when he worked out loudness, and you’re hitting that milestone earlier, probably just to be heard.

You also love hearing me sing more than ever did as a baby…but then, you gestated hearing me sing to him.

I don’t really want to talk about it, but there was a night this month when you slept for an 8-hour block. Eight hours! I got engorged and leaked an(d had to pump, but go, you! More of that, please. Most nights, 5-6 hours is the most we (I) can hope for with your tendency to only nurse on one side at a time.

Oh! Hey! You like the dog! Gray and Rodney have an up-and-down sort of relationship, but you’ve been delighted with the dog since the moment you saw him peering down at you on the playmat. It warms Daddy’s heart.

This month included Grayson’s “Spring Break” (from playschool, so no Daytona Beach), so we tried our best to get outside a little more than usual. We hiked up in the hills and ventured to some far-off playgrounds for a change of scenery. You mostly snoozed through everything; the Bjorn keeps you close to my heart, which is your favorite place to be.

Happy End of the Fourth Trimester!

Love,
Mama