ada charlotte {3 months}

Dear sweet Ada,

I can't believe it's been three months! I love being able to come home from work and say "Hi!" to you and get a great big smile back. Your smile makes me smile, even when I'm not feeling great. It's always exciting to see you doing new things, starting to roll over, and seeing you run in place while we watch! I love everything about you!

Love,
Daddy

My little Ada girl,

You're growing up so fast! There was a specific day this month where I really felt that whole "time is a thief" thing. I posted that I felt like you were going to be 25 before I knew it, but upon reflection, that's not quite what I meant. While it will be several years before you're 25, each day that passes is another day of your babyhood, gone. Now that you're three months old, you will never be two months old again! And a month from now, you'll never be three months old again.

It is exciting and fun to see you grow, and I look forward to all the milestones that are to come, but I have a hard time knowing that each day that passes makes you one day older, one day less a baby. You'll always be my baby, but you won't always be a baby. Sure, I'll have more babies and I'll get to live through these same ages again, but I'll never have YOU as this small baby ever again.

Despite the challenges that come with you -- and believe me, there are many! This first-time mom thing ain't no picnic! -- I am truly trying to enjoy each day I have with you and to soak up every minute of your babyhood :) I love you so much, my sweet girl :)

Stats

No doc appointment this month, so according to our bathroom scale, you weigh 13 pounds. To say you started life so big, you sure haven't gained much weight! Haha but it makes sense since when you were born, people would say you were the size of a three-month-old :)
You're still fitting in 0-3 month clothes, which is great since you haven't gotten to wear some of your super cute outfits enough! It's also why your Halloween jammies are still in the pj rotation 😂

Notable events

You celebrated your second holiday -- Thanksgiving! It will be a much more eventful holiday for you next year when you can actually eat :)
We also had our first little family getaway, to Park City. You mostly slept through it :)
For family night one Monday, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Petersen's house and you met Santa! You were neither scared nor excited -- pretty much just indifferent :)

Tricks/Milestones

You don't cross your eyes anymore! Those eyes of yours are much better at following objects and focusing :)
We've mostly switched you from the cradle in our room to the crib in your own. You take all your naps in the crib now, and you go down for the night in your crib. We transfer you to the cradle when we go to bed. Hopefully you'll start sleeping through the night soon so that we can transfer you to your crib full time. Although to be honest, I'll miss having you so close when that time comes! It's so fun to hear your sleep noises and see you peacefully sleeping :)
Your neck has gotten stronger seemingly overnight! You rock tummy time now :)
You definitely discovered your hands more this month. They are very often in your mouth, which is a funny sight to see because it looks like you're trying to shove your whole fist in there! You are also more grabby.

Favorite things

Your smiles are seriously the best. It's especially great when you do what we call "whole-body smiling." It's like you can't contain the smile to just your mouth or even just your face -- your whole body has to curl up in pure joy! :)
Your whole-body sneezes are also pretty cute :)
This month, I heard someone say that it was the first day of their daughter's entire 5.5 month life that she had stayed in her jammies all day. I'm sorry my dear, but that is not the case for you! You stay in your jammies all day allllmost every day. But lately I've been putting you in clothes a little bit more, and you just look stinkin' cute! But then again you're always cute so...
You do a little more mirroring this month! I'll shake my head, stick my tongue out, click my tongue, and growl at you, and you sometimes do it back :)
I love giving you baths and you seem to love them, too! :)
Cuddling is always my favorite, but you are only cuddly when you're really sleepy. As such, your 10:30pm feeding is one of my favorite things because I feed you in your sleep and then I get to cuddle you/burp you.

Random tidbits

I feel like I've been trying to get you on a predictable schedule your whole life, but especially this month. It's hard because so many things factor in, and I never know which tweak will be most helpful, so I feel like I'm just trying to make decisions in the dark. I even sought the advice of the masses by posting about it -- and I don't really like seeking advice from others! I also found a sleep expert via the Baby Cubby blog and she's really been helping me out. It has been SO great to have someone to ask specific questions about my specific girl. However, even with that help, I'm still struggling to get you to take longer naps. I'm hoping everything clicks soon!!
I got an iPhone this month (switched from Android) specifically so I can take better pics of you :)
You seem pretty fascinated by the Christmas tree, so I often set you up near the tree so you can look at it :)
I'm pretty sure your head is supposed to stay up during tummy time, but often, all you want to do is make out with the floor or boppy 😂 😂 You bury your face into the ground (or boppy) and you seriously look like you're making out with it. Although now that I have you do tummy time earlier in your wake time, you're much better at it! Guess you just need to be more awake to be better at holding up that head of yours :)

We finally know what gender all your new cousins are going to be! You're getting three girl cousins and one boy cousin over the next five months. I'm pretty excited about this for you :)
I really wanted to get you a "first Christmas" ornament, but I wasn't liking anything I was finding. I found something on Pinterest, but it wasn't for sale anymore, so I sought out an artist to make it come to life. I couldn't find anyone, but your Granny B did! So I asked for some adjustments to the original ornament I saw, and the result is PERFECT! I hope you love your Christmas ornament as much as I do :)