Luke: 3 Months

(I started this post in February, but was getting ready for our trip to TX/NM and never got it finished.)

Height: 25 in.

Weight: 12 lbs. 3 oz.

Well, I made the mistake of bragging about what a good sleeper I had when Luke was tiny. He is not really a fan of sleep right now. At the beginning of the month, he was sleeping in his own crib for 6 hours at at time when he went down for the night. Last night, he was in my bed the entire night and woke up 5 times. I really need to work with him to get back on a good schedule, but we're flying to TX and NM next week, so I feel sure his schedule will get wonky with that trip anyway. 

His naps are only 30-40 minutes long, which is not enough time for me to get much done! Plus, he takes a long time to fall asleep. I have to swaddle him and bounce on the yoga ball and get him completely asleep and then VERY carefully lay him in his crib so he doesn't wake up. I'm looking forward to the days when he can fall asleep on his own, or at least with less help.

Despite being a bad sleeper, he's really not a fussy baby. He only cries when he's hungry, sleepy or needs to be changed. Granted, that happens many times in the day, but when he's awake and fed and clean, he's content to just lay on a blanket or bounce in the bouncer. 

He is rolling both directions now: mostly front to back, but he has done back to front probably 5 times now. He really likes tummy time and is pretty strong. He can hold his head up for what seems like a very long time while laying on his tummy. I'd hoped that he wouldn't reach the physical milestones quite as quickly as Peter (rolling, crawling, walking), but it looks like he's going to be another early bird with all of that.

He got his first shots just after he turned 2 months and they were not a big deal at all. I was so grateful for that! He cried right when they gave him the vaccinations and then stopped as soon as I picked him up. He didn't cry again and didn't act like he was bothered by them at all.

He's started to put his hands in his mouth ALL the time. Inevitably, this leads to people asking if he's teething. Babies this age start drooling and chewing on their hands, teeth or no teeth, so I think it's more developmental than anything. He's still a very smiley baby and loves for you to talk to him or make faces with him.

Luke still won't take a bottle or pacifier or drop the nursing shield--he's a stubborn little guy. I had really hoped to have at least one of these things mastered by the time we flew to see family, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen.

I can't help but compare him to Peter at every stage. Luke has more hair than Peter did. His head isn't as big as Peter's and he seems to like cuddling/being held much more than Peter. They've both been SUCH smiley babies...it is good for your self-esteem when they smile every time you make eye contact! :) 

Peter has started getting a little more aggressive towards Luke, so I spend a lot of time protecting Luke from his big brother. I think it's when Peter is wanting my attention and I've been busy working around the house or on my phone or with Luke more than Peter would like. Thankfully, Luke is a pretty tough little guy and he doesn't cry unless Peter really hits him hard. One of these days, he'll be big enough to fight back! 

I really love this stage of babyhood. He's still small enough to hold and rock and cuddle, but is getting quite a bit of personality and it's fun to interact with him. It's definitely going by quicker the second time around--the last 3 months feel like a (tiring and wonderful) blur!