12-12-12 marks Landri’s 3 month birthday!  This has got to be one of my favorite ages so far because she’s still such a snuggly little baby, but is showing her personality more each day and isn’t seemingly “comatose” as brand new newborns are.

There were several large events during the past month – the most notable that I had to go back to work after my 12 weeks of maternity leave.  As I posted earlier, the timing wasn’t so great with her stomach bug, but somehow we are all hangin in there.  It’s been hard leaving her though.  During the day, I have to focus on not thinking about her or I get too sad.  I wonder if she misses me as much as I miss her.  It’s so hard only having a few short hours after work (which are actually spent making dinner, eating dinner, cleaning up dinner, unpacking her bag and repacking it for the next day, packing my lunch and bag for the next day, making bottles, running/emptying the dishwasher, perhaps doing laundry if she had an accident at daycare, getting her fed, bathed and in her pj’s).  And of course she’s usually exhausted at the day’s end so she sometimes pitches a fit (that’s what she does when she’s really tired) which usually puts Scott in a bad mood too, and then finally naps.  So we don’t get very much time with her.  It’s frustrating.  But an adjustment too hopefully.

Another exciting event was going to two more of Daddy’s playoff games – she was on her best behavior and did fantastic both times!  The Steele Knights are still going strong, although this weekend is going to be a tough game against Katy at Baylor.  Hopefully we will make it depending on the weather.  If Scott wins, we’ll be heading to Cowboy Stadium in Dallas for the third year in a row for the state championship game.

So a run down on a few of Landri’s latest firsts:

• It’s a bit of a long story, but her father let her roll around in her own pee-pee such that her entire outfit was drenched in pee as well as her hair (gross!)…
• So then I made him bathe her and he (accidentally) submerged her underwater.  That was the most pissed off she’s ever been since she’s been born.  Ever.  I think she’s still angry with him (just kidding).
• Landri sat in her bumbo (see pic)!  Such a big girl with her head control!
• She can ride facing outward in the Bjorn and loves being able to see (see pic)!

As far as her hobbies go, Landri really, really likes her Baby Einstein Activity mat.  In fact, chillin on her mat may actually be her favorite thing to do right now.  She can stare at the singing and flashing star for minutes (which in baby land is the equivalent of hours).  Second to her activity mat, Landri’s other favorite hobby is probably bath time.  It really soothes her (as long as she isn’t getting dunked, Dad!).  We call it the Baby Jacuz (pronounced ja-cooze, short for Jacuzzi) and tell her how much she loves it.  I guess she listens to her Mommy and Daddy!  After bath we wrap her up in a hooded towel and tell her that she is a Baby Burrito and then we talk about what color burrito she is that day.  And then she still enjoys her Baby Crack (gas drops) and baby massage (lotion) post-bath.  She also doesn’t hate tummy time anymore like she used to when she was wee little.  Now she happily swings and bobbles her little head around and holds herself up on her elbows maintaining a pleasant demeanor for a much longer period of time (several minutes).  It’s really adorable.  Scott and I also like to make her “dance” to rap music just because it’s funny.  We hold her and bounce her around, moving her arms and legs.  She seems to like it!  We also practice “touchdown arms,” and recently I started teaching her kick boxing (upper cut, jab, hook, block).  She loves it when you move her arms (or legs) for her.  And it’s entertaining to watch a baby jab, jab, jab with little fists.  Scott gets mad and says I’m going to dislocate her arms, but I’m like, “at least I’m not going to drown her!”  As far as dislikes go, all the same things still irritate her (mostly hunger, dirty diapers, and car seat straps touching her neck), but she seems to get even more upset now when you stop mid-feeding in search of a burp.  And she has perfected the bottom lip pout which she uses to serve as a warning to show displeasure immediately prior to launching a meltdown.  I need to work on getting a photo of it because it is just priceless.  And Pontooning still serves as the best meltdown remedy.  LOVE the power that song holds over her.

KNOCK ON WOOD but little girl is still sleeping through the night.  I feel like I will need to buy her a Barbie Jeep or something to thank her someday.  We still swaddle her up at night in her miracle blanket and then in the morning when we unwrap her, we tell her, “And a baby is born!!!” and she makes funny faces and stretches her arms over her head. It’s really adorable (there is one picture of her doing it next to the iPad below).  Other skills include sucking on her fingers, making bigger smiles and cooing sounds, improving head control, ability to make and keep eye contact (for a little bit), and track objects with her eyes.

It still amazes me how different her cries are and how we can (usually) tell what it is she needs.  I didn’t believe people when they told me this about babies, but it really is true. Of course you can’t always tell 100% of the time, but you really can tell when she’s tired versus wanting attention and basic things like that.

Her latest trick (besides swiveling her little head around from left to right) – – actually, I take that back because it’s not a trick per se.  It’s more of a funny reaction.  When you blow in her face, she sort of shrieks, opens her eyes really wide with surprise and kind of straightens out her arms.  It’s HILARIOUS and we just die laughing at her doing this (video posted below for your viewing pleasure, and it’s better with sound).

When asked if there is anything he would like to say about Landri that I missed, Scott replied, “When are you going to stop this blog?  When she’s like 18?”  When pressed about what his favorite thing is about her, he said, “Everything is my favorite.”  How sweet!