Wee William at Three Months

William woke up happy and giggling this morning, as if he knew it was his three month 'anniversaire'. (He may not be so happy later today when he gets his innoculation!).

He is absolutely gorgeous. I say this objectively even if I am his Mum. His newborn skinniness has given way to a delicious plumpness, especially of cheek and belly! In fact it is a bit tricky to fit a diaper on him between his rotund tummy and relatively skinnier legs. We've had lots of 'security breaches' in his breeches to clean up!!. His hair is softly spikey, and can't decide if it will be blonde or brown. His eye color too remains undecided, alternating between navy blue and brown depending on what he wears, and the light. His skin is creamy soft, his little hands and feet deliciously chubby (although his feet are actually pretty big; he wears 6 mo size socks already!). His ears are small and pink and perfectly formed like two small shells on each side of his face. His lips are full, and his little tongue is always poking out between them....tasting the wind, I say! When he cries, he sticks his lower lip out in a real pout which is so cute.

William is a real little boy when it comes to peeing....all over us and anything else in the way! He has hosed both Greg and I many times, and got my girlfriend right in the eye! The other day he peed his bathwater so an extra rinse cycle was needed. He also went all over the mirror in the washroom at the American Hospital and of course there were no paper towels, only a hand dryer, so I had to leave it as is......

This month he has perfected grabbing things so my days of wearing long earrings are over for a time. He has gotten quite adept at grabbing his rattle and has a tenacious little grip. He is also much better at batting the beads on his mobile, striking them repeatedly and deliberately. During tummy time the other day (which he is not a huge fan of) he pulled his knees up, a precursor to crawling. Although he is less good at holding his head up, he will do it for short periods of time. He loves looking at simple, graphic picture books, an interest that was useful on our recent driving trip to Amsterdam. He also enjoys Baby Ohm, Mummy and baby yoga exercises that I do with him. This mostly involves him watching me stretch but he likes bicycling his legs and 'tiny tugs' on his arms.

Will's personality is emerging as well. We have a sweet, sensitive little guy who loves to be with people; however he can also get overwhelmed by them. We have had a few experiences where he 'melts down' at night after a busy day and so is very hard to console. I have gotten better at calming him, but also respecting his limits. When William feels secure he is a contented baby who smiles and coos and will have a real conversation with you. He likes to wake up slowly and so in the morning he stays in his bed and talks to the pictures on the wall and the clouds outside the window; when we pick him up, he is all smiles. He is also a real cuddler and loves to nap with us (we like it too!).

His is still stubbornly clinging to 2 feedings per night, so when I heard about 'dream feeds' (basically you feed your baby while he is still mostly asleep just before you go to bed) I thought it sounded like a good idea. Well, my attempted dream feed turned into a scream feed! William probably woke up a little bit too much and so his sleep pattern for the night was disrupted. From there he woke up every HOUR AND A HALF.....what a nightmare. I've decided that feeding twice at night ain't so bad!

We are working on getting him to take a bottle (of expressed milk) more often to give Greg and I a little more freedom. So far he is reluctant, preferring Mummy's nice boobies to that nasty plastic nipple! We will perservere......he is a very appreciative diner, with an impressive appetite. His feeding pattern is maturing so he only needs to eat every 2 or 3 hours now. He also feeds much more efficiently, taking 10 minutes or so rather than his previous 20 to 30. Both these things have given me a bit more freedom. Last weekend I was able to get out to see the movie "Black Swan" and I felt like a teenager with some unaccustomed freedom!

At three months, our lives have settled into more of a pattern. William naps three times per day for an hour of more which gives me some time to catch up on chores or correspondence. I am back at Pilates once a week, which will help me battle my baby bulge (which is mostly gone but I am not yet in my old jeans). He is also going to bed a bit earlier which gives Greg and I some time at night. We have gotten better at grabbing time together when it arises, rather than planning for it to happen. We're learning that it is hard to make firm plans with a baby in our life, and have become much more laissez-faire. Although this makes it harder to keep committments, I think it is encouraging us to be more flexible as individuals. We feel ourselves bonding as a threesome, and can hardly remember what it was like before Wee Will joined our family.