3 months!

Our Esther girl is three months old today! 

We love our smiley, chatty, go-with-the-flow baby girl.

Here's some fun things about Esther at 3 months:
- Wearing mostly 6 month clothes and size 2 diapers
- Loves to suck on her fingers and muslin blanket. She is also getting good at reaching for and holding toys. She seems very deliberate and controlled with her movements.
- Very chatty. She will go back and forth with you in conversation with her gurgles and coos. She loves to be sung to, and will often join in and sing along :)

 - Takes a bottle like a champ.
 - Much sleepier in the mornings than her older brother and sister ever were.  She typically sleeps until 8 or 8:30 most mornings.  Maybe she won't be such an early riser as a toddler!!

 - She is SO gassy! It doesn't seem to bother her. And good thing baby toots are cute :)

 - Seems a little more laid back about gross motor development, as compared to her siblings. Perhaps because she doesn't get as much time to practice (e.g. tummy time)??

 - I discovered some patches of eczema on Esther's elbow, and on her neck :( Hopefully hers does not get as bad as Cora's. 

 - Esther has a seriously long tongue. And she loves to stick it out!

 - Also, I'm pretty sure her eyes will be brown, just like the other two kids. (Sorry, Dad!)

Sleep. 

This has been one area of huge change and improvement in the past month. A month ago, I was fighting her for every nap and bedtime, usually having to rock her completely to sleep and very carefully set her down (if she'd let me put her down at all). Now most days, I can put her down "drowsy but awake" and she can mostly get herself to sleep (with a few pacifier re-inserts). She still only naps about 30-40 minutes at a time, but she is sleeping great at night! We also stopped swaddling her this month. She was breaking out of her swaddle constantly, but since Esther is the fourth baby to use these swaddle wraps, I wondered if maybe the velcro was wearing out. Well, I bought a new wrap, and the first night I used it, she slept 11.5 hours straight! I told Brandon we might have to swaddle her forever.  It didn't last, though,and I actually stopped swaddling her completely about four days later. Ha! Some nights she'll do an 8-9 hour stretch, then eat and sleep a few more. Some nights she's up more frequently. But we're all sleeping much better than a month ago. Moving in the right direction!

Life is pretty crazy right now, but Esther's been great at rolling with the punches. She has forced me to slow down (like, literally, to sit for 30 minutes every couple of hours) and try not to stress so much about getting it all done. We all love having her around :)

Sisters!!