Happy 3 month Birthday, Carter!

So much has happened this month! The main thing being our trip to the USA. Granted, he probably has no idea where he is nor can he truly appreciate the sights and sounds like Hunter did.. but it was still lovely having him around and I felt we really bonded.

Carter is still delightfully rotund. This time round, I’m really enjoying the baby-fat, because I know they’ll lose it anyway once they’re mobile, so I needn’t panic that they’ll grow into an obese child. I love his turkey drumstick legs, and his chunky monkey torso. He’s so fun to squish! Plus, he’s now so much firmer with his head, so he’s easier to lift up and carry around.

On the downside, it seems Carter has entirely omitted the skills of whining or crying. He does neither. Instead, he SCREAMS. At top volume! It’s enough to almost split ear drums 🙁 Fortunately he only does this whenever he has a particular need (hungry, tired etc). And the upside is that he dishes out wonderful smiles. He is SO happy and cheery when someone talks to him or gives him some attention, and will burst out in a bright grin and a fit of giggles. Love it 🙂

This month, Carter also suffered not one but two accidents. First was when I unstrapped him in the stroller and took my eyes off him for a minute to prepare myself to breastfeed. Before I knew it, he’d kick-launched himself off the stroller and I found him lying face down on the floor! 🙁 Second time was in the USA, when I was carrying him as I was walking out after dinner, and tripped on a pothole in the ground. Fell forwards and on top of him (eek). Fortunately he was in a baby carrier or it would’ve been 2502340 worse. My knees took the full brunt of the fall and I was left with huge bruises on them for a week afterwards, but at least he was unscathed. My poor baby.. suffering 2 major falls before he even turned 3 months old!

• EATING – Breastfeeding is really easy now, which is fab! I still do leak everywhere, but it’s managable. He now breastfeeds around 7 times a day. Kind of amazing how breastmilk alone can make a baby so chunky 😛

• SLEEPING – I thought that our 2.5 week holiday would really screw up Carter’s sleeping habits, but surprisingly he didn’t seem to suffer jet lag. He still does 1 breastfeed in the middle of the night, which I guess is considered fairly good for a baby his age, but I’m looking to cut that one out over the next few months. Not terribly desperate to though, because it’s pretty easy to (he just feeds and continues sleeping afterwards), and also because my boobs might explode if I do so I daren’t do it just yet!
  During the day, he naps around 1.5-2 hours after waking… almost like clockwork.

• PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT – He’d discovered his fists, with a vengeance! Now loves chewing on them frantically, and waving his hands in front of his face.. which can keep him fascinated for around 30 mins (?!). He’ll also reach for and bat/grab/hold toys hanging from his play gym.
  Still a super big fan of tummy time, and he can lift and move his head from side-to-side smoothly now. Just as well, since he can now track us when we walk around the room.
  The drooling has also started in the past few weeks, in full force. I’ll need to stock up on some drool bibs asap..

Hunter is starting to show odd jealousy traits. He will adore Carter most of the time, and be delighted to see him and burst into grins when he does. However, a few times I’ve noticed that he will do his usual ‘pat pat’ of Carter and cuddle him…… but then give him a sneaky pinch!!!!!!!!! He must know it’s wrong, because he does it real sneakily. But why does he do it?? I think it’s some sort of jealousy/frustration that he finds hard to express.. Because of this, I no longer leave the 2 alone together.

I love having my private conversations with Carter. We will coo and giggle at each other, like we’re having a proper conversation. It’s special to me because it’s our own little private time together. I find him delightful (when he’s not screaming at me), because he smiles really easily. I actually think he’s smilier than Hunter was at this age. Friends that knew Hunter when he was little might remember his trademark deathstare.. which he perfected at around 3 months old and only stopped doing it (well, he still does it, but rarely!) a few months ago. Carter doesn’t (and hopefully will not) have the deathstare, and smiles easily at people. Yay!

Compare with Hunter at Month 2-3 here.

PREVIOUS PROGRESS:

• 1 month
• 2 months