Three months!

Our Libby is continuing to develop her little personality. She uses babbles & noises more to communicate than crying, and she’s been putting to use a whole new range of facial expressions to further get her points across. Plus giggles! Which are like sparkly sunshine & rainbows.

She’s got the head control thing pretty much down, although she still gets a bit bobble-y when she’s worn out. But then again, who doesn’t? We’ve also been introducing the bottle with some success. She’s not a huge fan, but it’s better than not eating. Kind of how I feel about protein bars.

And she’s just barely starting to get into grabbing things purposefully. And making sure she knows what everything she successfully grabs tastes like.

Lastly, we are sleeping all night in our crib! No more bassinet by Mommy & Daddy’s bed. But we do sometimes get naptime with Mommy…

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In the spirit if Thanksgiving, I’ve been reflecting on some of the things I’ve found myself appreciating even more as a mom than I did prior to my beautiful baby’s arrival…

1. My Husband.

Sure, I knew he was awesome before. I mean, I married him. But raising a child is the type of overwhelmingly scary & beautiful thing that is preferable to do with a partner & I cannot fathom trying to do this without him.

If you are a single parent & you & your child have successfully eaten, taken a bath, and gotten dressed most of the days in the last week, I now know you to have some sort of super strength & focus ability that I can only hope to develop. I, however, find I desperately need my husband.

2. My Parents.

As with my husband, I knew they were pretty awesome prior – they raised me without breaking me, etc. But I wasn’t fully appreciative of living in the same metropolitan area as them until now. Food, babysitting, support… They really have done so much to help with this transition.

Plus watching them interact with Libby is pretty priceless.

3. My Friends with Kids.

Before you have kids, when you find out one of your friends is having kids, it’s this happy/sad moment. Happy because they’re (usually) happy about this new development in their life & who doesn’t like to see their friends happy? But sad because you know you won’t get to see them much anymore & when you do the conversation won’t be the same because they will be in a whole new world. Now that I am that friend that just had a kid, I’m so thankful for those friends that took the leap before me. They came with advice & support & empathy despite the fact I had none of those things to offer them when they were going through all this. I hope I can have my act together enough to pay it forward if/when my current friends without kids decide to build families.

4. Drive-Thru Windows.

I’ve always been that person who parks & gets out. Every time. I remember when the first drive-thru Starbucks in middle Tennessee went in at Cool Springs & I was all “Ugh, who would drive thru at a coffee shop, isn’t that counter to what coffee shops are supposed to be?” (That and “I will never agree to a shift swap there, I hate those headphoney things” because I was working at the Franklin Rd Starbucks at the time). But now… OMG CAN ALL THE PLACES PLEASE HAVE A DRIVE-THRU??? Running errands already feels like the biggest deal ever – load her in the car seat, decide whether to take her in with or without the carrier, or maybe get the stroller out of the trunk, figure out how to jungle/arrange the carrier/stroller/baby with the shopping cart/thing you are trying to get done/purse, monitor how much longer she’ll tolerate being out & about without getting hungry/wet/fussy/hot/cold/bored… And she’s just 3 months! How do you people with toddlers get anything done??? I’m terrified.

5. Washing Machines & Dishwashers

Would give up & use paper plates & plastic settings all day everyday if I didn’t have a dishwasher. And Libby & I would just be naked all day everyday & spend lots of money keeping the HVAC perpetually on 78 if we didn’t have a washing machine. Unless someone opens a drive-thru laundromat.

6. Mornings

I have never been a morning person. I am slow to wake up, I love dreamland (been known to hang out there while awake in fact), I’m cold-natured & never want to exit my warm blanket cocoon, and I’m not a super pleasant person to be around until I’ve eaten some decent breakfast. But Libby gets up between 5a-7a every single morning, and thus, so do I. Libby is such a happy baby most mornings, all smiles & wiggles, and she’s started greeting me with an enthusiastic “Hi!” and it’s just so much fun I can’t help but be in a good mood. I get to watch the light spread across our park-like yard & chat with my tiny daughter while I make my oatmeal. Mornings are growing on me.

Finally, as usual, the rest of the cute from this month:

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