Where do I begin? You have most definitely turned our world upside down…not in a bad way! Let me try to tell a little bit about you at THREE months.
You weigh 10lbs 10oz. You lost weight while you were sick…half a pound…so you are almost back up to wear you were before. Some people look at you and say you are so tiny but I (and my family) think you look huge because you are over double what you weighed at birth so we think you are chunky..haha! You are wearing size 1 diapers. It’s really hard for me say exactly what size you wear because it depends on the type of clothes, how many times they have been washed/if handmedowns, etc. However, a majority of the clothes you are wearing are 0-3 months with some being 3 months. You even still wear a couple of newborn outfits…they still fit and I love them so we still wear them!
Feeding: I am still breastfeeding exclusively. You have never had a bottle. Like your brother, you are NOT the best at nursing. I do not understand why my children are so difficult when it comes to eating…or really anything! Ha! I really don’t pay attention to how long you nurse because I am usually so distracted. I am still feeding you every three hours during the day and whenever you wake at night. I love to nurse you at night because you are usually asleep and nurse for a long time and peacefully. During the day, you are unpredictable. Sometimes you will nurse peacefully and sometimes you will fight and scream the whole time.
Sleeping: You are doing great at night. I put you down when we put the boys down…anywhere from 7-8pm. You sleep until between 2-4am and then you don’t get up again until morning. AWESOME!!!!!
Naps: She is doing much better. We have discovered that she is definitely VERY sensitive to dairy products. I wasn’t very strict about it at first but now I can’t even have chocolate (which is killing me..but probably not such a bad thing! :)) You really don’t realize how many products have milk in them. I do still eat some things like cookies that are made with butter. Anyway, as long as she is well and I haven’t eaten anything to make her upset, she is pretty much on a sleep, awake for 45 minutes, and then in her bed for a nap until it’s almost time to feed her again OR until a little brother screams right outside her door (not that that ever happens…HA). On the days that I have eaten something not to her liking, she screams almost all day.
Medicine: She is still on prevacid once a day and zantac twice a day for her acid reflux. She still spits up a TON but Dr. Slusher said “just imagine if she weren’t on medicine” so I guess we are just thankful for medicine to give her a little relief!
Personality: Larkin is all smiles (unless she is screaming because of stomach/acid reflux). We could still get her to smile throughout the whole Flu and RSV episodes! Today, APRIL 15th, Larkin laughed for the first time. I could tell it was coming! It’s such a precious sound! Larkin does like a lot of attention. She reminds me of Trigger in that way. She does not like to be alone at all. I have bought a bjorne in addition to my moby wrap. I love my wrap but I needed something that I could throw on quickly to go outside with the boys…or on those screaming days.
The boys: ARE IN LOVE WITH HER! I think they are getting a little tired of Larkin just laying there. Yesterday I got pictures of the boys fighting over Larkin…I’ll have to post those later. If I would let them, they would a lot of their time in her face, talking to her, pulling her limbs, etc. They usually get sent to the playroom so that she isn’t harmed.
Physical: We really don’t do much tummy time. It is so funny how different it is with #3. I can’t put her on the ground unless I have my body pretty much on top of her to protect her from the two tornadoes! It’s hard for us to do tummy time for several reason…one being the boys…but we also can’t put her on her tummy after a feeding for 15-20 minutes because of acid reflux (she needs to be upright as much as possible). She would vomit (not just spit up) if I put her down that quickly….and by the time that time has passed, she is getting close to getting sleepy and doesn’t want to be thrown down…plus, I think that she just hates it. Campbell was already rolling over at this point but Larkin is showing absolutely NO signs of being close. Liz made the comment the other day that she will be crawling before we know it. And my response was “I HOPE NOT” because I would really be just fine if she didn’t do everything as early as the boys. I can’t imagine how crazy life will be when she is all over the house and putting legos in her mouth. STRESS-ME-OUT!!!
I’m not sure if I have discussed this on the blog or not but I need to make sure my opinion is on here to remember in the future. When we were about to have Campbell, I had so many people tell me that going from one to two children was sooo easy…no big deal…piece of cake. HA…I totally disagree. It was a challenge for us when we brought Campbell home. We had spent the last 22 months focusing all of our attention on Trigger…I can remember how we used to get the kitchen clean and we would both go and watch Trigger getting a bath. After we brought Campbell home, that ended. For a long time it was Matt with Trigger and me with Campbell. I remember being so sad because all that time I got to spend with Trigger was gone. Okay…so fast forward to January. I had been told mixed things about the ease of having a third child. And, for the record, I do believe it just depends on the parents personalities and their childrens/babies personalities AND how close in age they are. Anyway, when we brought Larkin home (who if you remember was not planned…we were done with two children), we were ALL crying the first night. We were used to one of us being in charge of ONE child. Well, in one quick swoop, that strategy came crumbling down. All of a sudden, I was holding a newborn that screamed way more than her brothers…and a 19 month old that was angry that I was holding a screaming newborn and a three year old that has always wanted individual attention ALL the time (I can’t imagine why…could it have been the audience of two that he had for the first 22 months?). IT WAS NOT…and is STILL NOT EASY! I know I am only three months into this journey but good grief, I am worn slap out most of the time. Liz and Mrs. Marcia are LIFE SAVERS! They help so much…from picking up one child, to coming to play with one, to bringing supper, etc. There are some days that things just click and it is no big deal. Then, there are others when I literally want to sit down on the ground and just cry while all three children are screaming and crying wanting me for something. I most certainly have a hard time getting laundry done and dishes pile up quickly and I’m not sure how many meals I have cooked in the last three months. I try not to let things get to me but the toys that are strewn about my house and the mounds and mounds and MOUNDS of laundry sometimes almost does me in. This morning, for example, Larkin and Campbell woke up at the same time (this happens probably 6 days of the week). Campbell does NOT wake up quickly. He likes to be held and rocked and carried around for a little while so the fact that both wake at the same time poses a huge problem. Larkin wakes and is starving. I quickly change Campbells diaper and clothes (because he has usually teeteed out of his diaper). I rush to Larkins room and change her diaper while Campbell yells and screams and cries “hollll meeeee” the ENTIRE time. It’s really rather fun. And then Trigger is who knows where doing who knows what…this morning he had gotten him a breakfast bar and eaten it and then opened a box of girl scout cookies and eat a few. These days require a lot of patience. And I won’t lie, my patience wears thin most days. Poor Trigger probably gets in trouble for things that he normally wouldn’t. A lot is expected of Trigger and I hate that for him. He is our “helper” since he’s the oldest…but at 3, he isn’t really that great of a helper sometimes. AND, I have a story on that that I will share another time.
Okay, I will stop rambling but my point was that at each stage, life was difficult or so I thought it was at that time…I truly thought life with just one child was the most difficult thing…and in some ways it was because I didn’t have experience as a mom. At each new addition or change in life, I have thought “wow, now THIS Is the most difficult.” It’s really interesting how that works. Even though I don’t know everything or even come close, that is one thing that is nice about Larkin. I feel like I have some confidence as a mom…I’ve done this twice, I know that each of these little stages (little night sleep, teething, etc.) don’t last forever. AND I am trying to enjoy them even though they aren’t always that pleasurable because time is moving fast and I will miss these days, I know I will!!!!
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