12 In and 12 Out

I can't believe it is that time, but it is. It is time for the popular blog entry where we show the difference in our babies at 12 weeks on the inside and 12 weeks on the outside.

So ladies and gentlemen (although I am pretty sure that no gentlemen read this blog) I present to you my little girl at 12 weeks old on the inside:

And here she is at 12 weeks old on the outside:
I have said it before, but it bears repeating. I like her SO much more on the outside than I did on the inside.

Let's take a moment to relish in the chub. Oh the glorious chub. You all know that I have a son who is...how do I say this delicately...less than chubby? Look at the rolls on this child. The cheeks deserve their own zip code, and the arm rolls and the leg rolls and well, there are just pretty much rolls everywhere. And I love it. Love, love, love it. It still amazes me that I am the one responsible for her rolls. She is completely, exclusively breast fed and I am so proud of my body for giving her all that wonderful nutrition. One of the first things people say when they see her is, "Wow, she doesn't miss a meal does she?"

No. No she does not. And hopefully she never will.

I think it is safe to say that we are out of what I endearingly refer to as, "newborn hell." She is a little person now and it is lovely. We still have a bit of chaos in our world but for the most part we are following a routine and she is developing her own personality.

She will now sit in places that are not attached to me for elongated periods of time and it is lovely. She loves her jumperoo that I bought her. The Boy had low muscle tone so I am not taking any chances with this one. Sitting in an exersaucer? No way, you could be jumping and working those leg muscles...and tummy time? Oh yes, we have extensive amounts of tummy time. Build up that muscle tone little one! Work it!

Oh, I digressed. She sits in her jumperoo and actually plays with the little knobs and things. She reaches out and grabs things and enjoys watching the little toys we put in front of her. Needless to say, she grins constantly and "talks" to me all the time. I love it.

A typical day at 12 weeks old:

Wakes up at about 5:45am and nurses and goes immediately back to sleep in my bed and stays there until around 8:30 or so. We get her out of bed and get her dressed and nurse her again before I take her brother to drop him off at school. She generally falls asleep in the car at some point during this process and tends to stay asleep in her car seat for at least an hour after we get home. She eats again at around 10:30 or so and then spends the better part of the morning and afternoon eating and napping.

We are getting better at napping in places other than on TOP of me. She will now lay in her bassinet for almost an hour at a time. Although she still definitely prefers to nap either in my arms, or her favorite, next to me on the bed after a nursing session.

She enjoys hanging out in the bouncy seat and she still knows exactly when it is that I pick up my fork for dinner and starts crying at exactly that moment. I personally think she just wants to sit at the table (on my lap) while we eat dinner so that she is part of the family.

She is starting to LOVE her big brother. She loves to watch him and whenever she can convince him to give her any attention at all, she responds with the biggest smiles you have ever seen. She loves laying with him on his bed at night (they share his pillow--his request, not hers) while I read books to him and sing him goodnight.

After he goes to sleep we have some time just the two of us. She eats every hour starting at about 6:00ish and does that all night long. She is storing up for the night time sleep. I have no clue how much she is drinking because she doesn't ever get a bottle for me to measure. Our nighttime routine starts at around 9:45 or 10:00pm (although it is getting earlier and earlier...). We turn out all the lights and then go back to her room and change her diaper and put on her sleep sack. We then go back out in the living room and nurse on both sides (this is unusual...she usually only eats on one boob and then can't be bothered to eat on the other side) and then we rock in the rocking chair until I can tell that she is good and tired (usually about 10 minutes). She always wakes up when I stand up to walk her back into her room and she smiles at me and coos all the way down the hall. I put her in her swing (yup, she sleeps in her swing and I am not ashamed to admit it. Hey, the girl sleeps...don't question it) and turn on her white noise and walk out the door. This is usually about 10:00pm. She sleeps until at least 4:30am but sometimes all the way up until 6:30am. Rock star for 12 weeks old if you ask me.

This little bundle of chub is one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me. I love her more than I can even put into words. I am so happy that she has been on the outside of me for 12 weeks now. Three weeks from today she is going to daycare three days a week. I am going to relish these last three weeks together every single second I can. What an amazing little girl this is, and what an amazing journey we are on together. I love you my little Peanut!!

Oh, and this happens to be my 200th post! What a wonderful post to have as my 200th post. When I started my blog a little over a year ago it was to express myself while going through the process of my breakup and contemplating having another child on my own. And look at us now! Whew!