happy fathers day, daddy

dear daddy,

i love you to infinity and beyond and back again. especially when you tickle my chin and even when you scratch my cheek when you give me a big scruffy kiss. thank you for being you.

love,amelia lee millie bean munchkin mini don

Sadcakes

Well, it's happened. Miss Millie has her very first cold. Sadcakes McGee are we. She's sneezing a ton and her little nose is red and running and she even has a bit of a cough. Ugh times a trillion. None of us are getting much sleep because little miss keeps waking up coughing or because she can't breathe through her nose or maybe just because she feels like yuck and wants some love.

Of course I feel guilty because I'm assuming that she caught the little bug from the gym daycare. The one thing that I do for me and only me. Part of me wants to see the bright side: she's building up her immune system so she can ward off other illnesses. And I know that's true, but right now I just want to snuggle my runny-nosed lady and make everything better.

3 months

So, our baby girl is 3 months old. She teaches me something new each and every day and I'm certain these lessons will continue. She loves to blow bubbles while she squirms about on her playmat. She'll kick and swat and grasp onto the rings that dangle above her head and I'm continually amazed by her strength and determination. She'll coo and cluck and grunt and squawk at the animals as well. She loves to be naked and squeals with delight as I change her clothes or diaper. She's been fighting some diaper rash (that we had yet to experience) so I've initiated the "bare bottom baby" mission in an attempt to combat it. She's a big fan. (I mistakenly thought that the cloth diaper route would not lead to the dreaded diaper rash...drats.)

After several successful feedings, she is resisting the bottle. Not so fun for her Daddy who comes home from work and has to deal with a stubborn little miss. Not so fun for her worrying Mama either since my consulting job starts in two weeks and I'm forced to be away for 8-9 hours three days in a row. She's a strong-willed wee little one, that is for sure. I think we all know who is the victor in the battle of baby vs. parent, but we will not cave.

She's got amazing head control and has since she was 9 weeks old, a talent seemingly well-sought after by other parents. Who knew! She adores the "facing-out" position in the bjorn (particularly while Daddy is cooking). She loves to be outdoors and take walks and even just stand out on our balcony and watch the world move around us. She's observant and curious and super duper smart. She can basically sit up so we're going to get her a bumbo seat so that she can just chill slash strengthen her core muscles (I need one in adult size for the same reason). She has also mastered standing--quite an impressive feat. She stands in the bath, on our laps, and on the table or counter.

Her new best friend is a giraffe named Sophie and she loves to squeeze her neck tight and nibble on her toes. Everything seems to go into her mouth these days, which has me wondering if her teeth are starting to develop underneath those darling gummies. She laughs and smiles and giggles and she occasionally gets into laughing fits where she laughs then I laugh then repeat. Those are the best.

Her sleep is nothing short of unpredictable. Way back (all of 2 months ago) I had this idea in my head that by 3 months she would be sleeping consistently through the night or something insanely ridiculous like that. Wow was I wrong. I can honestly say that she was sleeping much better a month ago. So there's that. These days she might sleep 8 hours one night and then the next night be back to waking every 3 hours. Our routine is the same, so your guess is as good as mine. And mine is pretty worthless. Oh the ever-coveted sleep.

We started an infant massage class last week so we've been integrating that into her bedtime routine. Fingers crossed that it's supposed benefits of longer, deeper sleep and better digestion ring true for our little lady.

I love her from the deep-down-depths of my heart to infinity.