3 Months!!!

I can't believe my little Layla bug is 3 months already. No longer considered a newborn, she is now an infant. She is changing so much in every way. Talking more, starting to giggle, reaching for her toys, and recognizing things she loves. Her hair is growing in more now and it is so copper red. I love it. She also is showing signs of dimples just like her daddy! It seems like every day I notice something new about her. It is amazing.

We had a bit of a photo shoot today, and managed to capture a few good ones. I had to get a couple of the naked baby shots, of course, but I love her in the little summer dress that Uncle Danny got for her!

So Many Changes

Layla has had such an amazing week! She transitioned into sleeping on her own, and she continues to be such a great sleeper. Just last night she went eight and a half hours straight! Then, the best thing in the world happened on Thursday, she giggled for the first time! That is just about the best sound ever! She is also talking so much more in the last couple days and I can't get enough of listening to those coos, gurgles, and squeals. It is just unbelievable to watch how much she is growing and changing every day. She is getting too tall for a lot of her outfits now and she is over 10lbs, all of which is head and that adorable Buddha belly!

She is discovering her hands and feet and is even beginning to reach for things. She doesn't have the grabbing thing down quite yet, but if you put something small enough in her hand she will hold onto it. She has always been really alert and responsive, but now she will look in the direction of different sounds and voices, and can follow objects all around. I know it sounds like a little brag list, but I am just so proud of our little girl. It is amazing how the smallest things in life can bring so much joy. My favorite is in the morning when she wakes up, she just chills in her bassinet and when I peek over the side she turns and looks at me and immediately cracks the biggest smile ever. Melts my heart every time.

One thing that I think has made quite a difference this week is starting her on a different kind of formula to supplement with that is for gassy babies. She doesn't get as fussy as she had been on the previous formulas, so it makes for a happy mommy when she isn't in pain anymore. Now that she isn't hurting from the gas pains she is just the happiest, most adorable baby ever. She is my strong little munchkin too. We do still have to work those arms a bit though, but she isn't the biggest fan of being on her tummy so that part is going a bit slower. It is too bad too, because some of the cutest shots are on her tummy. We need to get her some mini barbells to shape those guns!

Play Time!

Here are a couple videos of my little bug playing with one of her many giraffe toys (thanks Megan!). She is so stinking cute. I love to listen to her talk. She sounds so adorable. Me, not so much... Layla probably smiles at me all the time because she realizes how big of a dork her mommy is.

Transitioned!

A week ago I thought that it was going to be weeks before we would get our little Layla bug transitioned to sleeping on her own at night. Then, after the first night of trying, I thought it was going to be months. Turns out it was just a couple days. She is so amazing. Once I put her down she might fuss for a minute or two then she sucks on her little fist for a bit then she is out. Some nights she will wake up for two feedings, once around 2:00 then again around 5:00 or others she will just wake once around 4:00 and then sleep through until sometime between 8:00 and 9:00. I know that we are so lucky to have such a good sleeper, but I do know that all bets are off once she starts teething. I am so not looking forward to that.

Transitioning Day 2

SUCCESS!!!! I couldn't believe what a difference a day made. We started off the same as always with her bath, massage, jammies, and a feeding then I put her down in her drowsy state at 9:15 and she was actually asleep by 9:45! She let out a couple random cries until 10:30 but then was out until 1:45. I changed her and fed her then put her back in the bassinet and she was asleep within two minutes and didn't wake until her normal middle of the night feeding at 5:00. When I put her back down she cried for about thirty minutes, but the little uber tired kind of crying and then she was out until her normal waking time at 8:30! It was amazing! I have my fingers crossed that it is only going to get easier and she won't cry at all when I put her down. She is my unpredictable little bug though, so tonight could be even worse than the first night! Here is hoping that isn't true.

Transitioning Day 1

Ever since the day she was born, Layla has not slept at night without me. What can I say, she just loves her mommy. =) She does fine in her swing during the day for naps or the occasional carseat nap, but she doesn't enjoy the bassinet/crib situation. I've even tried taking rolled up towels to make a little cocoon for her to lay in, but that didn't seem to work. I was always that person who said that I was anti co-sleeping, and I still am, at least once they hit a certain age. I love sleeping with her now, however, I find that I am getting more and more sore as the days go by. I just don't sleep very comfortably with her there next to me. There are a total of about three positions you can lay in when you fall asleep breast feeding her: side, slightly on the side, slightly on the back. None of those are all that comfortable even when you aren't trying to avoid crushing a tiny baby. So I have decided that in order for me to get a better and more comfortable night sleep, I need to take the plunge and start transitioning her with hopes that it will happen quickly and without too much pain.

Yeah right. The first night was so painful. Probably more so for me than for her. I gave her a bath and a massage, her usual nighttime ritual, then fed her and put her down while still awake, but drowsy. I checked on her in increasingly long increments working up to every ten minutes. After an hour and a half of her fussing, crying, and screaming I decided that maybe she needed something. So I picked her up, changed her then attempted to feed her. She completely refused to breast feed, something we struggle with ever since introducing the bottle. So I bounced her on my shoulder and she was out within minutes, so I laid her back in her bassinet. She immediately woke up, of course, so I continued on the periodic checks at ten minute increments for another hour and a half, and as the tears started to roll from my eyes I decided it was time to call it a night and bring Layla to bed with me. I bounced her on my shoulder a bit to calm her down and her head was wet with a mixture of our tears. I never thought that would be so hard on me. Even labor didn't make me cry.

So tonight we are going to give it another go. Since she didn't fall asleep until almost one in the morning, she didn't wake up until a little after seven. She usually wakes up around five for a feeding then is back to sleep until eight or nine, so last night threw our schedule off completely. Hopefully that won't have a negative effect on tonight. I've never dreaded something so much before. Wish me luck. Wish her luck...

Auntie Nikki's in Town

Last weekend Nikki came to visit little Layla. We had such a great time hanging out in the nice weather. Layla had her first long car ride up to Santa Barbara, and she was an angel. Unfortunately when we were walking out on the pier she was sleeping so we didn't get any pictures with her there.

She did wake up once we got to lunch. We had a little fun with the sunglasses that I had bought her. They are still a bit too big, but she sure rocked them!

The rest of her visit we just hung out on the patio with some delicious beer and enjoyed the weather. I even got in a pedicure with Nikki while Pete watched Layla. That was a first for us. Pete handled it pretty well. She started screaming about five minutes after I left, but he managed to make it through. It was nice to have a moment for myself, but it was also a little difficult to do it.

All wrapped up like a pita pocket!

So cute

Hanging with my Auntie Nikki

Two of my favorite people!

New Pictures

Layla has been taking a couple marathon naps the last couple days so that has given me a bit of time to do some picture stuff along with the laundry and dishes, etc. She is so adorable. =)

My Baby Doll

Love that face

So sleepy

Love her long fingers

Discovering her hand

Peek-a-boo!

Such a happy girl

Nap time