Julia Rose at 3 months old

I cannot believe this little miss is three months old!  She is such a fun little thing and has started giggling when I get right in front of her and make silly noises and funny faces.  It is the cutest thing ever and really boosts my ego knowing that I can entertain and delight her that way.  Rose loves, loves, LOVES being talked to.  She is a very social little thing and her smile lights up whenever you make eye contact and talk to her directly, especially when we mimic the sounds she makes like "gaahhhh" or "geehhhhh".  Rose also loves sticking her little tongue out and I can tell when she is starting to get hungry because she starts sticking her fists in her mouth and gnawing and slobbering all over them, using her tongue to explore and see if there is any food there.

 

Rose is definitely getting stronger and does pretty well sitting propped up with pillows or in the bumbo.  I try to keep her from lying flat on her back too much because she favors her left side which has flattened out her head a little bit and we have been working to take the pressure off there so it can get a nice round shape.  Thankfully our efforts have been paying off and the flatness isn't as severe as it was a few weeks ago.  She tolerates tummy time for a little while and it holding up her head more than ever and starting to push up a little with her arms and legs. 

 

Rosie Posie is her nickname and it is really sticking.  Clara calls her this almost all the time and so do her cousins.  She seems to really enjoy music and will lay on a quilt happily for 15 minutes while I play Disney songs on the piano for her while Clara sings along.  It is a new favorite activity for all of us, I think.

Rose has been sleeping pretty well at nights.  She can go for 9-10 hour stretches and at least a couple times a week I only have to wake up once a night, although she still wakes up twice most nights, usually midnight and 4:00 a.m.  Her daytime naps haven't completely normalized but if I put her in the swing she usually takes a good solid morning nap from about 8:30 to 10:30 and then another 2-3 hour nap starting around noon.  Her hardest time is the late afternoon because she really needs one more little nap to get her through but it is usually only 20-30 minutes and she gets really grumpy about it.  That nap usually falls right around the time I need to start making dinner so when things go well I get the meal made while she is taking that nap and when they don't go well we order pizza. 

Clara loves her baby sister so much and asked me to take their picture this morning right after she woke up (Rose had already been awake and dressed for a while).  Clara loves helping change diapers and give baths and is always so proud whenever she makes Rose smile. 

Rose weighs about 14 1/2 pounds now (I took her to the doctor last week when she had a fever and bad congestion for 3 days - it was just a cold so no biggie but I figured I might as well check).  Her little legs are getting so chubby that some of her 3-6 month size pants are a little tight on her and she can't wear all of them any more, even though the dresses in that size fit perfectly.  She gives slobbery open mouth kisses any time I put my face close enough to hers.

We adore our little Miss Rose.