Andrej, Jessica, Kaiya and Tobi

I can't believe it, but it has been exactly three months since our precious Tobias joined our family. He has been such an incredible addition. Tobi is a really happy baby full of smiles, pseudo giggles, funny sounds and precious coos. When he smiles, his entire face lights up. Some of my favorite moments with him are when I look down to see why he has stopped nursing and find his big blue eyes looking up at me with the biggest grin spread across his face and milk running down his cheek. I can't help but scoop him up close and plant kisses all over his little face and neck.

I started this post a month ago, after he turned two months and had his well baby check-up, but couldn't find time to finish it. When I would work on it I kept having to delete things because he had changed so much and what I had written just the week before was no longer true. It is amazing what a difference even a week makes in a baby's development. At Tobi's two month check-up, he weighed in at 13 pounds and 8.5 ounces and measured 23 1/2 inches, putting him in the 80th percentile for both weight and height. At three months, I'm sure Tobi has already added on another pound, maybe two. So far he seems to be following a similar growth curve as Kaiya (she was 13 pounds and 13 ounces at two months).

As much as I have enjoyed the past three months, full of sweet newborn baby snuggles, I'm really glad we are past the newborn stage. Weeks four through seven were really challenging, but somewhere around week eight, Tobi fell into a nice routine that involved a lot more sleep at night and regular naps throughout the day. Now, at three months, Tobi can pretty much get himself to sleep without my assistance and is toying with the idea of sleeping through the night. He eats for the last time around 8:00 pm and is then out for the night. I usually don't hear a peep out of him until somewhere between 4:00 am and 6:00 am. The nice thing is, no matter what time he wakes up be it 4:30 am or 6:30 am, he eats as fast as he can and then goes right back to sleep until 9:00 - 9:30 am. I too jump back in bed and sleep soundly until I hear my other little alarm clock calling, "Mama! Mah-Mah! Get Kaiya out!" sometime around 8:30 am.

I am glad the days of being up with Tobi every two hours throughout the night are for the most part behind us. I know there will be rough nights ahead with sickness, teething and times that he just can't sleep, but for the most part he has fallen into a circadian rhythm that makes us all so much more enjoyable people to be around come morning. However, there are a few things we've learned about our sweet boy over the last three months, many of which surfaced during the wee hours of the morning when we were trying anything and everything to help Tobi sleep.

1. Tobi likes to be held upright resting on your shoulder or sitting upright in your lap. He hates being held horizontally (unless he is nursing) and will strain and grunt and try so hard to sit up if he is laying across your arms.
2. Pacifiers are nothing more than a chew toy and in no way sooth him when he is upset. We sadly gave up even trying to get him to take a paci around week five. (We could never get Kaiya to take one either.)
3. He slept terribly on his back (the current recommended sleeping position). We would work so hard to get him to sleep, lay him in the crib and he would sleep all of five minutes causing us to start the whole process over again. After talking to friends, all with babies that slept on their tummies, I reluctantly decided to give it a try during a nap. The boy slept longer than he had ever slept in his entire life. Around week 6, I gave up trying to make him sleep on his back altogether, and the result was sleep, beautiful wonderful sleep!
4. He likes to stand, with assistance of course. He can easily hold his weight and only needs someone to keep him from falling over. Some of our best "conversations" are when he's standing on my lap and we are face to face. He smiles and drools and tells me all about his day.
5. Tobi enjoys being in the Baby Bjorn carrier, but hates being in the sling. I think it's because in the front carrier he is upright and can see what's going on around him or snuggle up to me and sleep. The sling is a bit confining and he has to lay horizontally and can't really see anything but me. I, however, really like the sling so we are going to keep trying, especially when he is a little bigger and can try different positions.
6. He isn't a big fan of his carseat/infant carrier. He constantly grunts and strains and tries to sit up. Car rides are not so fun these days.
7. He does NOT like being given a bottle. Granted that is probably our fault as we have only tried it once, but that one time he fussed at Andrej and angrily drank a few ounces before giving up completely. I know we need to work on this, but it is just so much easier for me to nurse him.
8. He enjoys stroller rides, as long as they aren't too long and his sister isn't leaning over on him.
9. He is enjoying his toys more and more and will bat at the toys hanging from his play mat and talk and smile at the birds hanging from the toy bar on his bouncy seat.
10. Tobi LOVES to be talked to, sung to and listened to, as he has a lot to say these days.

Another funny thing about our Tobi at three months is that he is really strong. He moves all around his crib. I'll lay him down in one direction for a nap and find him in the completely opposite direction when I return to get him. He is also quite good at rolling over from his tummy to his back. The first time he accomplished this feat was at 7 weeks. It used to make him so mad and we would have to go in and flip him back over, but now he seems to like it. Of course he won't sleep this way, but he will coo and talk to the elephants on his bumper and mobile. In fact, that is most often how we know he is awake because we can hear him cooing away having a great time chewing on his little hands.

My one and only complaint about Tobi, and it isn't even his fault, is the amount of spit up we deal with on a daily basis. I have to change his clothes, my clothes and his crib sheets so often. Even the thickest burp clothes are no match for our spitter. We spoke with out doctor about it at his two month check-up, but just as she told us with Kaiya, as long as he is gaining weight and doesn't seem to be in any pain from the reflux there isn't much we can do about it. I know this too shall pass, but it is sure messy in the meantime.

Overall, Tobi is one incredible little guy and we are so blessed to have him in our lives.