3 months!

Baby girl, you are 3 months old! This post is almost a week late because we were in Texas all last week. I had to take your 3 month pictures a few days early.

Weight: At 3 1/2 months, you weigh 11 lbs, 12 oz!

Height: You won't sit still long enough to let us measure

Sizes: You are wearing all of your 0-3 month clothes and they fit you perfectly. I look at your 3-6 month outfits and can't believe that you will ever fit into them - they are HUGE on you.

You started wearing size 1 diapers to sleep in a couple of weeks ago and then, about a week before you turned 3 months old, you started wearing them all the time.

What you're up to:

- You have had a lot of firsts since the last post. You went to church for the first time on Easter Sunday. That was a stressful morning for me. Your daddy was driving the bus, but he came home and picked us up so that we could ride as a family. I was so worried that I would forget something, so I kept checking and rechecking your diaper bag. It was a rainy day, so I went to put your sweater on over your dress and it was too big. Anyway, all that to say - we didn't get a family picture on Easter morning. :( But we did have lots of fun. You were great in the nursery and perfect at the restaurant after church. Everyone "ooh"ed and "ahh"ed over you.

Since we didn't get Easter morning pictures, I waited until the next day and took some pictures of you with your Easter basket (even though your Daddy and I had eaten some of your candy). You got a special Easter bunny from Aunt Sarah and an Easter lamb in the mail from Marmee and Grandad.

- Another first - Mother's Day. This was a first for me more than for you. Daddy helped you and Darsee and Remus make a card for me. I cried when he gave it to me. It was so sweet. I love being your mom so much and this day was special because I got to celebrate motherhood.

There was a baby dedication at church on Mother's Day. We dedicated you to the Lord and promised Him that we would raise you according to His word. You got a Bible from the church to celebrate. I let you wear the dress you wore home from the hospital. It fits you so well now.

- You have gotten to spend some quality time with your ReeRee and Marmee this month. I had a training at school, so Marmee came up and babysat you for 3 whole days! I sure did miss you when I was at school. Your ReeRee comes over to babysit sometimes so that I can go to town or to the grocery store. She loves to sing to you.

- Last week, you and I went to Texas for some graduations! You still hate the car, so you cried a lot on the way down, but I can tell you're getting better. On the way back, you only fussed the whole time, not screamed. That was MUCH easier on your Mommy.

We went to Texas for your Aunt Allison's graduation from P.A. school on May 14th. We stayed with Allison and J.B. Friday night and then went to a brunch in her honor on Saturday morning. You and I didn't attend the ceremony (too long and boring), but we did go out to eat afterwards with the family.

Then, we had Aunt Ashley's high school graduation on May 20th. It was 10 years ago that I graduated from high school. I can't even believe how much has happened since then. You did a great job during the graduation. You slept and sat and then we fed you. You were so quiet! Everyone loved seeing you at the graduation, and you had lots of other visitors while we were in Texas.

- You are so much more aware these days. You love to sit in your bouncy seat and look at your toys. You have 2 favorites - the blue elephant on the bouncy and the zebra rattle someone gave you. You reach for them both and hold onto them. You also recognize Darsee and Remus. I took you outside the other day and you smiled at Remus who was sitting in the grass. It won't be long until you want to play with them.

- Your favorite non-human thing in the whole world is your bottle. It makes you so happy to eat from the bottle instead of breast feeding. I think you like how much faster the bottle is. We started out with just a bottle at night (4 oz) and you slept great for several weeks. Now I give you one 4 oz bottle of formula during the day around noon, and one at night that's 6 oz. I can't believe you want that much to eat! But when I give you only 4, you cry and cry. You're just so much hungrier at night.

- This month, you have loved to suck on your hand. You gag yourself all the time trying to fit your whole fist in your mouth. You won't take a paci unless you're really sleepy and we're holding you. But that's ok - as long as you don't start sucking your thumb.

- You are doing so well raising your head up when you're on your tummy. And you kick and stand up when we hold you. Today, I really thought you were going to roll over. You were almost there. I know it might take a little while, though, because you hate tummy time unless it's nap time. This was you after tummy time today.

I can already tell that your legs are stronger. If you take a nap in your crib, I find you in a completely different spot than when you went down. You just scoot around, so I know it won't be long until you realize that this can take you places.

- You started really talking on Saturday night. After your bath, you were laying on a towel and Aunt Allison was cooing to you. Suddenly, you decided you'd had enough of making short sounds and grunting. For the next 10 minutes, you "oooh"ed over and over again. I couldn't wait for your Daddy to see it when we got home and, sure enough, last night, you talked to him too! He was so excited.

- You still love your baths so much. You kick and kick - sometimes I think there won't be any water left in the tub! No matter how fussy you are, you almost always calm down as soon as you hear the water running.

- You like to sit in my lap now, and in your Daddy's lap. I've taken this opportunity to start reading books to you, and you like it as long as the books are colorful with lots of things for you to look at. I want you to love reading as much as I do, and I hope that we can start reading together every day.

You also like to watch the tv now. I guess this means that we're going to have to get some Baby Einstein videos for you because I don't think Grey's Anatomy is appropriate for a 3 month old. Haha.

Well, this has turned into a long post. But, sweet girl, you are changing so much every single day and I want to write it all down. You already do such funny things like smiling and being "bashful". Your personality is starting to come through, and I think you are just the most precious thing God ever created.

God has given us the greatest blessing and responsibility with you. You're amazing! I can't wait to do your 4 month post because I know that you'll be doing so many more fun things. I love you, Elysen Ashleigh.