Three months

Dear Callum,

Today, you are three months old. A quarter of a year has gone by already. I'm sure if you were aware of it, you'd be very proud of this achievement.


When I look back at photos of you from when you were just a couple weeks old, sometimes I can hardly see a difference and other times I can't believe how much has changed. Some things can be captured in a photo--like the fact that you are almost double your birth weight, at close to 16 pounds, and fully into 3-6 month size clothing. In fact, I had to clear out a bunch of the smaller 3-6 stuff because you've already outgrown it. The bottom two drawers of your dresser are now full of 6-12 month size clothing, still too big for you but only by a hair. I imagine you'll be wearing some of it within the next month.


But a lot of what's changed isn't the kind of thing that you can see in a snapshot. The day after your two-month birthday, you figured out how to roll over from your belly to your back. You've been doing it on and off the entire month since. Some days you do it every time we put you on your tummy, other times you try and can't quite manage it, and some days you don't even try. But when you really want to do it, you do.


You've also started laughing. We aren't quite at the full-on belly laugh stage just yet, but when you get excited and happy there is a definitive laugh that accompanies your smile and wriggle. And you smile and laugh quite frequently--pretty much all day long. You smile at strangers still, but this month you've learned to recognize your parents, and whenever you see us we are rewarded with a full-on excited grin, accompanied by gurgling and arm-waving. You are becoming very social, and if we leave you in your crib or bouncy seat for too long, you will sometimes fuss because you want us to come hang out with you. Which we always do, because you are totally irresistible.


This month you've discovered your hands in earnest, and you can now get them in your mouth, which you do as often as possible. You've figured out how to suck your thumb, and make adorable loud slurping noises as you do it. You still haven't quite figured out how to tuck the rest of your fingers away when you do it, though, so when you suck your thumb you end up with your whole hand in front of your face.


This has also been the month when you've learned that things other than your hands can go in your mouth, too. You've figured out how to grasp toys, and can transfer them back and forth from one hand to the other, but your favorite thing to do with them is grab them with both hands and stuff them in your mouth as quickly as possible. We've had a lot of fun introducing some of your toys to you for the first time, and though you seem to enjoy everything, you do seem to display a preference for a couple of them over all the rest. Who knows--maybe they taste better.


You've still been growing like nuts, but you've actually tapered off a bit on how much formula you eat, so I'm wondering if maybe your growth will slow down accordingly. You hover around the 90th percentile for both weight and length, and you have adorable chubby cheeks and thighs. When you are hungry, you let us know. Your differentiated crying started this month, and your hunger cry is a furious, high-decibel roar that would probably make a stranger think we were torturing you with needles and acid.


You continue to be a relaxed, mellow baby, and a great sleeper. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop on the sleep thing, since I've heard so many horror stories of babies who were champion sleepers for the first few months and then one day started waking up every hour and continued that behavior for at least a year. But for now, you are sleeping through the night pretty regularly, and we are very grateful.


The dog still spends most of her time ignoring you, and you do the same to her. But you definitely don't ignore anything else. You are totally aware of and absorbed in your surroundings, and you absolutely love seeing people. Your dad and I can often soothe you just by picking you up, and one of my favorite things is to lift you against my chest when you're sleepy and feel you snuggle your head against my shoulder. One of my other favorite things is seeing you with your dad, because you are as enamored of him as ever, and the two of you together (also known as "Me" and "Mini-Me") are beyond adorable.


I sometimes feel vaguely wistful when I see photos of you when you were tiny, but for the most part I just love watching you grow. This parenting thing gets better and better, and in addition to loving where you are now, I am so excited to keep watching you grow and change. Each phase is simultaneously perfect and better than the last. Just like our family. We are perfect now, and we will keep being perfect as you grow, and we all grow. Our family will always feel perfect to us, because you will always be a part of it.


Love,
Mama