3 Months!

Happy Boy posing for his 3 month Photos in his "coming home" outfit. It actually fits now!
Playing with his musical sea horse from Santa.

Happy Birthday Sweet Isaac!
I can't beleive three months have already flown by. It is going so much faster this time. As cliched as it sounds, I don't want to blink.

Isaac is such a wonderful little baby.
He is incredibly mellow and calm - life handed him enough excitement in utero, or maybe it is because he has had one cold after another since coming home. He is alert and loves to watch the world with his bright blue eyes. He is very social and likes to babble and coo in "conversations." He will also sing along when we sing to him. He is a treasure.

Growth -
Isaac is now wearing size 2 diapers - actually he has been for about a month, but that was sheer laziness on my part. We had them and I used them, even though 1s would have fit just fine until about this week. At his last appointment he weighed 12 lbs 13 oz. with clothes and a full diaper, so my guess is that he has doubled his birth weight and is at least 12 lbs 6 oz. by now. In the past week he's had a growth spurt & is fits well into his 3 month clothes.

His eyes are still blue and his hair is still blond. He has more hair growing in and it is like soft fluff on his head. He loves having his hair stroked, but doesn't like hats, hoodies and hairbrushes.

What's on my head?

Gross Motor -
We have been on a tummy time tear around here because his head is both flat and misshaped (brachiocephaly and plagiocephaly) and there is a chance he will need a helmet. Luckily it looks pretty normal from most angles (you have to look up on one side to really see the weirdness)! He has torticollis too (the probable cause of the head issues) so we are doing lots of neck-cercise. Issac is getting stronger and stronger with his head. He does best on a wedge, but is still a little behind with lifting his torso. He loves to push up with his feet and will "stand" with support. He also loves to sit. He is still a little bobble head, but I think we'll be getting out the bumbo soon.

Tummy time on the Wedge!

Fine Motor -
I'm not sure if this counts as fine or gross motor - or both. I know it is cognition... It has been a while since I've needed this knowledge...I wish it didn't slip away so quickly, but, I digress...
Isaac has AMAZING hand-eye coordination! As I mentioned, he was able to suck his thumb at birth (although once we got him hooked on a paci, that chanaged). For the past month and a half he has been able to use his arms to push his paci back in his mouth and in the past month he has been intentionally swatting at objects. Now he can intentionally grab an item and he is really enjoying his jungle mat and toys on his bouncer and car seat. He is starting to hold rattles and has a love / ambivalent relationship with his wrist rattles and other noisy toys. When he is tired he wants nothing to do with them, but if he is in the right mood he will play with them for minutes! (hours in baby time). He is also starting to suck his thumb again and has recently found his hands and enjoys bringing them to midline.

Hike Ike!

Social / Communication -
Isaac was a bit slow to smile, making me a worried mommy. I wasn't too worried though, because he has had intense eye contact and great visual tracking skills from just a few weeks old. Isaac is still sometimes stingy with the smiles, but when he does smile...oh the dimples, the cheeks! It is adorable. He has recently started to laugh too - he has a little chuckle that sounds like he knows something we don't.
Isaac loves to vocalize and can combine consonant vowel sounds when he coos. He loves to have reciprocal "conversations" during diaper changes and while playing on the floor. He will coo with us when we sing to him and when he is mad (i.e. after tummy time) he will "tell it like it is" with very frustrated vocalizations. Recently he has also developed a love of lights and enjoys talking to them too. Isaac now uses distinct cries for different needs and rarely cries unless he REALLY needs food or a diaper change or is in pain or trying to fall asleep.
We have been playing a lot of games and interactive songs - "Bicycle," "Pat-a-Cake," "Wheels on the Bus," etc. and Isaac loves them. He gets very excited and wiggles his arms and legs and sometimes coos and laughs so much he spits up! It is is amazing to watch him develop these new and exciting skills.

Sleep -
Isaac is now sleeping in his crib on an angle. The swing was contributing to his head issues so we made the switch and he is doing ok. He sleeps anywhere from 2 to 5.5 hours at night. During the day he takes a lot of cat naps with at least one 2 hour nap a day. Right now he is still sleeping anywhere and everywhere, but I think it will be short lived. When we switched back to the crib he has never needed a swaddle. It is crazy to think that a little guy who spent most of his third trimester in low amniotic fluid and was delivered because of "scant" (immeasurable small amount) of fluid wouldn't like being swaddled, but he doesn't seem to need it. I'm sad because I don't get to try out some fancy swaddling products my friend Carolyn lent me, but it is nice to use all the tiny sleep sacks.

Feeding / Reflux / etc. -
Isaac still uses a nipple shield, but I don't really care about getting rid of it at this point. He doesn't choke as often, but is still spitting up occasionally, like all babies. The prevacid seems to really be helping with his reflux and pain, but he still has some nasty and occasionally bloody stool. I've been off soy and dairy for a while now, so we'll see what the GI dr. thinks we should do. I really don't want to stop breastfeeding and he is growing like a champ!

Family -
Isla seems to really be adjusting to having a brother. She still occasionally seems a little jealous, especially of all the holding Isaac gets, but she also loves to "read" to him and talk to him, especially when we are not prompting her to. She looks out for him and paniced when we went to a birthday party last weekend and left him with Andrew. "Mommy, We forgot Isaac!!!" Isaac loves his sister too - he will stare at her and smile and seems both overwhelmed and impressed with her energy and exuberance.
Isaac has many nicknames - Ike (a post in and of itself), Bro, Brother, and Brozac are the most popular.
We are so blessed with our little guy! He brings us so much joy!