The Johnson's: Sept 15-28: 3 Months Old

Elin is 3 months old! It is a common saying, but time goes by so fast!! At her 3-month appointment this week, she weighed in at 13 lb 2 oz and measured 24 inches - both are in the 75th percentiles. She is growing much faster than Erik; he didn't reach those measurements until he was 4 months old! The heat rash that she has had on her face is 99% gone, which I am so thankful for. She now only gets a few red bumps if she has to be in the carseat for long periods of time or when she gets really upset and cries. We are doing the clothing switch-over this week to the 3-6 month sizes. So sad to see the teeny tiny clothes go away. Shockingly, started to think this week that maybe I would want a third child just so that I could have another teeny tiny baby, but then I snapped out of those crazy thoughts!

At 3 months, Elin loves to cuddle, she pushes her face into my neck as she goes to sleep and holds my hand while she nurses. She is our little noise maker: she mumbles, moans and grumbles her way into sleep, wakes up with grunts, stretches and toots, spends her days squealing, cooing and giggling. She is definitely a girl and is getting in her 20,000 words/day!! She started laughing around Sept 19 and she smiles whenever someone makes eye contact with her. She is becoming more active and constantly moves while nursing during the day - with her upper arm moving, her feet churning and her head going forward and back (that part is rather annoying!)

Erik seems to achieve new accomplishments every single day so it is hard to remember all the new things that he is learning. Erik still loves Elin; he especially loves to touch his "baby seester" when she is sleeping in the swing; he also likes to touch her cheeks and say "Baby Cuuutte" or "baby fragile". Of course, he usually says the latter phrase while squeezing her arm or pounding on her leg. He is also becoming a great big brother and helps to monitor Elin for me while driving in the car: he will tell me if she is sleeping and whether she is sucking on her fingers. He will then tell her "Elin, no hands in mou's" (see story below for information on why that is important)!

Erik wants Kent and I to "hold you" and he will pull on my shirt or pants until I pick him up. He really likes it when I hold both him & Elin so that he can put his arm around Elin's shoulders! He loves to pull his Thomas the Train back-pack around the house. He also loves to go through the cabinet under my bathroom sink and play with my bottles, cans and toiletry bags. He will haul 2 bags in particular all over the house. He is learning to identify his colors; most items start out as Blue or "Lellow", but he is definitely getting better at telling us the correct color. He has also decided that he loves books again. He went through several months where he didn't want to be read to or to look at his books. Now, he begs for a few stories before bedtime and has actually started telling us what the next word or line says in his favorite book - "The Foot Book" by Dr. Seuss.

Lest you think I only notice the happy moments or that my children can do no wrong, here are a few not so fun moments that occurred in the last 2 weeks.

1. Elin has discovered her fingers and loves to wave her arm around while watching her hand. She is getting very good at grasping objects and pulling things to her mouth. All good things. However, she has discovered that she can suck on her fingers and that if she sucks on just the first 2 fingers and holds them just so, she can actually make herself puke! She loves to see Mama scream and scramble around trying to find a cloth, blanket, anything to catch the ensuing onslaught! She especially likes to do this stunt in the middle of supper preparations or when I am seriously multi-tasking. I now keep an active & constant look-out for fingers in her mouth. I've gotten pretty good at catching the early signs of gagging and silent heaves. I live in fear of her puking all over me when I have her in the front carrier while shopping!!

Elin demonstrating her new trick

2. Erik is demonstrating his stubborn streak (what? where did he get that from?! The answer is KENT!!). If his requests aren't immediately granted, much crying, screaming and foot stamping occurs. He rarely gets on the ground to throw a tantrum, but he dances in place, pulls on our clothes and cries. He has also decided that he is a food snob and he will only eat a few things, such as pancakes, yogurt (calls it minnert or yonurt), cheerios, strawberries, chips, pasta (but this can be rejected), cereal and some pouches of pureed fruits/veggies (these can also be rejected on a whim). I did anticipate that my children would be picky eaters since I was/am a picky eater myself but I never expected such limitations. You might think that this limited diet would make mealtimes easier to plan for, but the guilt that I suffer every time I see all the food in the kitchen that he won't eat makes it rather stressful! That and the fact that Erik will most often refuse to eat unless he can watch Curious George videos. Talk about guilt heaping upon guilt! My child is hooked on videos at 2 years old! Yikes!