Bradley Douglas: 3 Months

On October 26, Bradley was three months old. To celebrate, we left him with a babysitter and went out for our first date night since he was born. It's worth celebrating because we made it three months as parents and have still maintained our good humor and sweet relationship.

Bradley is growing a lot. Mostly in fatness. Since he was born, he's gained eight pounds and four and a half inches. He's wearing 3-6 month clothes and some 6-9 months.

Developmentally, he's way more fun than a month ago. He's grabbing toys, fingers, blankets, burp cloths, hair, shirts, spoons, whatever we give him. He's able to move things like his hands and his blankets into his mouth (a sure sign for me that he's hungry).

He's "talking" a lot. He likes to make coos and agoos and (it might sound crazy) ma. We have heard him distinctly say "mom" three times. It's pretty awesome. He says "ma" or "aah" in the middle of the night, and we think he's calling for me. The boy loves me.

He hasn't rolled over yet, and I'm not sure that it's going to happen anytime soon. The combination of his fatness and his apathy probably are enough to let him lay or sit in one position for long periods of time - without ever thinking, hmmm, let me move.

He's pretty funny. He likes to fart and then laugh afterwards. He thinks songs are hilarious. He also loves it when we fake scream at him.

He's great with our nanny and with Bryan, and he'll tolerate other people holding him if they do it right. You see, he's a fat baby with preferences. You have to hold him one of two ways: upright and facing you so he can look behind you OR sitting in the crook of your arm facing out like a king on a throne.

His favorite toys are the musical Panda and the foxy squirrel. Both can get him to laugh. Other toys are uninteresting and he will just stare at them. His other favorite toy is a burp cloth. He loves to hold it and then put it in his mouth and eat it. This may be his favorite activity.

He's sleeping great now! When we put him to bed, he'll sleep a minimum of 4 hours (up to 8 hours - it has only happened once). He wakes up only once during the night and will sleep until I wake him between 7:15-7:30. He takes a long morning nap and two small afternoon naps.

He is learning patience. We put him in his bouncer while we cook and eat, and he is sometimes unhappy, but we say, "Just wait, Bradley. We're eating." I'm not sure that he understands entirely, but he has stopped fussing or crying and just pouts. Which is way easier to deal with.

He's also just more fun to be around. He's at an age where he wants to look at everything (especially pictures - he loves this one big picture of our entire wedding party the most) and he wants attention. If Bryan and I are talking, he'll make a sound and when we look or talk to him, he'll just smile like he's the happiest baby around.

For the most part, he's a pretty serious baby. He takes in a lot and only gives out smiles when he's really impressed. I love that.

 I love my fat, serious baby. He's perfect.