Jack is 3 Months Old!

Yesterday, October 2, Jack turned 3 months old!!

PERSONALITY  Jack's personality is really coming out more and more as he gets older, naturally. I love it!! He still has some nasty crying, fussy spells and still has some meltdowns when we leave the house, but more and more he is having longer happy periods, and that has been so nice!  The second month was by far the hardest with his reflux/gas/colic issues and the day/night upon day/night of nonstop crying no matter what we tried - and believe me we tried EVERYTHING. So this change to more happy times has been amazing!!  

He smiles sooo much and has been giggling every now and then for the past week.  I love his giggles so much. Jared and I are always trying to do new things to get Jack to giggle now.  One thing that I do that has consistently triggered a Jack giggle is to give lots of kisses his left thigh! And it has to be the left, the right thigh gets no giggles! Funny kid!!  He is also super happy during bath time and during diaper changes. Sometimes we spend 10 minutes on his changing pad just talking and smiling at each other. I just stay there because he is happy so it works

ACTIVITIES:  During Jack's awake times we do the following things: read books, tummy time, play on his baby lounger, tons of baby bjorn, walks outside, standing (with our help), the jumpy seat thing that hangs in the doorway, bumbo seat, bouncy chair, baths..... and maybe other things but I am blanking right now.  Of those activities Jack's favorites are the baby bjorn, standing, and being outside.  

He loves loves loves to be outside. Which has been easier to do with the cooler weather finally hitting Houston.  When it's hot here, I can only last about 5 minutes outside before I feel like I am melting. So now that it's been cooler, we've been spending more time outside with him and he is loving it! The baby bjorn and standing time make him so happy because Jack loves to be upright looking out and surveying his world. He generally does not enjoy being on his back....ever. This little boy is super active and wants to be engaged in his world via standing at all times!

CHANGES: One of the biggest changes that just started a couple days ago is that Jack is trying so hard to crawl. He has the leg part down and the arm part down, but he hasn't figured out how to coordinate the two.  Once he gets better with the balance and coordination he will be on the move in no time. I feel like he will get the crawling part down before he gets the sitting part down....maybe not, but that's just how it seems.  

Another change is that he is getting better at reaching out and holding his toys. It's not perfected yet, but he is able to reach out and hold on to his teething toys....but his arms are still kinda shaky with it. No rush though - I'm definitely not worried about or interested in rushing his development or trying to hit milestones quicker. I just want Jack to be Jack and grow and develop at his own pace whether it's fast, slow, or on schedule. I mean let's face it, I think everyone eventually figures out how to walk, hold things, go to the bathroom, sleep in a bed, eat food etc. So I really don't see the point in worrying about rushing those things at all.  I'm just savoring him as he is.

MY FAVORITE TIME: My favorite thing to do with Jack is to talk with him while staring at each other in the eyes.  We do this most often on his changing table, right after feedings, or on his baby lounger.  I love it when his eyes lock on to my eyes, and then we just sit there and smile at each other or make faces at each other or talk back and forth with each other.  I try to make sure that at least one of his active times is primarily a social one, where we mainly just do face time with each other like this.  He's been getting better at doing this for longer periods of time too, which I, of course, am fine with. :)

JACK NAMES:  Growing up, my dad gave each of his girls a million nicknames....seriously. So, naturally, I am doing the same thing with Jack. :)  We call him so many different things, but here are a few that pop up pretty often: Jackie Bear, Jack Jack, Jack Attack, Jackster, Jackie Poo, Jackie, Jack Bean, Baby Boy, Jackie Doodle, and many many more.

Here are some pics from the last month...