12 weeks old!

Yay, Forest is 12 weeks today! 

This is likely the last of our weekly posts, since I feel like after 12 weeks, baby age is mostly referred to in terms of months. At 12 weeks ,we are definitely seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Parenting is much more rewarding now that Forest is interacting with us. He is just the most smiley, giggly, cuddly, adorable baby. If we ever are crazy enough to have another baby, I think we will adopt a 3 month old. That newborn stuff is super hard!

Naptimes are still our biggest struggle, but he continues to sleep well at night, so it’s a balancing act. I try not to compare him to all those babies who sleep well during the day AND the night, and just be grateful for those 8 hours of sleep that I’m getting on a pretty consistent basis. Hallelujah! 

And as far as naptimes go, technically he is napping. I’m still baffled by the Baby Wise and Baby Whisperer notions that his naps should last 1.5-2 hours at a time. Jonathan and I have a theory about ‘The Nap Barrier’. If little man can make it past 45-50 minutes, he has surpassed this barrier and will usually nap until 2-2.5 hours.  Right around 45 minutes, we grab the monitor and cross our fingers that he’ll break through the nap ceiling. However, 45 minutes seems to be a normal sleep cycle for him and once he wakes up, even slightly, it’s hard for him to fall back asleep. I try to give him 10 minutes to see if he can drift back off, and about 1 in every 10 naps, he will. Otherwise, we get up for some play time and I feed him a bit earlier than originally planned. 

The biggest change recently is that he’s generally happy, and almost always consolable if he isn't. If he wakes up from a 45 minute nap and is full of giggles and smiles, I usually just get him up. I let him have some quiet time on his sheep skin rug to kick around, roll over, suck on his hands, stare at his stuffed animals, whatever keeps him content. He’s pretty easily amused these days. 

Generally, he’ll give me 20-30 minutes after a nap before he gets fussy so I can still work on laundry, dishes, blogging, etc and he’s pleased as punch just to observe the world around him. Such a pleasant change from his newborn days of: if he was awake, he was crying. 

Big developments this last week were the mastering of rolling over (from tummy to back) and finding his fingers to suck on. Sucking on their fingers is a major self-soothing mechanism for babies, and it usually means the swaddling days are coming to an end. Contrary to popular belief, you want your baby to be a thumb sucker! It saves you from having to pop their paci back in every time they lose it. 

I was going to go to the weekly clinic to have him weighed this morning but it is pouring rain so Jonathan took the car to work. There is rain on the forecast for the forseeable future, which makes me eager for the days of California sunshine. 

I am just so excited to get to a climate where we can play on a blanket out in the back yard and not be cooped up all the time. Baby boy just loves stroller rides and I can’t wait until they are a daily ritual for us. 

Here are his 12 week photos: 

And some more from this week: 

My crib is too small. I need a King Sized Bed.

Lazy Sunday Mornings;)

PS. We just got a new iPad Air and the camera on this thing is fantastic! The only issue is that the case we got for it blocks a bit of the camera and getting it on and off is darn near impossible! So that explains the little shadows on the corners of these photos.

Well, the nap barrier strikes again so I guess I have a baby to attend to...