Ezra Celebrates 3 Months

Wow...three months. I guess the 90 day return policy has expired. LOL! Kidding! I would never want to return this adorable little guy. Besides, he wouldn't fit back into the original packaging anyway. ;) My beautiful sweet boy is now three months old. Hard to believe! Altho with Ezra, I have been trying real hard to enjoy as much of this time that I can while he is little. I learned with Caiden just how quickly the time seems to go, so I am doing my best to appreciate him each day.

I'm also finding myself excited to see him grow and change. With Caiden, I felt like I wanted him to stay in whatever stage he was in largely because I struggle so much with change. Even tho I would love for Ezra to be a sweet cuddly little baby forever, I now have a better idea of what to expect in each stage and find myself excited for Ezra to reach each of those milestones so that I can watch him learn and grow. I am also finding myself eager for him to be old enough to play with Caiden because I think it will be so much fun to see them play and grow up together. :)

So what's been going on in Ezra's world this month? Let's see what I can remember.

• My favorite thing has to be his smiler going into overdrive. This kid gets so smiley it just makes my heart melt. All I want to do is hang out with him and get him to grin more and more. I swear I am addicted to his smiles! He just lights up when Caiden interacts with him and we've even gotten a couple of previews of hearing what his giggles/laughs sound like!
• He's also been practicing his conversational skills. He has been cooing and chattering quite a bit more, especially when you "talk" with him.
• He rolled over, like, 15 times in a row one day. Note that I said one day. He hasn't done it again since. LOL!
• He is starting to get more mobile. Case in point:

I laid him down here: 

Two minutes later he was here!

• This kid LOVES to chew/suck on his fingers and thumbs. I don't think he is going to be much of a pacifier kid at this point! It cracks me up to watch and listen to him slurp on his hands.

• He continues to be a pretty good sleeper. I know some parents would kill for the sleep/nap schedule he has, but we were really spoiled by Caiden, so Ezra has been a bit more of an adjustment for us. His schedule is continuing to become more defined. He generally goes to bed between 9 and 11pm and wakes up between 5 and 6am to eat. He goes back to sleep for another 2-3 hours and then starts his day. He generally has 1 or 2 long naps (2-4 hours) during the day and 1 or 2 short naps (no more than an hour) in the evening. I figured out that his wakeful period between naps is actually 90 minutes and not two hours. He generally gets laid down drowsy but awake and is able to put himself to sleep fairly quickly.
• Speaking of sleep (an obsessive topic for many of us!), we started doing some more defined sleep training with Ezra. He was having some difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep at bedtime a few nights. So following the advice of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, we decided to test out letting him cry it out for a little while. It is always heartbreaking to listen to your child cry his little heart out, but we had to give it a try. The first night we decided we'd let him cry for 30 minutes before intervening, and at minute 28 he quieted down and fell asleep. That night he had his best night's sleep and slept over 8 hours! We've had to do that a few more times, and just about each time the crying period shortened and resulted in him sleeping really well. I am looking forward to when his bedtime starts getting earlier - hopefully within the next month!
• This kid absolutely loves his baths! It has definitely become part of the nightly bedtime routine, and he is just the most chill and relaxed baby during his bath. B bathes him in a little tub in the sink. I swear, Ezra could sit there for hours and still be the happiest little guy.

Post bath bundled up in his robe

 

• I've started reading books with him and he seems really interested in looking at the pictures. I hope he develops a love of books like his big brother has!
• He absolutely cracks me up when he is making his poops. Sometimes his face turns bright red, and he grunts so loud! Other times he just makes the funniest little faces as he works on his business. His expressions often make me laugh out loud!
• He can go from boo boo lip to big grin and back to boo boo lip in two seconds flat. It is hilarious to watch!
• He loves to look at "that other baby" in the mirror. Some days he just grins and smiles at himself.
• Ezra is getting better at grasping objects and sometimes even brings them (probably unintentionally) to his mouth. Two popular objects include his rattle and rings.

• He almost always wakes up happy and smiley. As soon as he sees me peer into his crib, he gives me the biggest ear to ear grin!
• Generally speaking, Ezra is one happy, relaxed and chilled out little baby content to take in his surroundings and snuggle on your lap. He is so easy to be around! (By the way, that quilt he is laying on was a wonderful surprise gift from the quilters in our church! I absolutely love it! It also has his name and birth details on a panel on the backside of the quilt.)

Ezra also got to meet his Aunt Caffy (heretofore known as Aunt Cathy) this month! We had SO much fun with her while she was here. She got lots and lots of time holding Ezra, and Caiden had just THE best time playing with her. He would often just grab her hand and escort her down to the basement so that they could play. She also captured some great shots of both Caiden and Ezra including the great photo above of Ezra in the bath. Her visit was far to short and the house was sadly quiet after she left. :( Come back and visit anytime Aunt Caffy!!!!!

Whew - another lengthy post! Time to wrap it up and leave you with a couple favorite pictures. And if that leaves you wanting even MORE, go to Ezra's share site where I've loaded the rest of his photos.