My gorgeous little man is three months old today so I thought now would be a great time to reflect on his life so far, and the changes we have experienced together. I wouldnt imagine this post would be particularly interesting for anyone else, but I'd like to include this every few months to record his milestones and how much he changes (and I intend to make a hardcopy book out of this blog for when Riley grows up). To say this has been an awesome experience is an understatement, I am loving every part of being a mother, and love nothing more than spending time with my beautiful son. My how things have changed since he was born 13 weeks ago! Sleeping -when he first came home from hospital Riley was a little confused between day and night, sleeping all day long, then at around 9pm his little eyes would pop wide open and stay that way until around 3am. I wondered what on earth I had gotten myself into! My midwife assured me that he would work it out and by his second week of life he had. Sleep has always been tricky for my little guy. We have been through so many changes...only sleeping when being held or rocked then as soon as he went into the cot his eyes would promptly fly open and that would be it! There was also a period when he would not sleep at all during the day so by the end of the day his eyes were massive, he would hardly blink being so over-stimulated, making it so much harder to get him to sleep, and then when I did even the sound of a pin dropping would wake him up. But with a little practice from me trying out different settling techniques, he finally learnt to self-settle a few weeks ago and is now a great sleeper, going down at 7pm each night. I think a huge part of it was me educating myself - now I wrap him up, sing his bedtime song and place him in his cot. The repetition has paid off as now he goes down to sleep so easily. This is a welcome developmental change as I worked out that for the first 7 weeks I never got more than two hours sleep in a row - sleep deprivation is torture! Days are getting better but he still has trouble rolling over the 45 min sleep cycle. Pram walks and car drives seem to work wonders when it comes to aiding sleep in the day! Early on, each time he woke up was with a cry as if he had been left alone, now each time he wakes he just chats and calls out to me and greets me with the biggest smiles, it is such a joy! Eating - hmmmm, I had no idea babies fed so much! In the first few weeks, each breastfeed took around 40 minutes or more. Riley would usually get hungry every 2- 3 hours. Some nights feeding every 2 hours for the first half of the night then feeding 2am, 3am, 4am, 5am. Boy those nights were tough! I became an expert on night time television programming, I had to just to keep from nodding off on my little man while feeding him. At 3 months, Riley still feeds every three hours in the day, then 1 - 2 times at night at random times. I love these times now, at night when its so quiet and its just us, no need or want for the tele anymore! Milestones - Riley first smiled around 4 weeks, quickly followed by his gorgeous coo-ing noises which rapidly became very cute chatter. Now I can't shut him up! He loves being played with, and especially loves me reading stories to him - The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Very Busy Spider are his favourites. He started really laughing at around 10 weeks, and loves being tickled. In the last few days he has started talking with his tongue lots, dribbling, sucking his fists, and putting everything into his mouth. His favourite toys are his new green frog that he got from his great grandmother, Marie, his musical chimes that were a gift from Aunty KJ as well as some simple coloured plastic rings which he loves to hold. He is not a fan of tummy time although Im persisting and he is getting better at holding his head up. There are many, many funny games we play but just so I remember in future he loves me playing his nose to the Baby Elephant Walk and Spanish Flea, clapping his feet to the alphabet song, pumping his legs really fast, eskimo kisses and for some strange reason cacks himself at me saying 'stop the pigeon' - go figure! Early on nappy changes and bath time were met with screams - these are now always fun with the latter being a lovely time of day for us. In terms of growth, at clinic last week on 5 August, Riley weighed 5.6kg and measured 60cm in length, both put him exactly on the average growth range.
The past three months have been the most amazing journey. I love my son so much it is unbelievable. I dont doubt he is meant to be in my life and I feel truly blessed to have him.
Last week Riley and I travelled to Sydney to spend time with lots of family and friends, and to celebrate two major events. First up was my brother Michael's engagement party on Saturday 9 August. After a 10 year relationship, Mike finally popped the question back in April and it was time to party. The party was held at Leonie's parent's place in Woronora. 70 of their closest friends attended and it was a great night with many laughs. The Navin's did such a great job of turning the backyard into a party place with a marquee and heaters, great music (thanks to Mike) and lots of yummy food. Riley made a brief appearance early in the night (receiving lots of lovely complements) and then headed to bed for the night - never waking even though his bedroom was right next to the bathroom! Mike and Leonie make a wonderful couple and I wish them every happiness for the future.
