The first three months

We've made it! Darcy is officially 3 months old today. What an up and down three months it has been. We're still going through the learning curve of having two kids in the house, but have made it so far. Not that our situation is vastly different from others with more than one child, but when you're going through it yourself, you definitely adopt a deeper appreciation.

So, let's see...the first 3 months.
We were so grateful to be given such a beautiful and healthy baby girl. I did not actually breathe a sigh of relief until I was holding her in my arms. I’ve certainly enjoyed snuggling with her as this is the last baby. Even though I always thought I'd want three, two is plenty for us!

She was born with a full head of dark hair which is definitely her unique feature. And if it’s not brushed after bath time it curls up. Craig calls her Newman or Newmie (you know, the chubby curly headed short man on Seinfeld). Not my favorite but Newmie seems to have stuck a bit. Poor thing. Nobody tell her what it’s from. I’ve tried to work on a better nickname…Lady Bug, Little D (which comes from Dad), Bugsy, Punky…but nothing seems to have stuck yet. Camryn calls her Little D a lot which is sweet.

One other favorite feature is her single dimple on her left side. I just have one dimple too, but it’s on the right. It’s kind of like she got my other one.

Camryn has been such a help with her. Seems to have accepted her from day one. She loves to pick out outfits and go get clean diapers from upstairs. She even helped with Darcy’s first bath. And she loves putting stickers on D’s outfits, but she does that to me and Craig too. I feel guilty for not being more patient with her quirks and not being able to give her all of the time she needs. But I suppose that is a life lesson. You’re not always front and center in life and you have to be able to deal with it. She’s learning better how to play by herself and I think school has been a great place for her to go play a few days a week.

Back to Darcy…

Well, she has been to the emergency room twice already. Once with a cat bite on her eyebrow bone and the second after she failed to stick the landing when she flipped off the kitchen counter. I joke about it now, only because she is 100% okay (although I will have something to blame if she gets too crazy down the road); but both of those days were not fun days. I have to say I was disappointed in my lack of take-action skills. I found myself more stunned and feeling helpless after both incidents then keeping cool and jumping into action as the parent. I’d like to think it’s because she is so new to this world.

She’s not a fan of tummy time. Well, I take that back. She doesn’t scream at us anymore, but can’t seem to lift her head. Just plants her nose straight down into the floor. Has a bit more success on the boppy but we’ve got a ways to go. She’d prefer to strengthen her neck while sitting on our lap.

She’s a great eater (as you can see by her super chubby cheeks). Has been since day one. She’s already up to a whopping 7oz per bottle. And she drains it. I bet she eats anywhere from 30 to 35oz per day. I’m sure she’s ready for rice cereal just to fill her belly a bit better.

And now that her colic is gone, we are finally enjoying her. Craig made the comment earlier today that she finally seems like a real baby. We’re looking forward to the next 3 months of watching her figure out how to crack herself up, reach out for toys and tasting every last one of them, trying veggies and fruits for the first time, learning to roll over and hopefully sitting up by then. The hardest challenge I have now with her development and I fear I will do this in the years to come is compare her to Camryn. That has to be a natural thing to do. I mean you go with what you know and if it’s different then it seems wrong. Camryn definitely set the bar high for Darcy. Camryn has her faults, for sure, but she’s such a dynamite little girl. I see a lot of me in her personality which helps me know how to deal with the junk she throws my way on occasion. I need to continually remind myself that Little D is her own unique person.