Elliotte at 3 Months

3 Months old. Sweet baby girl! Where do I start!? Sweet Elliotte as I often call her, often to the tune of Sweet Caroline, is a bundle of cuddles! My snugly little girl prefers, no demands, that she be held most of the day. She is a mama's girl, and I love it!

There is no denying that Elli has proven to be quite the difficult baby. I really expected the second one to be a bit more go-with-the-flow type. However, Elli is far from such! Taking Elli places is often a complete disaster. She HATES the car seat for any amount of time and 95% of the time is screaming while in said torture device. :) Car rides are not for chatting anymore when Elli's in the car, but rather for lots of deep breaths to keep my sanity in tact.

Elli is very easily overstimulated. She does not like to be under mobiles or playmats. She gets very worked up and will be hysterical quickly. She often gets very upset if there is a lot going on around her or if we are in a new place or its a new face holding her. She pretty much wants to be held by mama or daddy with pacifier in tow and eyes closed. In fact, she often spends much of the day in this very same position.

Elli has two napping places, me or the swing. This girl is very persistent and these are literally the ONLY places she considers napping during the day. We have had a few 15 minute crib naps, but that's it. She sleeps at night in her pack in play in my room, but during the day we have no such luck!

While we are on the subject of sleep, Elli hates it! This little girl is a party animal! I am still getting up about 3 times a night to feed Miss Elli. She goes to bed at 8 every night. She loves bedtime and often that is her longest stretch of sleep. Elli prefers to be up and awake about 4 every morning. She prefers to be up and nursing through the night. She also keeps finding her way to our bed, something I really am not fond of. However, I get pretty desperate for sleep by 4, so I usually give in. :(

She gets a bath every night and as long as she is not overtired, she LOVES her baths! She just relaxes and melts. I love that time with her!

Tummy time is still a no go for Elli. She doesn't seem interested at all in being on her tummy and usually just screams until she is flipped. She does like to sit up though. She has amazing back control. We have begun using the bumbo long enough to read one story together. She really enjoys this time.

Elli is really beginning to interact with us a lot more. She gives abundant smiles to Bradley and I. She is a little more stingy when it comes to sharing with others, but she is slowly showing her soft side! She will 'talk' with me often when we are rocking during the day. My favorite is when she squeals so loud as if to compete with her big sister for air time.

She is also an eating champ. She is still exclusively breastfed. We still have the occasional tummy aches to deal with, but overall nursing is finally getting easy. She is eating every 2.5-3 hours a day. She takes a 4 oz. bottle at bedtime of breastmilk. We just use the bottle so we know exactly how much she has eaten and she is often so tired that she is a lazy nurser and doesn't sleep as long.

Elliotte enjoys being outside too! She is very content to sit in her bouncer outside in the afternoons. She has really enjoyed the times that she gets to ride in my carrier while we play at the park. She loves to be attached to me and I love being hands free to help Addy if needed.

My sweet little girl! We have definitely found a whole new dynamic in this family with the addition of Elli. She is changing so fast and I love every new little milestone we hit! I am soaking in the cuddles because babies don't keep!