knox at 3 months (2)

knox at 3 months (1) knox at 3 months (5)

I know every mother feels this way, but HOW is my son already 3 months old?! Since the world seems to be passing me by, I thought it would be fun to create a little snap shot in time each month of the major milestones, funny stories, and pictures (of course) of Knox at each stage.  (See Knox when he was born here and at 1 month here.)

Size: We haven’t been to the doctor yet this month, but he has definitely grown since weighing in at 10 lbs, 2 oz. at his 2 month check-up.  I will update you on this after our doctor’s appointment.

UPDATE: Knox weighed 11 lbs and 14 oz at his check-up.

Milestones: Knox rolled over from his stomach to his back (at 11 weeks) while we were in Texas for the holidays.  FMK was loading our car to head home and I was giving Knox a little tummy time on his play mat.  I guess he wasn’t in the mood for exercise because he flipped over onto his back.  I totally wasn’t expecting it so my reaction was to scream “Knox just rolled over!” repeatively until someone came in the room to witness Knox laying on his back.  He didn’t repeat his new trick until we got back to NYC. I had my camera ready this time!

I know this is old news, but since I just started the series I thought I would document it.  Knox smiled in response to someone for the first time at 7 weeks.  My mom was in the city watching him for a few hours while I shot this video, and I was getting text messages of Knox smiling from her.  She used my grandmother’s trick of tickling under his chin and talking to him in a high pitch voice.  It worked and he has been smiling ever since!

Sleeping: We are really lucky right now in the sleep department.  (Don’t be jealous, I am sure we will pay for it at some point.  Hopefully not in his teenage years.)  Knox “slept through the night” for the first time around 7 weeks.  (Which I thought was pretty impressive considering he was 6 weeks early.)  I remember waking up in a panic because I hadn’t heard from him in 5 hours (our doctor told us we didn’t have to wake him up anymore so I stopped setting my alarm for every 3 hours).  My first thought was (naturally) that something must be wrong.  There wasn’t.  He was peacefully asleep in his crib.

After that first miraculous night, he gradually worked his way up to sleeping 8 hours (there were a few hiccups in between).  His first 8 hour stretch was our first night in Texas (at 11 weeks).  My mom, of course, took this as another sign it was time for us to move back home.

He is now consistently going down after the 8-9pm feeding and sleeping until 6:00am.  At this time, I nurse him for about 15 minutes until he falls back asleep until around 9:00am.  If he wakes up before 6am now, I go in to comfort him and give him his pacifier.  So far, this has put him right back to sleep until it is time to eat around 6am.  (I am sure I just jinxed myself for putting this in writing.)

Eating: I am still primarily nursing and only pumping when I need to.  I am not so lucky in this department as I am with his sleeping.  I feel like he is going through a growth spurt ALL the time.  He gets hungry every 2 – 2.5 hours, but I try to distract him until we get closer to the 3 hour mark.  My complaint here is that he nurses for 45 minutes to an hour each session.  All my friends’ babies are full after 8 – 30 minutes so I felt like we must be doing something wrong.  When I spoke with our pediatrician he said all babies are different and to keep nursing ‘on demand’ to make sure he is getting everything he needs.  So, for now, I will feel like all I do is feed Knox, but I’m grateful for my healthy growing baby… and all the calories I am burning.  (Always have to look on the bright side, right?)

Play: This past month has been so fun.  Knox is literally learning right in front of our eyes.  You can just see his little brain thinking “How do I get this hand in my mouth?” and “If I move this arm, maybe I can move that toy.”  His play mat is his favorite pastime although when he is sleepy, he is still a fan of his MomaRoo.

Mood: I am most appreciate of this category.  Overall, Knox is a really happy baby.  He is so sweet and loves to cuddle, but when I need to put him down to get something done (you know like eat lunch, go to the bathroom, maybe even fold clothes or do the dishes) he is perfectly content playing with his toys or sitting in his chair.  The trick I have found here is to keep talking to him.  I am sure I sound like a crazy person narrating folding clothes, but it works so I do it.  Maybe he feels better knowing I am near by or maybe he is just amused by my voice, but he will start talking back and they are the sweetest sounds I have ever heard.

knox's first flight great grandfather

Firsts: Knox had a lot of first in December.  He flew in an airplane for the first time at 10 weeks and he was a champ!  He slept most the flight other than eating during take off and landing (to prevent his ears from popping).

While we were in Texas for the holidays, Knox got to meet all his cousins and great grandparents for the first time.  With all the chaos and fighting over who got to hold him, you would think he would be overwhelmed, but he handled the whole trip like a pro.

His first snow!  Although he is too young to know it, he experienced his first snow in NYC this week.  We left the apartment twice to say we saw it (and because I was getting a little stir crazy!).  The first time, we just went to our apartment’s rooftop all bundled up to see what all the fuss was about.  The view from the top was beautiful!  After that, I had to run to get a few essentials from the store so I put Knox in his stroller with the rain cover.  He slept the whole trip so needless to say he didn’t appreciate the pretty white snow flakes.

I don’t want to sound like everything is perfect over here at HOUSE of HARPER.  Of course, it isn’t.  We definitely have our moments where Knox is tired and fussy (and Mommy & Daddy are tired too), but overall his smiles and coos are overshadowing his tears in my mind.  I am so grateful that God blessed us with a child (and such a sweet one) because I know it is a true gift to be a parent.  I also want to say how much respect I have for all the single parents out there.  Without all the help from FMK, I would certainly be singing a different tune.