Three Months

I'm not sure which day it happened, but at some point Poppy stopped being a newborn and became a bigger baby. I think it was while we were sleeping. Maybe it was when she moved to size 1 diapers. Not sure. I knew it was going to happen so I watched for it closely. But it has still surprised me. I seem to think if I keep kissing her all over she will not grow so fast. With my first baby I was so excited for every new development and next thing. Now I am in no rush. But that doesn't seem to stop it from happening.

Having successfully completed the "fourth trimester," Poppy is a new baby in many ways. You probably can't tell, but her hair actually is growing in. It's kind of a light neutral color so it will likely be blonde. There is some reddish-gold in the sunlight, but that's also my wishful hoping. She's consistently sleeping 6, usually 7, occasionally 8 hours at a stretch, waking once to eat sometime between 2 and 4 am. Which is fine if I go to bed by 10 or so, but when I stay up until midnight I'm hating it and it's my own fault.

She's a superstar eater. And she has entered the adorable cooing stage. When she's done eating she likes to lay there on the Boppy and have an earnest conversation with me. There is much vocalizing, smiling, facial expressing and sometimes giggling (my favorite.) I love connecting with her when we look straight in each others' eyes and coo at each other. She seems especially tickled when I imitate the sounds she makes. Speaking of tickled, she is ticklish! It's so dang fun to find her spots - so far, the collar bone and somewhere around where her left leg connects to her pelvis.

Her neck strength is phenomenal. She rolled over a few times at her 2-month doctor's appointment, but not quite since then. If I put her down on her tummy she immediately tilts to the right and traps her right arm under her, laying on her shoulder. While her arm turns red and then purple, she frantically kicks her left leg, trying to get leverage. If I give her foot or knee just a little nudge she rolls right over and smiles, probably from relief that her arm is receiving blood again.
And we are so happy to be in the Bumbo stage! If I lay her in a bouncy seat she strains and strains her neck and head forward, trying to sit up. Work those abs! But the Bumbo is perfect for her; we always put her where the action is and she is happy to supervise while intently stuffing both fists in her mouth and sucking loudly. Occasionally she scratches her mouth and screams bloody murder like it's my fault. It's always Mom's fault.

And the cutie baby fat rolls have arrived! They are everywhere and I love to count them on her arm when she eats (even though it's always the same - two on the upper arm, two on the lower.) There are some clothes she has outgrown not in length nor girth, but in arm size. And they are on her legs, too. Once during a diaper change I was squeezing some of her rolls as Hazel watched. I said something about her cutie fat rolls. The next time I changed her, Hazel asked if I was going to squeeze her biscuits again. "What? What biscuits?" Took me a minute to follow the semantic processes of a 5-year-old with blossoming vocabulary. Rolls, biscuits. Cute.

Poppy loves being worn in the Bjorn on Ed but continues to resist being worn by me, despite my best efforts. I've tried several slings, the Bjorn, a backpack, and pouches. I even went to a local babywearers' meeting to try all the wraps, slings and ties I could, but she just cried. She loves me to hold her but lodges complaints when I try to strap her on in any way. Hopefully, hopefully, it will come in time.

She adores her older sisters and is never happier than when she can watch them and their antics. They like to make up songs and dances for her, but despite three months of reminding, warning and threatening by me, their favorite is to invade her personal space until she cries. Still working on that. All this time I've been thinking, won't it be great and easy in the fall when both girls are in school (Ginger 3 days) and it will be just me and Poppy some days? On second thought, not if she misses her sisters and wants to be with them! We'll see how it works out.

Overall, Poppy is pink, fat and generally happy. Like mother, like daughter.