Carla is 3 months old

It's the 13th again...that means my kids are another month older! I had a pretty cool discovery while playing around in my photos on my iPad--since the kids are exactly two years apart, and iDevices date photos, I'm able to take a photo of Carla and then browse my iPhotos for the same month/day to see what Sal looked like at that exact age. No math required! 

Here's what Carla looks like at 3 months....

                                            {Carla on 4.13.14}

And here's her big brother...

                     

                              {Sal  exactly two years ago on 4.13.12}

Carla spent most of the third month being spoiled by her Nonno, who came to visit us for two weeks at the end of March. She gave him lots of snuggles and smiles, and I was sad to see my "baby whisperer" head home. She loved the extra snuggles. Now that my extra set of hands are gone--she's back on her playmat when I need to get things done (or chase her brother). 

           

                          {having a heart to heart with her nonno}

Speaking of floor time...she has been doing awesome on her tummy, often holding her head up and swiveling around to see what's going on. She's rolled over a handful of times, but she always seems so surprised when it happens. She can't quite figure out how she did it. Sal has been helping her learn the ropes of grabbing the toys that hang on her play mat. Just this week she started swatting at--and occasionally grasping the ring that hangs from her monkey above. 

                     

                                           { how did I do that?}

She's been a good eater, and I'm happy that she's eating more at each feeding, so I've finally gotten a little more freedom. For a while there, I felt like all I did all day was feed her. I think Sal would agree. We still have some days where all she wants to do is eat, and I just go with it. Don't we all have days where we are just a little hungrier than usual? 

Most nights, she sleeps through the night. I usually put her to bed by 8:30 p.m.and she wakes around 6:30 a.m.. Sometimes she wakes for a feeding around 3:30, but more often than not she lets me sleep. 

As for naps--meh. I've yet to try sleep training her for nap times. With Sal, we used the 90 minute sleep cycle method. I agonized over his lack of daytime sleep at this age. He'd sleep 15 minutes max, and I was just convinced that it wasn't normal. With Carla, well....I'm just going with it. She's at the stage where she won't take naps longer than 15 minutes if she isn't ON me. If I throw her in my ergo, she will sleep 1-2 hours in the morning....but this makes it impossible for me to really clean or do anything productive ( a shower would be nice), so I know it's not the best option in the long run. She naps again in the afternoon while I walk her "doesn't-need-a-nap" brother to sleep in the stroller.  It's rare that I have them both to sleep at the same time, but it does happen on occasion. 

                       

                          {sleeping to the sound of mama's flip flops flopping}

I'm not sure what she weighs now. She won't be weighed again until her four month check up. She is definitely growing--a few of her 3 month sleepers are getting a bit short and snug. She wore her first pair of jeggings this week in 6 month size. Although she eats well, there's still not much baby chub to speak of. 

Carla has earned herself a few nicknames already. I often call her lil bit, or Carlita. As of late, I'm not the only one calling her names. Sal can't pronounce Carla--when he says it, it sounds like "Cah", but go figure, he can almost pronounce Carlita. I smile every time I hear him say, "I wuv you Car-yeetah". No matter what we call her, she is a smiley little thing. So far she has been a sweet, happy girl who has made me believe in perfect babies. I always called bull$hit on parents who claimed their baby never fussed (unless hungry or dirty), slept through the night from early on, etc, etc..and was "perfect". 

Now I believe that these babies do exisit...and (knock on wood) we have one. She has the most easy going, happy temperament. I hope it lasts. 

                         

                                          {the sun never sets on cool}

Her passport arrived last month, and after a quick trip to the police station downtown, she is officially registered as a Wuxi resident. Carla will be getting her first stamps this month as we  head off on holiday.  I hope one day she looks back and thinks her babyhood spent overseas was pretty freaking awesome. I know she won't remember a thing about life in China, or the traveling we are doing while over here, but she will have her passport stamps and Chinese birth certificate to hang on to as a token of her unique baby years. I never thought we would be lucky enough to have another baby so soon, yet alone while over here. I'm so thankful and glad things worked out the way that they have. I can't imagine our life without her in it.