Three months old snapshot

Okay, so that last post was kind of a downer.  I've been having a particularly difficult time lately.  Andrea and I had a couple smooth weeks at the end of January and thought I had her all figured out so when things reverted back to no naps and hours of wailing I got really discouraged.  Monday was a hard day and daylight savings has killed our bedtime ritual.  I envy those who put their babies to bed between seven and eight because my goes to bed at one in the morning.

Tuesday morning Andrea woke up at about eight.  Usually she goes down for a nap a couple hours after she wakes up.  She needs at least an hour of sleep to wake up rested and happy.  Well, she got fifteen minutes and there was no getting her back to sleep.  I let her swing and swing and swing hoping it would make her droopy.  She started squealing like she was on a roller coaster so I tried the rocking chair and that just made her cry.  I eventually gave up on the nap and fed her again.  More play time on the floor for a hour and a half and she began to rub her eyes.  I picked her up and we began the "Let's go to sleep" dance all over again.  An hour later I sat in the rocking chair with my still wide awake baby supping from her "Hey Woman!  I'm overtired!" crying.  She sat with her back nestled up against my tummy staring at the fireplace like she'd never seen it before.  I stroked her mullet and she finally started closing her eyes.

It was such a peaceful moment and I felt joy pushing discouragement out of my soul.  As hard as being a mom is, there is nothing else I'd rather be doing.

Here's some highlights from the past couple weeks:

Last week our friends Shannon and Jeremy came to visit and they brought their new little one.  Those two are about six weeks apart and Andrea is almost four inches longer.  She's a regular string bean.

Last week I also tried to make a wheat and rice salad and I forgot I had grains cooking on the stove until I was nursing Andrea and noticed a foul odor.

Aunt Tessa picked out a new outfit for Andrea.  Hmmm. . . 

It has little ruffles on the bum!

She starting to enjoy her toys a little more.  I sing her songs like "Little Bunny Foo Foo" and use her dolly, elephant, and carrot to reenact the stories.

Yesterday she was having a little chat with her dolly and elephant.

Andrea has been sick this week.  She hasn't had a fever or runny nose or cough, but she has been losing her voice.  While she doesn't seem to be an any pain when she gets tired she starts whimpering as opposed to her usual wails.  It's so pathetic it's cute.  Paul and I have been calling her our pony because she is a little "hoarse."  He he he.  I know, bad joke.  Even though she's been a bit under the weather we got dressed up today for St. Patrick's Day and had a little photo shoot.  I made her a four-leaf clover bow by taking leftover ribbon from my wedding, tying two identical bows and crisscrossing them.  I think it turned out really cute!

Of course, I think she makes everything look cute.