the coatney crew: 3 months old

Wow, Austin is already 3 months old. I cannot believe how fast it has gone by. This third month has brought many new developments for our little guy. The biggest is that he is trying to sit up! Almost every time we hold him in a laying down position he tries to pull his head and torso up so that he would be sitting. I must admit he is pretty darn strong for a 3 month old! Other developments are that he has turned in to a super sleeper. Gone are those early days when we could never get him to sleep through the night or even sleep more than 2-3 hours at a time. Now this boy can sleep for days! We even had to move his bed time up a bit because he was so sleepy and fussy. We now start the bed time routine (bath, bottle, and rocking) close to 9pm and Austin is usually down for the count by 10pm. Once we place him in his bed he will sleep all night long and almost always has to be woken up in the mornings so that we can begin our day. On non-school days Austin will sleep until 10am at least and even then we still have to go wake him up. On school days, I usually let him sleep until the last possible minute and then take him out of bed and put him straight in the car seat. He is almost always still sleepy & groggy and of course still in his wonderful footie pajamas when we get to the baby-sitters. On the rolling over front, Austin has only made it to his side so far; which he does every night in his sleep. He doesn't like being on his stomach lately, so he hasn't made any progress in a full roll from stomach to back or back to stomach yet. I keep trying to work on this skill but Austin tends to start screaming when placed on his floor. I am guessing it is because he can't really see what is going on when he is down there. Austin is definitely a boy that likes to see the action. He loves to sit in his bouncer these days and just watch mommy and daddy talk and do chores. His other favorite place to play is his new exer-saucer. We decided to go ahead and get it out since he can hold his head up so well. Austin does great sitting in it, he has even got himself spun around a few times much to his own surprise. He likes to stare at the different toys on the tray especially the mirror. But it is always a moment of excitement when Elliott decides to join in the playtime with his entertaining. Elliott still is having trouble understanding that Austin can't quite play with him yet but Elliott keeps trying to share his toys. Austin has definitely settled into more of a consistent routine. We make him wake up most mornings at 7am, rush to the sitters where they feed, change and dress him for the day. I pick him up between 11:45 and noon, we then come home for lunch and a 2-3 hour nap. After he wakes up from his nap, we tend to have some fussy time until he usually eats around 4pm. Then it is mommy and Austin playtime! We like to swing, walk around the house, sing songs and on a really good day Austin will be cooperative and I can actually get some school work done while he sits in his bouncer or exer-saucer. This is often short lived until dinnertime around 7pm and then daddy comes home at 7:30pm. Brent likes to have some daddy and baby playtime before we eat dinner ourselves. If need be we might run some errands or take an evening walk around 8pm which Austin regularly naps through. Now most would worry that a power nap so close to bed time would keep the baby from sleeping, but not our boy, he will still go to bed no matter what! Then it is back home for a bath, bottle and bedtime about 9:30pm. Bedtime is for sure my favorite part of the day. It is when Austin and I sit in the rocker for a 6 oz. feeding, listen to some classical music and enjoy some great cuddling. Austin is still only eating 4 ounces at a time during the day and then a bigger bottle at night. Each time we try to up the amount he eats during his day time feedings, he tends to spit up and be unhappy. So for now we will stick with the smaller 4 ounce bottles every three hours and then the bigger 6 ounces at bedtime. Austin is just so fun right now, he is constantly becoming more aware of his surroundings and making the most adorable faces. He isn't really into any of his toys yet but he LOVES his hands. They are always in his mouth and close to his face. You can tell he is getting sleepy when he starts to hold his pacifier in his mouth with one and and with the other starts rubbing and covering his eyes. Austin is making more and more noises and really enjoys "talking" with us. We have even managed to get a few little giggles out of him. It is just the most precious little sound ever!