– 1:56 pm
You’ve made it to the end of the fourth trimester. We all have. It’s been a pleasure raising you this far. I have no complaints and know for a fact that your mother doesn’t have any either. We were kidding around this morning when I asked you to rate our performance on Trustpilot. Liza wouldn’t stop laughing. As if to agree, you babbled some mumbo jumbo which I took to imply a 5-star review.
Out of curiosity, I read a number of articles (like this and this) on what to expect from a three-month-old baby as far as growth and development.
- Tracking objects with their eyes
- Reaching and grasping for things with their hands
- Hand and eye coordination
- Less colic and spitting
- Better sleeping patterns with longer night stretches
- Recognising familiar faces from farther distances
- Lifting their head and chest from a belly-down position
- Wider vocal range, imitating sounds and turning to whoever is speaking
- “Drool bubbles”
- Kicking
I can attest to you checking all the above boxes. The drooling is a funny one. So now instead of wiping off milk, we’re wiping off spit bubbles. We’ve simply traded one for the other. The same muslin will do the job. The pleasant thing is, it tends to happen when you’re smiling or “talking”.
Speaking of talking, every week, we hear new sounds. The decibels are getting higher and higher. I try to mimic them back to you which you always find fascinating. You have these eyes that show surprise and wonder simultaneously, typically leaving you speechless.
In addition, your legs are also super strong now and you jerk up and down when I stand you up. It feels like you could walk, much like I feel like I could kick a ball. It’s major progress but not quite at the finish line. Not yet.
Moreover, I’m surprised you haven’t followed my footsteps and broken your legs given how hard you bang them on the changing table. Even more intriguing is the lack of deviation from normalcy when you do it. The bang suggests you should be crying in agony but no, nothing. No tears whatsoever. I was telling your mother we should check if you have a sense of touch i.e. your pain receptors might not be working. I think I was joking.
Yesterday you were quite fussy and broke our feeding schedule. As much as we tried, you just wouldn’t eat and I struggled to get you to finish a bottle. As anticipated, you were up and hungry at 3:30 am or so. You also downed 180ml when I fed you later this morning. You did spit some of it out but that’s a rarity now. Overall, you tend to hold down food a lot better.
Your mother’s at home munching the festive pack of Crosstown doughnuts to mark this occasion. I am –you guessed it – charging the car. I’ll head to the gym from here to do some leg-strengthening exercises. Liza’s meeting up with her friend Stephanie and you guys are going to Tate Modern. You do love looking at art (or anything with a lot of contrast) so I’m sure you’ll have plenty of fun.