Mirepoix...

And leftover turkey. One of the best reasons to roast a turkey is for the leftovers. And the best thing to make with turkey leftovers is gumbo. I use Emeril's recipe, and it never disappoints.

Lydia at Three Months

Lydia's three-month milestone came and went (last Thursday, November 16th). Her adjusted age is now six weeks.

Our happy little duck

At her weight check-up on Monday, November 12 she was 6 lbs 13 oz. That's a weight gain of 1 pound 10 ounces since last month. I feel like she's gained it all in her head. Every day either I say or Chip says, "Hey, does her head look bigger to you today?" Well, because it always does look bigger.

Bath time!

Lydia has outgrown almost all of her preemie-sized clothes. Only a couple of preemie outfits still fit her.We are trying a few different types of diapers now. She is still wearing newborn-sized diapers, but it won't be long before she is in size 1s. We still really like the Pampers Swaddlers Sensitive diapers. I've also tried diapers from The Honest Company and Seventh Generation, and I really like both of them.

Things Lydia likes:

• The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, especially songs that he plays harmonica on.
• The play mat Sage gave us. Chip plays rhythms with the toys, and she excitedly kicks in time. It is very entertaining!
• Chewing her fist and sucking her fingers. She's discovered that her fingers fit in her mouth really well, and that she can suck on them to her heart's desire. As cute as it is, I try to redirect her to the pacifier when I catch her doing it. The only problem is that the pacifier has a tendency to fall out of her mouth. The fingers, however, do not. 
• Napping on momma in the Moby wrap. I'm working from home now, and putting her in the Moby is sometimes the only way I get any work done. 
• Napping on daddy's chest.

Lydia still eats every three hours and still wakes up twice each night around 12 am and 3 am to eat. She eats 3 ounces of breast milk by bottle six times a day and 2.5 ounces when she gets her poly-vi-sol vitamins at 6 am and 3 pm. I think I've given up on nursing her. Every time we try it she eats pretty good for about ten minutes, then falls asleep. She just doesn't equate breastfeeding with eating. It is more like snuggle time to her. I think I am finally OK with it, and I'm going to stick to what works: exclusively pumping and feeding Lydia bottles. The important thing is that she is getting mommy's milk!

Our schedule for a typical day looks something like this:

6 am - Chip gets up and feeds Lydia. I get up around 6:30, pump.

6:30 - 8:30 am - Lydia goes back to sleep. I get ready for the day and start working at 8.
8:45 - 9:45 am - I get Lydia dressed for the day, feed her, pump.

9:45 am - noon - Lydia has some awake time in her bouncer/swing/nap nanny, or she naps.

Noon - 1 pm - I feed Lydia. I pump.

1 - 3 pm - Lydia has some awake time in her bouncer/swing/nap nanny, or she naps.

3 - 4 pm - I feed Lydia. I pump.

4 - 5 pm - Lydia can be a little fussy around this time, so I usually put her in the Moby, and she quiets down immediately in that thing. 

5 - 6 pm - Chip comes home. I start dinner or go pick something up for dinner.

6 - 7 pm - Chip feeds Lydia. I pump.

7 - 8:30 pm - We eat dinner then play with Lydia on the play mat if she's awake.
8:30 pm - 9 pm - bath, pajamas, story or lullabies

9 -10 pm - I feed Lydia, pump. Chip goes to bed at 9 since he has the 3 am feeding shift.

10 pm - Bed time for me.

10 pm - 12 am - Lydia used to be really fussy during this time. Lately she's been sleeping like a perfect angel. I think it might have something to do with mommy putting her to bed instead of daddy. 

12 - 1:15 am - I feed Lydia. I pump. Sometimes Lydia will sleep a longer stretch here until 12:30 or so. 

1:15 am - I get to sleep until 6:30 am!

3 - 3:30 am - Chip feeds Lydia.

We are still waiting for the day when Lydia gets up only once at night. It would be great if she could sleep from 9:30 pm to 1 am, then from 1:30 am to 5 am. Hasn't happened yet. I'm not gonna push for it to come though. We aren't getting much sleep, but the schedule we've got going does work, and most nights I do love snuggling with my little dumpling.

This age is such a precious age. When Chip and I were deciding whether to have a child, I had tons of reservations about it because all I thought about was how much work it would be -- diapering, laundry, the evening routine of bath and story time. I never considered the possibility that I might enjoy those things. But, I do.

Play Time

Chip dressed Lydia in the cutest outfit on Friday. We picked out this outfit together at Belk right after we found out I was having a girl.









Lydia was really getting into play time on her mat. Kicks and coos. Smiles and gurgles. I just love watching her!

Munari-Inspired Mobile

This Munari-inspired mobile is a big hit with Lydia! I used this template after researching many different types of black-and-white mobiles.

Most of the time this mobile is hanging from the ceiling above Lydia's changing table just over her head and out of her reach. It has definitely helped calm her down during diaper changes to give her something of interest to concentrate on and interact with while mommy or daddy changes her diaper. I've noticed that she's a lot happier during diaper changes now that this mobile is in place.

The mobile is hung on a carabiner so that we can move it around the house with her. I've hung it from the lantern light above our breakfast table and from the ceiling fan in our bedroom while she's in her Nap Nanny.

Photos taken on October 10. Lydia looks so small!

We also put together a make-shift mobile hanger using one of Chip's drum mic stands so that we can hang mobiles above Lydia's awake mat. She really loves this. Notice how she is concentrating on the images, working on her ability to focus and to track object with her eyes.

Photos taken on November 2. Lydia's got chubby cheeks!

Lydia following one of the images to her left.

I didn't follow the directions from the website exactly. Here's how I made the mobile. I chose six different patterns and printed out copies of each one. I cut them out and glued them onto the back a front of card stock (mirror-image style) that I had cut to fit each image. I just used old cereal boxes and Elmer's glue. After the glue dried, I hot glued one image perpendicular to the other. A couple of hole punches and some string later, and tada! We have a mobile. I would say the whole thing took about three hours to complete.

Since I've made this I've already tackled and made another mobile in the Montessori series - The Dancer. It looks a little more "homemade" but Lydia likes it, too. Another post on that later if I ever find the time. I return to work on Wednesday, so I have no idea when I'll be able to post next. Hopefully before her 3-month birthday on November 16.