3 months

finn is 3 months now and he has changed so much! in the last few days his smiling has ramped up and he spends half of his awake time smiling and cooing socially. it is amazing to talk to him and have him respond with a big, gummy grin and twinkling eyes. he recently found his hands and will spend time staring at them and chewing on them. he rolls his tongue around his mouth and loves to gum and lick a variety of objects.

he met his great grandparents on mr. h3b's side this weekend and fell in love with them. he enjoyed great grandpa's mustache and great grandma's calm voice. it is so amazing to watch him interact with people and we are lucky to have a great-great grandma and 3 great grandparents that he will know.

he also had a few firsts in the last week.

first trip to the beach:

first hockey game (pictured with his great aunt and uncle):

 

first trip to navy pier:

we are lucky to have a pretty calm baby that enjoys going out to eat, sightseeing, and being social. hopefully he continues to be an easy going little boy!

12 weeks!

finley turned 12 weeks today. which is insane.

he has changed from a tiny newborn to a healthy sized baby. he is alert and vocal, has found his hands (sort of), and is just a sweet little man. the best part about this time is the new found sleep (ok, it might still be his adorable face, snuggling into his little head, and kissing his soft baby hairs).

we are using a woombie and it has changed his sleep for the better. before the woombie and sleep routine, he was sleeping 11pm-3am and 4am-7am. now, we begin bedtime at 9:15pm and he is in his crib (in the woombie) by 10pm. by some miracle, he sleeps until 6am. he's been sleeping this way for about 2 weeks, but i didn't want to say anything before i got some good sleep myself. if i jinx it, at least we had a good run...

the latest development would be his increased fussiness. i can't tell if it's constipation, general baby crabbiness, or teething. he has been drooling and gums/chews objects in his mouth. and our fix-all, the soothie pacifier, isn't working as well. he still smiles for me, but a lot more of his awake time is spent crying or disgruntled than ever before. it's definitely harder to deal, so it's a good thing he's cute!

i was able to catch him while he was happy for a few pictures:

"budget" nurseries

i rarely use this blog for venting purposes of the non pg/new mom related nature. but, i've got to write it down somewhere that i am so annoyed about these "budget" nurseries that keep popping up on blogs and design sites that are not at all budget. and i understand that "budget" is relative. you can buy a clothes basket and some receiving blankets on the cheap, but i'm referring to designer style nurseries at a reduced cost.

here's my rant: if you are repurposing your own old furniture or using things that were gifts, they still cost money. they are not "free". that old ikea bookshelf from your office? it still cost $60. crib gift from grandparents? did they steal it? then it wasn't free. when you write up the total cost of the nursery, show us the money. if you were gifted a nice item, please tell us the cost. to reproduce or borrow ideas, "we" might need to pay for them. if you repaint, reuse, thrift, etc. an item from your house and it wasn't a garage sale find from 30 years ago, say so. most of the items people list as free/gift are actually pretty spendy (cribs, dressers, chairs) and tend to push a "budget" nursery of listed costs to quite a bit more.

so, yeah. here's finn with his grumpy face:

while i never itemized the cost of our nursery, i did consider it budget friendly for a semi-designer style (we were featured on spearmintbaby.com and ohdeedoh.com, so i can only assume someone thought it was nice). our crib, while a gift, was about $300. the rocker was the splurge, but the ikea furniture, handmade art, and mix and match decor kept our cost quite low. we did receive many items from family and if someone were to want to replicate any of our nursery (or anyone else's!), they probably wouldn't get the same things as gifts.

so that's my vent. if someone paid money for it, ever, to be in your nursery, then it wasn't "free!".

first mother's day

i celebrated my first mother's day yesterday with my most amazing family. finley got me a lovely necklace with an initial (his) charm and took me out for an all day shopping spree (mr. h3b helped). i also enjoyed a mani-pedi the day after my birthday, so i had a fun, celebratory weekend.

mother's day makes me so thankful for my own mother and the time, love, and patience she has given to raise me. (i made that card above for her, in honor of her mom, my grandma, who loved hummingbirds.) having a child make me realize what a special bond that is, and i am so lucky to have my new baby boy and my loving, supportive mother (plus an equally amazing mother-in-law!). i can't wait to watch finn grow and learn and i am excited to see more milestones in his life.

here's my peanut being adorable:

and here we are this weekend after my birthday dinner. finn was a good boy at the restaurant :)

10 weeks

i have a 10 week old! 10 weeks ago, at this very moment, i was just starting active labor. my mom and mr. h3b were talking me through and we were still able to carry on lengthy conversations. now i have a baby that is no longer a newborn. i noticed today, and mr. h3b agreed, that finley has made some sort of growth leap in the past few days. he holds his head up, pushes to stand, coos and squeals, smiles at faces - he just seems to understand and connect with (a tiny bit) the world around him. he loves bath time and is happiest in the mornings. he is learning to put himself to sleep at night (not crying to sleep, but to fall asleep drowsy after a feeding). he is noisiest during tummy time and loves to swat at his toys on the bouncer and playmat.

he had his 2 month well baby on wednesday (we're behind). my little, one month early boy is now in the 95% for height (24 1/4in) and between the 50 and 75% for weight (12lb 3oz). she was pleased with his skills (rolling over and kicking legs all day) and happy to hear that we've started a bedtime routine. she suggested using hydro-cortisone on has face for cradle cap/acne, so we've started that. hopefully his poor face clears up...he's had bad acne for 6 weeks now and i just want a smooth skinned baby face to snuggle with!

tomorrow is my birthday so finn and i plan to go out so we're not stuck inside, alone, all day. then i celebrate my first mother's day this weekend and i am so lucky to both have a fantastic mother (and mother-in-law) and to to be a mother to my wonderful, happy baby. finn is spoiling me with a much needed mani-pedi :)