Sweet Emma at 3 months

From the start, the adjective that has seemed to describe Emma the best is "sweet". She's laid back and lovely.

She was born with long arms and legs, long fingers and toes, and extraordinary strength.

And, as a newborn, she would often sleep with her eyes open. We would joke that she was kind of like an alien.

A very cute alien, but an alien none-the-less. Long finger

s and toes, eyes that open in her sleep, and extra strength that enabled her to tense up her b

ody and struggle against what she didn't like. It usually went something like this:

Me: Is Emma awake? Her eyes are open.

My mom: No, she's just being an alien.

She is also prone to "man burps". It was amazing what huge burps would come out of such a pretty and teeny girl. Ha ha. She does it less now, but she still has skills!

Her hair is dark, but highlighted. Now its looking more red, but when she was first born it almost looked like she had had it streaked. Dark, dark hair with striking golden streaks.

And she's a great sleeper. At one month, 6 days old, she slept from 10 pm - 4:45 am, ate, and then went right back to sleep until 9 am. At two months, 11 days old, she went 10 1/2 hours between feedings. Now its unusual (and probably a couple-day growth spurt) if she wakes up before 4 or 5 am after going to sleep around 7:30 or 8 pm. And sometimes its closer to 7 am!

Ha. I'm glad we had Megan first or I would think it had something to do with my parenting!

Anyway, she's not just advanced sleep-wise. On her two-month birthday we were giving her tummy time on our bed. We looked away for a minute and, when we looked back, she was on her back. Since then, she's rolled over several times for us from belly to back. (Thankfully she's still pretty immobile on her back!)

When she's on her tummy she can lift up her whole upper body in a combination between arm and core effort. And she's just a little bobbly when we hold her in a sitting or standing position. I often put her in the bumbo while I'm making dinner or feeding Megan and she does really well in it. But her favorite is when you hold her by her hands in a standing position. How is it possible for a three month old to be proud of herself? But she definitely looks like she is!

She has been smiling since she was 3 weeks old, cooing since she was a month old, and has started really obviously laughing within the last couple days. She loves to talk and will coo and gurgle at you like nothing else. She especially loves when people coo and gurgle back at her and when they whistle.

She loves her sister and will smile when she catches sight of Megan. Megan will get right in her face with her, "Hi Emma. Hi Emma. Hi Emma." And if Megan is crying or feeling sad, one of her favorite things to do is grab Emma's foot or leg and hug it. Emma doesn't seem to mind at all.

Emma is often surprised, awakened, or shocked by Megan's loud cries, yells of excitement, or temper tantrums (yes, our firstborn is in that stage), so we've had some days and weeks where Emma is just a mess by the end of the day. She just hasn't ever been able to take a long enough nap during the day. But I think she's getting used to it and hopefully Megan is getting to a stage where she'll start to understand about talking quietly.

And just yesterday when Megan was screaming in anger about something and Emma burst into tears, Megan immediately stopped her tantrum and focused entirely on making Emma feel better. "Kiss her. Kiss her." Megan kissed Emma a couple times and Emma calmed down. And so did Megan. What a sweet relationship. I pray it remains so tender.

It does seem like in the past couple days Emma has just turned from a newborn into a baby. She's talking and cooing a LOT more. She's awake for (slightly) longer stretches. And she is enjoying looking at toys. I can now set her in a bouncy chair or her bumbo or on a blanket and she'll be happy for maybe 10 minutes before complaining and wanting a change of scenery. Of course, play that is that close to the ground only happens when Megan is taking a nap!

Emma loves taking a bath. She kicks and coos and has even had two baths now where she hasn't cried at all through the entire process. She doesn't seem to get as overwhelmed by it as Megan used to, which I guess is just another one of those laid-back qualities. She just thoroughly enjoys it. Sadly, she doesn't get to bathe as often as she would probably like because it is such a handful with Megan trying to help.

The poor baby often just doesn't get as much attention or play as Megan did because I'm busy with two. But she is amazing and wonderful and hopefully that relationship with an adoring big sister will make up for it.

The picture of her taking a bath reminds me, though, that one of the things that people always comment on about Emma is her wide eyes. Its true. Its like whenever she is awake she is just trying to take in the entire world with her eyes. Right now they are a beautiful blue and she looks so innocent and sweet looking out at everything.

While Emma is eating or sleeping, she likes to have her arms up. She also likes to grab things. I never want to forget her sweet innocence as she pulls her own hair while she's eating or sleeping!

Sweet Emma, you are loved. I hope you never feel neglected because your mama has two babies to care for, but that you always feel loved and cherished by Mommy, Daddy and Megan. We all love you so much!