Love to be Green: 3 Months Old

So my little girl is not so little anymore as she celebrated her 3 month birthday this past week. As you can see from the pictures she is growing more and more each day. She now weighs 15 lbs right on the dot! Raising a child is such an incredible experience because things are always changing. One day it's a big deal that she smiled at us, and then a few weeks later those smiles are accompanied by some "coos" and "ahhs" and it just blows your mind! I wonder what will be next?

Anyways, when the big b-day rolled around, I broke out the camera, stickers, and headband...which is getting fairly tight, and started the monthly photo shoot. It's getting more fun now that her personality is starting to show, as you will see in the many expressions she has in this post. And I love to see how much she has changed in just three short months. See below to compare month 1 to month 3.

Now it's time for the close-up shot!

Seems like her legs are getting longer and that face sure is filling out! Now if you've read any of the last two "birthday posts" you know there's usually some type of blooper or funny moment that happens each time I try to take these pictures, and as expected we had one this month. This time around she was determined to show off some of her standing skills. So when we we taking a break from the pictures, I had her practice standing up on the chair and this made her very happy! Here she is showing of her strong legs.

"Watch me stand up!"

Another highlight of the photo shoot was Avery chewing on her hands. This has been her newest thing in the past month. Sometimes it's a sign that she's hungry, and other times she seems to just do it as a way of exploring and satisfying her urge to chew. And although it's a stretch, I suppose she may be teething...yikes! Let's just say it's her way of learning and exploring right now. Mama is not ready for little teeth to start poking out! Anyone else remember their 3 month old doing this?

"These hands are fun to chew on!"

Onto other aspects of her development, she's been quite active this past month and I've hinted before in some of my posts that she doesn't seem to like doing "baby things" as I can imagine her calling them once she's grown up. For example, she does not like to be held cradled, she wants to be sitting up and facing out. She doesn't like to be just laying on her back, she likes to be propped up or sitting/standing up with support. Make way, Avery is one "grown up" girl!

Tummy Time with the "bonus support" of the Boppy.

"I like to sit up at the counter now!"

"Standing is my favorite!"

Boy do I love her legs!

Sitting up in her Bumbo seat to look at a book.

Also, I've mentioned before how I have loved using this Fischer Price Rock N' Play Sleeper (or Rock N' Roller as we call it), but it seems as though Avery is about to grow out of it since she likes to stand in it now instead of laying in it. Take a trip down memory lane with these two photos of her in the Rock N' Roller. What a change!

3 months old

1 week old.

Farewell Rock N' Roller! We got a lot of use and memories out of you! Stay tuned in the upcoming weeks to see what gadget has replaced the Rock N' Roller! ( :

Now, to tag onto my "Body After Birth" post, one way that I manage to get my workouts done now that Avery is 3 months old is to utilize the MamaRoo gadget we got before she was born. Now when we saw this thing online for the first time, we were sold. We envisioned Avery crying and upset and then putting her in the Mama Roo and it instantly making her happy and content. Let's just say it didn't quite go that way the first time we tried it. We set her in it and she just looked at us like: "Okay guys, you can take me out now."

For the next 2 months or so, I didn't use it much, but it has made a comeback now during my workouts. Basically I try to capitalize on Avery's first 30 minute nap of the day by giving her some time to play in the MamaRoo and then hopefully fall asleep in the MamaRoo. So how do I do this? I make sure she has a clean diaper, been fed, and is relatively tired and then I put her in the MamaRoo and begin my workout. I start the movement (it does 5) and turn on the ocean sounds. She usually chills out, watching the colored balls that hang or looks at a fun book I've propped up for her to see. Then about 25-30 minutes in, she konks out and sleeps for 30 more minutes. During this hour time period, I get my workout in for the day.

By no means is this a fool-proof plan, because some days she'll fall asleep really quickly and then wakes up quickly and then cries to get out of there. Other days she won't fall asleep for a long time, so I just adjust as we go. Sometimes it helps when she holds her little Panda beanie baby to fall asleep. Now I'm not a huge fan of putting her in gadgets all day, every day, but I feel okay about doing this for one hour a day so I can get my workout in as it helps me to stay healthy and take care of her. Just thought you might want to know what I'm doing now to get my workouts in each day at this stage in Avery's development. What other ways do you get your workouts done when you have a baby?

Here's how a typical workout session goes with the help of the Mama Roo...

1. Chill time for the first half

2. Sleepy time for the second half.

Now that you know the low-down on what things are like for Avery at 3 months, here are a few fun pictures to finish the post with. Enjoy!

One of her many funny expressions.

Nothing quite catches her attention like a book...or her Dad!

Just some cuteness!

Well that wraps things up for her 3 month birthday! Anyone else remember fun milestones that accompanied that 3 month mark? I can't wait to see what the next month has in store for us!