Alex is 12-weeks-old. But I’m not saying she’s 3-months-old until November 24th. 🙂

For the most part, she’s a very happy baby. And I imagine some people will be upset with me for saying this, but she’s a good little sleeper too. I put her to bed at 8:00, then I wake her up at 10:00 for a “dreamfeed”. After that she sleeps until 6:30 or so. And when she wakes up she is usually laying in her crib, cooing at the wall. I feel like I need to get a mobile for above her bed, something for her to look at.

She caught her first cold this week. We spent Monday and Tuesday with her in my arms whimpering. That broke my heart and made it difficult to work. We put a humidifier in her room, not sure if that helped her or if it was just the time she needed to get feeling better. I do know that it made the room feel musty and left a gross film all over all of her furniture that I had to clean off. She’s still got a little bit of a stuffy nose, but she’s doing much better. (Far better than her Daddy, who caught her cold. Mommy started to get a little stuffy, but doesn’t have the luxury of indulging a sickness.)

She is a wiggle worm at night, the other night she managed to turn herself around 180 degrees from where she started the night. All of this while bundled up in her swaddler. I think soon I’m going to try leaving one arm unswaddled to start weaning her from the swaddle. It will be interesting to see how that goes and if it makes her move around more or less.

As for me, I’m doing really well and I’m getting more at ease with her going to daycare/school each day. Kevin usually drops her off in the morning, but I had to do that this week while he was out of town. It made me happy to see how happy her teachers are to see her as well as the smile she has for them. But I’m still a little scared she’ll call them “Mom” before she calls me that!

People have asked me things like, “Don’t you just love being a mom, like you were born to do it?” I have a hard time answering that because I don’t feel like I was born to do this. I mean, technically as a female I am designed to bear children. But I still feel like I have been given this sweet little girl by mistake, because I don’t have a clue about what I’m doing. Just doing my best, crossing my fingers and hoping she turns out alright! I think that’s what everyone does.

I know lots of blogging moms write guides about all of the products they found useful for certain stages of their baby’s life. I’ve read several of them and found them kind of interesting. I’m not that much of a baby-gear aficionado, but I do have a couple of items that have been good purchases and some that aren’t so smart.

BOB Infant Car Seat Adapter for Chicco

I’m soooooo glad I bought this. I waffled on it for a little bit, it’s a simple looking thing with a high price tag. But if I hadn’t purchased it I wouldn’t have nearly as many running miles done as I do simply because I wouldn’t be able to run with her in the stroller yet. I’ve put 124 miles on the stroller already. If I didn’t have this adapter I’d have to wait until she’s about 6 months old to run with her!

Bamboobies Washable Nursing Pads

My milk production is far too efficient, I’d soak these too fast, have to wash them every single day and that would be a nuisance. So instead I go through lots of disposable nursing pads. At least the Target ones are cheaper and work just as well, if not better, than the Lansinoh ones. Perhaps these things will be useful later on, but so far I’m unimpressed.

Shrinkx Hips

This belt is supposed to work with the relaxin hormone in the body after birth to help pull the hips back to their previous size (or even smaller!) and I was sucked into the claims. However, I found it incredibly uncomfortable due to my c-section incision. I wore it at night while I slept for several weeks, although it’s supposed to work while you’re sitting around, not laying. Based on how my clothes fit, I’m pretty sure my hips are the same size they were pre-pregnancy. I don’t know if I can credit this thing or not, because I didn’t wear it the way the directions say to nor did I wear it as much as it recommended. I probably shouldn’t have bought it.

Ergo Baby Carrier

I have a mei tei carrier and it’s a pain in the ass to use. This one is sooooo much easier to use. I didn’t buy the infant insert for it, I just rolled up a receiving blanket to bolster her at first. She doesn’t need that anymore, so the infant insert would have been very short-lived plus it looked like it would have been too hot. This carrier was pretty handy when she was sick too, since it allowed her to be snuggled up to me but I still had my hands free. I picked this up through the BabySteals website for a great price, since it’s an expensive carrier. Totally worth it though, even if I’d paid full price.