3 months and 3 years

Both my girls are THREE! One's measured in months, the other in years, but either way, we've got some milestones to report! 

Here's one fun "first"—first time in matching outfits! 

Claire turned 3 months on Feb. 1. She weighs around 10-10.5 pounds, I estimate (no doctor appt this month), still my petite little girl. People comment in public how little she seems, guessing that she's younger than she is. She just moved up to a size 1 diaper this week and is starting to wear 3 month clothes. She still wants to nurse every 2 hours or so when she's with me, and is eating four bottles of almost five ounces each during the school day. She holds her head up wonderfully, is cooing so sweetly, and is close to rolling over! She did roll over from back to front once on accident, and when she woke up this morning, was practically turned over and quite upset about it!

She's sleeping through the night! She had a little relapse this past weekend, I believe the consequence of my bragging on her Friday night, but right at three months at least, she was sleeping through the night! :0) She sleeps from around 9pm to 5am, give or take a half hour, wearing her SwaddleMe blanket (with her arms free) and her Sleep Sheep playing whale sounds as she drifts off. I rock and nurse her to sleep, which is something I'm theoretically opposed to, on the grounds that babies should be put down awake or else they won't learn to fall asleep on their own—but she sleeps for eight hours, and it works for her, so I'm good. We give her a paci, but she doesn't really care about it much, preferring her hands, or better yet, a nipple.

Zantac and gas drops have helped her reflux some. She still spits up a lot, and prefers to be nursing or in the sling to any other position. She doesn't like the swing (it's the Graco Soothing Center, but she didn't get the memo that it is supposed to soothe her!) but will sit in her bouncer or on her play mat for a while on her own. She has a sweet disposition, smiling and cooing at us, and we love her so much!

Kate turned three years old on Jan. 28. She's a wild and crazy girl, very active, very strong-willed. She is perfectly average in height and weight, and true-to-size. Her hair lost its natural ringlets in the last six months (bummer!) but is still so long and pretty. She's had several haircuts, and chooses a bow or ponytail every morning. She also picks her own outfits and, fortunately, we rarely butt heads about it! (That is, she's generally open to guidance about what top and tights go with her chosen jumper, etc.)

She says and does the funniest things, and we have so much fun together. She's old enough to talk about things and make plans together. She's also maddening in her insistence on her own way and her meltdowns when she doesn't get it. She's been especially mercurial since Claire's birth. She loves her sister so much, hugging and kissing her all the time, but definitely shows signs of jealousy when we pay too much attention to Claire. Kate is potty trained during the day, wearing a pull up at night, but—ahem—knows how to get our attention away from Claire and back onto her when necessary. It's very frustrating. But she's been doing very well lately. (The cat, on the other hand, has started pooping in the dining room. What the heck?!)

Kate's favorite toys are baby dolls, pretend food, and puzzles. I love that she's getting to the age where we can play games, like the Memory game she got for her birthday, and I love doing several puzzles with her before bedtime. She hates going to bed, and spends much of bedtime standing on her head (to keep us from taking off/putting on shirts) and jumping off the bed. Kate is the life of the party with people she knows well, but clams up and takes a while to open up with new people and in new situations. Her daddy and I can definitely understand that!

One of those "new situations" is gymnastics class. She's been three times now, and shows some anxiety for the first part of class, finally loosening up for the latter part. She loves all the equipment at the gym, and loves watching the big girls do their fancy tumbling, both at the end of the class that meets before hers and on YouTube. She also likes to watch herself in the one video we've taken at gymnastics. I'll take my nice camera for some good shots soon! In the meantime, here's Kate on the zip-line!