three months.

Three months...THREE MONTHS! Our little Brooks has officially graduated from the "newborn" stage and boy, is he changing—rapidly changing.

For one, my cuddly little baby no longer likes to be held like a baby. He is so interested in the world around him that he constantly wants to be propped up on my shoulder or standing in my lap looking around. With eyes wide open our wiggle worm takes it all in, noises and all. As far as noises go, he now startles at loud or abrupt sounds, gets really excited by the squeaks, crinkling, and crunching of toys, and loves to listen to mommy talk and sing.

Some important dates that I want to remember:

On Valentine's Day, Brooks got his first set of shots. More on that day here.

Brooks suffered from his first case of diaper rash and it was bad, really bad. He would cry every time he had a number two (which were really acidic (TMI?)) and scream every time we used wipes on his little heiny. So, on February 15th, we made the switch to cloth diapers. Within a few days the rash was gone! And surprisingly, even after being spoiled by the ease and convenience of disposables, I love, love, love cloth diapering. I will never go back to disposables!

On February 16th, we moved Brooks to the Moms On Call "8-16 Weeks" schedule. 8 days later, on the 24th, he slept through the entire night! We put him down at 8:30 and he didn't wake up until 6:45. He did rustle around a bit and made a few noises, but he never cried and soothed himself back to sleep! The next night he woke up for a diaper change, but went without a feeding. The next night, on the 26th, he slept from 8:30-7:00! We haven't turned back since (except for an occasional diaper change or if he gets out of his swaddle—we have a little Houdini on our hands). He has been sleeping so well, I now have to wake him at 7:00 for his morning feeding. Knock on wood.

Brooks has good nap days and not-so-good nap days. On the good nap days he sleeps for the two hour max and is not a happy camper when I wake him up. There is no telling how long he would sleep for if I didn't wake him! On the not-so-good nap days, he naps for about 30-45 minutes and then crashes again right before his next feeding, which I wake him up for. The good news is, his bad nap days don't affect his nighttime sleep habits. It is just more tiring for momma :)

On February 19th little JB held a block on his own for the first time and put a rattle in his mouth. On the 22nd, he started actively reaching for and playing with the toys on the activity mat. Now he sticks anything and everything into his mouth and can pull his paci out of his mouth. A couple of other things he likes to grab and hold on to? My hair and necklace. He is also becoming extremely interested in my phone. UH OH. And so it begins...

Little man is chunking up a good bit. I cannot wait to see how much he weighs at his 4 month well check-up. On February 23rd we adjusted the straps on his car seat to accommodate our growing boy. He can still fit into some 0-3 month clothes and true 3 month outfits, but they are rather snug. He fits best in 3-6 month outfits and can wear a handful of 6-9 month clothes. BIG BOY! The more rolls, the better I always say.

My favorite date this month: March 6th. Why, you ask? Brooks laughed for the first time! OH, MY, PRECIOUSNESS. It was after his bath, right before his nighttime feeding when he becomes a bit fussy. I put him on my knee and started to do "ride the little horsey" and he thought that it was the most fun/funny thing in the whole wide world. John was in the kitchen fixing a bottle and ran over to video it. I am so thankful he was around for this "first" and that we actually captured it! I could watch that video all day, every day. Priceless.

On March 11, Brooks discovered his thumb. When he isn't sucking on his paci or toys, the thumb is starting to become the finger of choice to stick into his mouth. Another "uh oh." I really hope we don't have a thumb-sucker on our hands!

Not only is Brooks sticking anything and everything in his mouth, but he is also drooling...A LOT. I don't think that he is in the beginning stages of teething, though. We will see.

Brooks' new thing is to reach down to his privates while I am changing him...boys.

He massages anything that he can get his hands on when taking a bottle. Typically it's one of my fingers and it gets me every time. He also likes to hold the bottle (with my help, of course) and stare into my eyes. I get a heart-melting grin every so often and I swoon. Also, he is taking 5-6 ounce bottles on average during the day, and a 7-8 ounce bottle at night.

Brooks caught his first cold this month and we have been battling it for almost two weeks. He is really congested and sneezes a lot. At night he coughs and sneezes up a storm. I listen to him do it from about 5:00-6:00 a.m. and it just breaks my heart. He seems to be doing better, but we can't shake the stuffy nose! Allergies maybe?

Our buddy is sprouting more hair! Goodbye dark fuzz, hello blonde hair.

If he is napping on the boppy his eyes have to be covered with one of his lovies. It is hysterical. Once he is asleep, I lift it away from his little nose and mouth so that he can breath. I love that he loves to sleep with something over his head...just like his momma! If he is sleeping in my arms, he loves to burrow his head into my arm. Again, I am always afraid of him suffocating, but this babe loves for his eyes to be covered! Another cute sleep habit? Holding his hands together like a little angel. It is so sweet.

You are our angel, John Brooks. This month has been so fun and mommy and daddy love seeing your cute little personality shine. Not a day goes by that we don't thank the Lord for you and your health. You are perfect in our eyes. Really. We look at you and think, "this little man is the cutest, most precious baby on the whole earth." Happy THREE months, Brooks! We love you.