3 months!

i am a tad behind....i owe danika her 3 month post! she turned 3 months old this past monday...the same day i went back to work !(BOOOO)
busy busy busy around here, with the holidays coming and me returning to work....we are just trying to get into a new "norm" with all this!

danika is becoming a much happier baby! i think weve got the reflux issues under control...she hasnt volcano puked in eons, doesnt spit hardly at all (just a wet burp here and there), and doesnt cry, scream, and pull her legs up like she used to!!! which is HUGE for me! it used to break my heart every time she would do all that with feeds...she is on prevacid twice a day...and her ped said hopefully when she is 4 months old we can start to wean her off ...if not then, definitely when she starts solids (around 6 months old).

speaking of danika eating...she is still an all breast milk baby! like i have said, i have nothing against formula...i am just very proud of myself for being able to provide breast milk...and not have to supplement with any formula this time. i am even more happy about her rolly polly thighs and her chubby cheeks and her double chin! i am solely responsible for all that chub! and it makes me happy!!!! before i went back to work, we just breastfed 99.8% of her feeds....but now that i am back to work, i pump 3 times at work (i work 12 hour shifts)...feed her when i get home in the morning around 8 and then again when i get up around 4....ive got a huge stash of frozen milk for when i am at work or sleeping....on the days that i dont work...we breastfeed....this was the first week back to work for me...and she seems to switch back and forth from breast to bottle without any big issues! she still eats every 3ish hours (from one side only for about 6-8 minutes) during the day, but this past week its been more like every 2 hours....3 month growth spurt?!!?!? i feed her when i go to bed (around midnight or 0100) and then she still wakes up once around 0400 or 0500 to eat...then back to sleep.

she still sleeps best while being held....but we are working on her sleeping in her bouncy chair or swing...she still also sleeps best tucked up right against me in bed...but we are also still working on "operation-baby-sleep-in-pack-n-play...and we have made progress! we go to bed, i feed her...STAY AWAKE (thats the key, me staying awake!) to put her in the PNP after she eats...then she sleeps there until she wakes for her 04-05 feeding....but i always fall back to sleep at that feeding, so she stays next to me for the remainder of the night...when i am not home, matt just has her fall asleep in her bouncy chair, and he doesnt move her! so she sleeps there until she wakes to eat! im beginning to start to see a loose "schedule" for her...she usually falls asleep around 8-9ish(tonight it was 820), i wake her at MN ish to feed, she wakes around 4-5 to feed...then around 8-9 to feed again...then is awake for about an hour or 2...then sleep...then eat and awake for an hour or 2 then sleep...she does that all day...im glad i am finally figuring her out! i mean, its only taken me 3+ months!!!

she is smiling at us a WHOLE bunch now! and just watches finley and smiles at her all day! she is also "talking" to us a bunch too! tonight i put her down for tummy time and she held her head up off the floor for the entire 5 minutes! she has great head control now too...she hold her head up steady when we hold her on our laps...no more weeble wobble head!
she is still in size 1 diapers...and in size 3 month or 3-6 months clothes.
she has the biggest brightest blue eyes and a dimple on her right side that im in love with!
she still has her dark brown hair in the old man pattern around the bottom of her head with fuzz on top.

we went on our first big trip this past month...we drove 800 miles to florida to visit my family...the drive SUCKED! miss danika "i like to be held" hated the 14 1/2 hours in her car seat...hopefully she will grow out of that, because we drive to florida often!!! (our floirda trip will have its own post...stay tuned!) while we were in florida, we went to the beach one afternoon...a danika "first"~ and wen went trick-or treating! a finley AND danika "first!"

finley still loves danika to pieces! she always wants to hold her, kiss her, burp her, give her medicine to her. if shes crying, finley will come running to me and say "oh no. baby cwy-ing! hu-wee! hu-weee (baby crying, hurry! hurry!)!" then we both go running into the baby so i can pick her up or finley can give her binki to her. she is the best big sister! and i cant wait to watch them grow into best friends~
in this picture, finley had about 15 barrettes in her hair! she just kept bringing them to me and asking "hair bow!?!?!"...shes just to cute for words!!!

matt is loving his two girls too! he is doing more with danika now....the first 3 months i basically took care of her and he was on finley duty. it was just easier that way. well, now that i am back to work, he has to care for her more than he has in the past....and hes doing a stellar job! its not always easy taking care of both girls by yourself....but we are getting it figured out...
we have 2 beautiful girls that are happy and healthy so we must be doing SOMETHING RIGHT!

on a closing note...fin;ey hs pneumonia...good times!