three months of mae

Happy three months, baby girl!

This month brought lots of firsts for Mae... first flight, first visit to the beach, and first visit to Lake George. She also let out her first laugh while we were at the mall with Grandma. We had taken a short break from shopping to feed and change her, and she let out a little yelping laugh while we played!

She first rolled from her back to her tummy just a day shy of 11 weeks, and she rolled from tummy to back on Monday! She had been working at rolling from her back so hard the previous few days and getting pretty frustrated by her shoulder being in the way. Then one day, I laid her on the play mat and walked into the kitchen to get a snack. When I came back to check on her, she was on her stomach... and very unhappy about it! I don't think she considered the consequences of rolling over... more tummy time! She doesn't love it, but she is getting a bit better at tummy time and even smiles sometimes! She also likes when I lay on my back and place her on my shins like an airplane.

Over the last couple weeks, Mae has become much more interested in toys. She reaches out to grab them and tries to shove everything in her mouth. She's gotten a hold of her feet a few times, but hasn't managed to pull them all the way to her mouth yet!

She has really discovered her voice and makes lots of new sounds. I think she learned some words from Oliver last time we visited, since he is so vocal!

Instead of sucking her thumb, Mae prefers to suck on her forearm. She still refuses a pacifier, but she can really go to town on her poor wrist, even to the point of leaving little baby-sized hickies! I let her latch onto my arm while trying to settle her down once, and she left quite a bruise on me!

I'm going back to work in a few weeks, so we've been trying everything to get Mae to take a bottle (different people, different temperatures, different bottles, different locations, different times of day, etc). Auntie Em FINALLY had success getting her to take a bottle while we were at Lake George. She's such a pro. Now we know she CAN take a bottle but is just incredibly stubborn about it. Dan was successful this week too, though it was pretty emotionally exhausting for both him and Mae. We'll have to keep practicing!

Though she's hitting her development milestones, Mae is having some digestive issues and weight gain troubles. I've eliminated dairy and soy from my diet per the recommendation of her doctor, and she seems to be doing better. I have a lot of practice with the dairy-free diet because of Dan's allergy, but soy is in soooo many things! Oh well, maybe this will help me lose a bit more of my stubborn baby weight. (Probably not, since I take this as an opportunity to buy every dairy/soy-free dessert I can find at the grocery store!)

Yesterday we traveled for a girls night with Kelsey, Mom, Emily, Aunt Ruthann, Erin, and Courtney. We had so much fun at dinner! Mae was very well behaved, and it was a fun way to celebrate 3 months!