Austin at three months old

This little guy is getting more fun every day. He’s smiling consistently and loves everyone right now.

He’s smothered by his sister on a regular basis. Olivia, especially, loves taking care of him. There are a lot of times when I have him on our bed and I’m going to get his sleeper and diaper and I come back to find her curled up around him keeping him company.

And Emelia loves to touch all over his hands, feet, and face (and head and tummy and so on) even when I’m like, “Dude, stopppppp smothering him. Stop kissing his hands!” This upcoming winter flu season is going to be BAD, y’all. She loves him so much.

But truth be told, he’s pretty darling.

Stats

Nicknames:  Little man, Austie

Weight: ?

Length: ?

Diaper size: 1

Clothing size: 3-6 months (He needs them for the length, but can still fit into some 0-3 month clothes)

Eating

He’s only been waking to nurse about once a night, usually around 4:00 am. He’s been doing so well nursing, and nurses great when I lay in bed with him at night. He’s just doing so great, and I have to assume the tongue-tie revision did its job and he’s at least adequately getting all he needs from exclusively nursing.

It’s to the point where I have started feeling like we should at least do a bottle once a day, since I’m pumping most mornings. But luckily, he’s still doing well taking his bottles, because I remember once Emelia was exclusively nursing, she started HATING bottles and it was difficult giving them to her.

So all in all, no complaints here. He’s doing a great job. I’m definitely getting used to nursing him more in public and feeling comfortable. We do it a lot. A lot. Pretty much everywhere we go in public, he will inevitably demand to nurse. But I also leak a ton, probably due to still trying to regulate the slight oversupply from exclusively pumping. Oddly, I didn’t do this with Emelia so I assumed I wouldn’t with Austin, but I’ve had to start wearing breast pads which I hate because they constantly bunch up as soon as I actually go to nurse him.

I’ve noticed he’s the least spitty of my babies. He has moments of spit-ups, but it’s not too bad so far. Whereas the girls would upchuck their entire stomach periodically on me, he *knock on wood* hasn’t come close to that. He seems to not have much reflux in general, which I’m so thankful for.

Sleeping

Just like his eating, he’s doing really well sleeping. He started waking only once a night most nights which is nice because I can handle that. He’s definitely the quietest sleeper of my babies. Emelia especially was so noisy and grunty and he really doesn’t do much of that when he’s going to sleep.

I’ve still been putting him down in his crib at night around 7:30 and then Chris gently carries him out in front of him like a little baby bomb ready to explode right to our bedroom to the bassinet before we go to bed ourselves. So far, he seems to transition okay and for the most part stays asleep.

He sometimes sleeps in his crib for naps and sometimes, most of the time, it’s in my arms. Which is fine. It’s not going to be forever, and I love these baby snuggles. Though it’d be nice to get something done during the day periodically. I have noticed though, he’s not as willing to do skin to skin anymore. Not as much as I want to. Which is sad. He just seems to wiggle and fuss and not settle as easy anymore.

Milestones

In addition to smiling ALL THE TIME, he’s now started to laugh a little bit and I swear, it’s my favorite thing about the baby stage. He’s making more noises and cooing. He loves watching his sisters and stares at them so intently before breaking out into a huge smile (and maybe a squeal or two).

He does have torticollis, on his right side, so we have to see PT for that. I had asked the chiropractor awhile back why all three of my kids had torticollis and she said it was probably due to the way my uterus is shaped.

So we have to do the PT thing again, but I did get on Emelia’s former PT’s schedule only it’s not for six freaking weeks, and even the next available appointment is still five weeks out. So I guess I’m just going to keep up with the chiropractor and doing the inversion therapy and stretches the chiropractor recommended while we wait.

It’s stressful, wondering if the torticollis will get worse, if the head flatness will get worse, if he’ll need a helmet. We’re trying to increase the tummy time, especially since he likes to sleep like that, so I will just get out whatever crochet project I’m working on and sit next to him while he naps and isn’t sleeping on his flat spot.

Luckily, his pediatrician is really cool and realistic and tells us, hey, you are doing the best you can. If he likes to sleep in one particular position, there isn’t much you can do about that.

Personality

What can I say? He’s happy. He’s chill. He lets you know when he wants something (mainly being held or boobs), but otherwise, he pretty much goes with the flow. Which I guess you have to be being the third baby and you have two older sisters who demand a lot of attention.

But he just seems like he loves observing and thinks everything he looks at is amazing.

Health

I guess I covered it all above, but his tongue-tie revision seems to have helped and is healed and done with. He needs physical therapy, but that isn’t until the end of August (holy crap), so we’re doing the best we can at not making his flat-headedness any worse.

But reflux and gas aren’t really an issue. I think doing the inversion on him once a day before bed and occasional tummy rubs and gas drops have really helped reduced his gassiness.

Likes

His sisters (duh). Nursing. Meeting people. Being held. Baths. Being swaddled. His activity mat. Diaper changes. The ceiling fan. His wrap (as long as I’m walking around).

Dislikes

Pacifiers. He used to take them for the most part, but after his tongue tie revision, he won’t take them at all anymore. I don’t know if it just feels different inside his mouth now, or what, but we don’t even use them anymore, unless he’s really fussy before bed and Chris is walking him around.

Undecided about

Tummy time. His bouncer. Car rides. Being put down to sleep. His high chair and participating in dinner time with us. Walks in the stroller. To be fair, it’s been stupid hot and we haven’t been able to get out this month as much as last month.

Looking forward to

Hmmm, the weather not being so hot and humid? Not likely to end soon since we still haven’t hit August. But for sure seeing him grow and interact with his sisters more and more.

See also:

Austin at 2 months

Austin at 1 month