James is Three Months Old

James is three months old today and has already grown and developed so much since his birth.  I like to think that we are settling into a nice groove here, but in a blink of an eye, things will begin to change.  The month of May is a busy one, as the girls have finished up dance classes but have many end-of-the-school-year activities in place.  We also have a certain little boy in our house who will be turning 3 years old in a couple of weeks!  Birthday plans are underway!

To be honest, James spent the first couple of months mostly in his sleeper pajamas due to the comfort and warmth of them; a perk of having a winter baby.  We have since started dressing him a little more regularly with onesies and pants, and I don't think that he could possibly be any more adorable!

He even donned a little sweater for one of our outings.  A little big for him, yes.  But, he was definitely warm and cozy, if the peaceful look on his face didn't already give that away.  In fact, most rides in his car seat result in a nap.

Speaking of the car seat, we discovered that he is able to ride without it in the stroller if we so choose.  This picture was taken on his first ride in the stroller without the car seat. 

The only drawback of that little milestone is that he isn't as likely to drift off to sleep in this new position if we go for a walk.  And let's face it, most of our walks go a little more smoothly if the little man is quiet and content!  Especially if we are planning a trip down to the park and the older kids want to play for a bit.

The last two weeks have begun the "drooling phase."  Some kids seem to bypass this stage all together, but not mine.  All of my babies have been big droolers and require multiple bib changes throughout the day.  It also means that most pictures show them with a bib on.  And this will continue for a couple of months, even when they don't cut their first tooth for quite some time.

James is just a naturally happy baby and will smile for anyone.

A little smirk for his momma:

Look at those blue eyes!  I am pretty sure that we are going to have another blue-eyed child for our family (to join Sophia).  And wouldn't that be something?  Especially since his papa (and the man that he is named after) has the brightest blue eyes.

The best news of all for this month is that James transitioned perfectly to his crib and is consistently sleeping in it from about 9 pm to anywhere from 3 am to 6 am.  Yes, 6-9 hours at a time.  And when he wakes up, he gets changed, nurses and then goes back down again for another couple of hours.  Eventually, I plan to move his bedtime up a little bit, but for right now, it works better for us to get the three older kids down for bed at 8 pm before we begin his bedtime routine.

His bedtime routine remains the same: he gets a bath, fresh pajamas, usually a bottle of pumped milk (about 4 oz.) and then nurses until he is full.  Then I rock him to sleep before transferring him to his crib upstairs.  Right now, I have a comforter folded in his crib, like a soft pillow.  He seems to do so much better when he is propped on that initially.  Eventually, he moves down and is laying flat. 

If he isn't awake by the time the other kids are up, they beg to be able to go into his room with me to get him.  He never seems to startle and loves seeing them looking into his crib.

Anytime that James is on the ground and within reach, they are never far from him.  And I love that.

Overall, I couldn't be any happier as a mom these days.  The kids all just love their little brother so much and never miss an opportunity to hold him, play with him, ride behind him in the van (the girls actually had to start a 'sign-up sheet' so that they could keep track of who got to ride behind him in the van last) or cuddle with him.  He is such a good baby -- I can't say it enough -- and has made the last three months a joy for us.