Dear Joel, (Three Months!)

Dear sweet baby Joel, you're three months old! (And I'm nearly three weeks late in finishing this letter to you, but I think it's better late than never.) You're growing and blossoming so much lately, and it's so much fun.

This month, you started sucking on your fingers to soothe yourself to sleep. This has been such a wonderful and welcome development, and aside from that, you just look so darn cute doing it! You seem to prefer the left hand, and you switch back and forth between the first two fingers and the middle two fingers. Sometimes you get all three in there, but then you wiggle around for a while until you figure out which one needs to go. Adorable!

You love being worn, and you take many of your naps during the day on either Papa or me. We've both done a few back carries with you already, but mostly you ride around happily on one of our chests, cooing and smiling and taking in your world. Every once in a while when one of us puts you in the carrier (and more often in the evenings) you will fuss a bit as if to say, "But I don't want to go to sleep!" Your upset times are almost always short-lived, and you settle down for snuggles and sleep relatively easily.

One place you don't refer to be, though, is in the car. Whoo, baby, you sure do dislike being in your car seat! If we're all in the car together, sometimes I end up in the back seat wedged between you and Daniel, trying to help you to calm yourself while we're driving somewhere. You have trouble finding your hands (to suck on) when you're in the car seat, so we've tried different ways of using blankets to prop your arms up... but we don't have any solid solution yet. For now, we're just trying to take shorter trips in the car and avoid putting you in the car in the evenings at all (when you're more likely to get upset more quickly). We also make frequent stops to nurse and cuddle, and generally try our best not to find ourselves in the car during busy times of day so that we don't get stuck in traffic when you're feeling upset.

You're fairly sensitive to being in a wet diaper, and we've found that it's one thing that makes traveling by car more displeasing to you. (Perhaps the buckle presses on your diaper in a way that makes it even more uncomfortable than usual?) In any case, I've taken to including twice as many diapers as I think we'll need when we go out in the car so that I'm sure to have enough to help you be as comfy as possible.

In other potty-related news, we've begun practicing elimination communication (EC) with you this month, and we're all having lots of success! In fact, the very first time I tried to potty you, you went pee almost immediately. Papa and I have figured out that the majority of the times when you cry now seem to be caused by a diaper issue or the fact that you simply need to pee or poop. EC has felt so much easier and more intuitive with you than it was with Daniel, and you really seem to prefer to not use a diaper. It's really different, and also quite fun!

You still sleep a lot, but when you're awake (aside from being in the car or needing help with potty) you are very content and smiley. You smile at people other than your family who engage with you, and you don't mind being held by other friendly adults, either. You're spending more of your awake time exercising your voice and practicing talking. Daniel enjoys interpreting your coos and letting me know what he thinks you're saying or asking for in any given moment.

Every day I feel grateful that you chose to join our family. I'm just so happy to get to witness your joy and experience mothering you. You are truly amazing!

Love,
Momma