The Baby Chronicles: Harrison Jeffrey at 3 Months |

Harrison is three months old! I cannot believe how quickly the time is going. Although some days are indeed long, overall time is flying by and my baby boy is growing tremendously. Read on for new developments and milestones over this past month.

Harrison went for his two-month check on November 16, so he was actually well into his third month.

November 16 stats: 12 pounds, 15 ounces, 23.75 inches long, and 15.75 inches for head circumference. He’s 70th percentile for height and weight, and 40th for head size. A very, very healthy boy!

We’ve been working hard on tummy time and the doctor commented that he has excellent head control. He loves to sit up and look around. It won’t be long before he can use the jumper seat his grandma got him for Christmas.

He’s pretty much now outgrown almost all of his 0-3 months clothes save for a couple of footie pajamas and pants. I was sad to put some of my favorites away but also excited for new outfits for the upcoming couple of months. At the rate he is growing, he will outgrow the 3-6 months before he’s 6 months but we shall see.

His next doctor appointment is mid-January for 4 months.

I am still out on maternity leave. My company has an additional personal leave that employees can take if FMLA and PTO have been exhausted. Due to me being out at the end of the year, I met that criteria and decided to request it earlier in the summer when I was working with my manager on how long I’d be out for. This personal leave is unpaid and un-job-protected so it’s not for everyone but it was within our scope both financially and with risk so I’m out until the very end of January. Having such a supportive management team at work has been tremendous and wonderful. To be with Harrison until he is nearly 5 months old and then go back to a job I feel challenged by and a team that I enjoy being a part of fills me with gratitude.

Harrison is smiling more and more all the time. He is such a joyful baby. He also has been cooing a TON this past month which is sooooo sweet. In the past 2 weeks, he’s been looking at us and smiling, as well as returning our smiles – we’re soaking it all in, trust me.

He also seems to be aware of Stella (and she is OBSESSED with him). She will curl up next to him when he’s laying on the floor or his activity mat and he has started to touch her and hold her hair in his little hands (and she doesn’t even flinch).

I taught Stella Harrison’s name and so when I say “Stella, go get Harrison” she runs over to him and starts giving him kisses, tail wagging. It works wonders when he’s getting a little fussy and I just need another minute to get his bottle or go to the bathroom. Thanks, sweet Stella!

We’re still not on a schedule but try to follow the “Wake, eat, play, sleep” routine. He’s a bit of a snacker though and likes to eat when he wakes up and before he falls asleep, spreading out his feeding. We don’t mind too much but have worked to get him to not fall asleep with the bottle in his mouth by not feeding him in his nursery outside of the middle-of-the-night feedings. So far, it’s going pretty well.

He is up to anywhere from 4.5 to 6 ounces per feeding now, with his biggest ones being his first one in the morning, and after his first nap (also his longest at about 3 hours most days). He is still “cluster” feeding at night, although this is starting to taper off a bit as he’s taking in more calories in earlier feedings. He no longer seems to want to snack constantly from 6-10pm. Whew.

As far as sleep, his bedtime does differ as we don’t have a schedule and know that some days he sleeps more and other days he’s awake more to eat – following a sort of growth pattern. In general, his bedtime is around 9-9.30 most nights, and over the last month went from waking around 3am and 6-7am, then again around 8am to most nights only waking once before his general wake time of 7-8am. We’ve even had a few nights of 8-9 hour stretches. I’ve been surprised that he’s done this mostly on his own – we haven’t “sleep trained” him or anything. We pay attention to his cues, try to give him comfortable naps throughout the day, and a good feeding before bed.

My breast milk supply started decreasing a lot in November and I decided to try supplements to increase production for the 6x per day of pumping. It didn’t work and so I’ve decided to wean off the pump. We were having to give him nearly 50% formula and felt the time not spent with him to be on the pump for decreasing supply wasn’t worth it. It’s hard but ultimately I feel this is right thing based on where we are. He will get breastmilk, albeit not very much, until he’s about 4 months old and then we will be a 100% formula household as my breastfeeding journey comes to a full stop. I still wonder about and feel loss around our lack of a nursing relationship but I’ve had to accept that he didn’t latch for a variety of reasons that were outside of our control and move on. He’s such a sweet, happy baby and I want to spend as much time with him as I can – especially with the extra time off I’ve been able to get that is so far outside the norm for professional women in this country.

Over the past month, Harrison has been able to be more “social” due to his first round of vaccines. He met his Grandpa Ron and Aunt Angie, as well as saw his grandma a few more times. He’s been to Aunt Cherish’s house several times – she even babysat him on my birthday! <3

There are a lot of changes and transitions in very short periods of time and I have found myself deeply affected by some, and not so much by others. His sleep changes were hard for me – he was really screaming after I laid him in his crib for his naps over a couple of days. I felt overwhelmed that he wasn’t going to and staying asleep for me anymore. Feelings of despair and frustration came over me. I talked to Sean and my friends and realized that this was a transition like many others and it was time to let him work on falling asleep on his “own” – and for me that meant less time rocking, swaying him to sleep. I simplified the routine to match what Sean does and it’s been much better. I know it will change again but this has been a good lesson in adaptability.

The pictures below go from early November to early December so you can see his growth. Enjoy! 🙂