Another week has come and gone.  Annabelle officially turned three months at the beginning of the week (even though she hit three months when last’s week update was posted).  I also returned from my work conference trip.  It’s so good to be home.  We had a fun-filled Thanksgiving holiday week at the Davidson household.  Oh how I love the holidays with a baby in the house.

A little more about my trip away from Annabelle now that I’m officially home.  As I mentioned last week, leading up to my leave I started getting a little emotional but once I was at the conference I stayed busy and was in work mode.  Dusty sent me plenty of pictures, videos, and updates to help make the time go fast.

Overall, it was a good trip.  When I returned home I felt as though I had missed so much in those 4 short days.  She seemed to have grown and changed so much when in all reality I’m sure nothing momentous happened.  It was hard returning and having Dusty know more than I did about what was going on.  Since Annabelle’s been born, I’ve been the one that spends the majority of time with her and I was a bit jealous of Dusty knowing more about our little lady than I did (I’m going to have to get used to someone else knowing just as much or more than me when Annabelle goes to daycare full-time in January).  It took me a day or so to feel like things were back to normal and for us all to get back into our typical family routine.  It’s good to be home and I don’t look forward to my next trip away (potentially in the spring).

Annabelle’s a fabulous little eater.  She’s growing like a weed.  I don’t know why I worried so much about her taking a bottle while I was gone.  No need to worry.  And since I’ve gotten home it seems our little lady is having a 3-month growth spurt.  She wants to eat all the time.  She loves her food though and I’m excited to go to our 4-month check-up to see what the doctor says about feeding her solid food.

Because of Annabelle’s growth spurt and with the holiday, Annabelle hasn’t been sleeping very well.  Her naps have been short and few, which has more to do with having family and friends around to keep her occupied than anything else.  And the last few nights she’s been waking up more than just for her usual one-time 3am feeding time.  She’s catching up on sleep though.  As I type this, Annabelle’s taking a nap and has been sleeping for 3 hours.  Yay!  It’s so peaceful and nice for Dusty and I to be able to get things done.

Annabelle loves sticking her hands in her mouth and more specifically eating her thumbs.  She’s not sucking on her thumb but gnawing at it.  I know some babies at this age are teething but she’s not fussy or showing any signs of pain.

Our smiley little lady.  She’s so much fun! Mornings are still our favorite time of day.  Dusty and I snuggle with her in bed and talk to her.  It’s the perfect time because neither of us is busy quite yet and Annabelle is so happy to see us.  She gives us the biggest smiles.  It’s the perfect start to the day.

Oh that pacifier, how she tricks me into believing she likes it one day and then goes back to hating it again.  When I returned from DC she loved her pacifier for about 24 hours and then that was the end of that.  I should be happy that she doesn’t care for it because I don’t have to worry about it becoming a bad habit but I also think it would be helpful in soothing her when she’s not hungry.

I read about all of these babies who are on almost perfect schedules already and it makes me hopeful that we’ll be there soon (I’m trying to be a half-glass full kind of mom).  I wish we were in a better routine but it hasn’t happened quite yet.  I’ve said it before but I think it has a lot to do with me being home during the work week two or three days and then having a nanny and family the other two or three days (and then of course, not always being at home on the weekends to set a good schedule).  I’m not overly worried about getting into a perfect routine and there’s no rush but I excited for our winter break to start so I can really work on a better routine for us both.