Ju is 3 months old and starting on his fourth. He's one of the calmest and most predictable babies in terms of his sleep and feeding needs. He hardly gets colicky except for one occasion when he screamed blue murder as he choked on his bottle. I had to abandon the bottle and rock/carry him to calm him down. He survived his first set of vaccinations (at 2 months) without side effects, even though he cried inconsolably after being fed the Rotavirus vaccine. His only issue now at 3 months is hair loss -- lots of it. His left side looks like a dog took a chunk out of it because it's near bald. He's ironically got less hair than at birth, but he's also lost quite a bit of his baby fat on his face. He looks pretty big for his age, people always express surprise when we tell them he's only 3 months old. He's hit quite a few milestones and remains the adorable center of attention for his grandparents and relatives.
Feeding
Ju takes an average of 120ml to 140ml per feed, an average of 8 feeds a day. It's consistent for his weight (7kg last I checked) and he is drinking mostly formula now that my breastmilk is drying up. I suppose it's my fault for not being consistent with the breastfeeding. Even my morning yield (when I express) has dwinded from 150ml to a measly 60ml this morning. I've given up expressing in the day. Ju is fine with it.
Sleep
Ju sleeps through the night now. He has his last feed from 9 to 9.30pm and sleeps till 6.30am at the earliest. Sometimes he can go till 7.30am. He still naps usually after each feed, but skips one or two in the afternoon. People ask us how we got him to sleep through, but we really didn't do anything I'm afraid. Maybe Ju's system is able to self-regulate his sleep cycles, it appears that your body's (including babies) ability to regulate its cycles -- breathing, sleeping, eating -- has a lot to do with your brain's reaction to stress and its ability to cope with it. Of course the worse your sleep, the more stress you experience and the worse your sleep, and so on in a vicious circle.
Speech/Attention
Since my last report, Ju has been able to focus his attention on moving objects. He loves looking at anything that moves and emits sound. Basically he's crazy about his battery-operated mobile that blasts music and light. It's a great distraction when he's cranky as well and does wonders for his mood. He's also been "talking" a lot; in addition to the "ah-goo's" he likes to squeal, gurgle and laugh, sometimes at the top of his lungs. He is most talkative when he observes and hears adults interacting with each other or singing to him. He's also able to smile in recognition when he sees me or Daniel. Funnily, he's taken to smiling at almost everyone recently.
Motor Skills
Perhaps his most visible milestone has been his fine motor skills. He graduated from thumb sucking to fist sucking and tugging at his blanket and whatever cloth material he can get his hands on. At first it wasn't coordinated at all, he would pull and tug as if by instinct but yesterday I noticed him examining his hands intently as he played with his sheep, Sepp. It was as if he was noticing how he could get his fingers to grasp and pull. Since this week he has also been able to bring his two hands together and clasping has become his new favourite pasttime. He likes to bring them to his mouth too, as if testing the contours and shape of his fists. He still sucks on his thumb when he is hungry or sleepy.
His neck has become much stronger and he can hold it up most of the time although it still sways precariously at times. We put him on his tummy (tummy-time) each day to help him with his neck. He isn't crazy about it, but a minute a day is good enough.
Cradle cap
His cradle-cap has improved since we switched to Dentinox shampoo for cradle cap. I'm too lazy to rub the olive oil on his scalp every day. His scalp doesn't flake anymore but sometimes I like to pick off the looser bits, taking a couple of hairs with it as well. The yellowish patches are mostly confined to the front of his head, on the fontanelles. I don't know if it's related to the hair loss, but everyone whose baby has had it confirms that it lasts a couple of months.
Overall, Ju seems quite happy to be taken out for walks in his stroller. He doesn't fall asleep in the car anymore and pays rapt attention to the stuff outside the window unless he is yelling in protest when the car is stationary. He still gets tormented by hiccups and they can drive him crazy sometimes. He seems to be better behaved when I am not around, i.e. I seem to have to offer him a comfort-suck on the breast when he has trouble taking his naps. Other than that, he's the model baby!
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