Come on dude, when are you going to let me sleep!

The prior night, Nolan slept 8 hours 15 minutes straight! However, last night he was back to his normal 4, 3, 3 routine. Not sure what to do at this point; am I not consistent enough....are his lack of proper naps hurting his night sleeps (he only takes around two 30 minute naps a day)...should I stop swaddling him...?
I keep reading, and everyone has different recommendations; however nothing worked. The sleep fairy continues to taunt me!

Nolan slept 8 hours!

Not much to say, other than "WOOOOT!" Nolan slept 8 hours last night!

Laughing Fool!

For the past couple weeks, Nolan has been giving us little giggles. Those itself are quite amazing to an overly doting mother like myself.
But today, while I took a shower, my mom played with our little Nolan man. As I came down the stairs after my shower, I hear Nolan heartily LAUGHING!! Not giggling, but a hearty bottom-of-the-belly laugh! Ummm, again, I missed one of Nolan's first!!!! My mom was able to get Nolan's first smile, and now she was able to get his first laugh! At least I was there to hear it shortly after, but kind of breaks my heart a bit that I wasn't able to induce his first laugh myself. I guess my mom is just some kind of "baby whisperer".
From that point on, Nolan has been a laughin' fool! It's like he finally found that little laugh at the bottom of his gut, and now loves to show it off!

I don't know if there's many things better than a baby's laugh!

Flippin' and Floppin'

Nolan is quite the rolly polly already! When I put him on his belly, he quickly flips onto his back.

He isn't able to do belly to back yet, but I'll still add this gold medal to his showcase :)

Slept almost 6 hours!

Last night Nolan slept 5 hours 15 minutes straight! Please tell me 8+ hour sleeps will be coming soon!!

3 months old!

I can't believe that 3 months have passed. It's really exciting, but it is kind of heartbreaking at the same time. Firstly, I really don't want to see my beautiful little baby grow so fast...next thing you'll know he'll be flipping me off and telling me to leave him alone . Secondly, ever day that passes is just one day closer that I have to go back to work and leave my little guy.
I am honestly stressed and heartbroken that I will have to leave him for 8 hours a day - I am already having panic attacks about it. How can I possibly leave him all day?? I miss him even when I put him in bed at night. No joke: I stare at pictures of Nolan at night after I put him to bed.

So what's been happening with Nolan at 3 months? Besides the occasional fussiness while breastfeeding (I produce more than enough for him, but I think he's a bit disappointed in the flow of my milk...sorry kid, you'll have to learn to deal!), he is truly an incredible baby!
For the most part, he is a pretty happy baby as long as he's fed. He LOVES to talk and really tries to imitate what you're saying - when you say "oh" or "ah", he'll make an "oh" or "ah" sound; when you say "hi" in a higher pitch, he'll make a higher pitch "i" sound. Maybe that's normal, but I think it's pretty amazing for a 3 month old!
Oh, another awesome thing! About a week ago, Nolan started giving us little laughs. They aren't the big belly laughs yet, but they little chuckles. Can *almost* make you forget about your exhaustion from only snippets of real sleep at night.

You ask how I'm sleeping now? We've had a couple nights where he's slept 5 hrs straight, but for the most part he does ~4 hour chunk, then two 3 hour chunks (8:30pm to around 12:30am, then awake again at 4:30am, then awake again at 7:30am). I still can't wait until he's sleeping through the night; there are days that I am so exhausted that I dont even get out of my pajamas. Please tell me I will get some real sleep soon - I would cheerfully take 6 hours of straight sleep at this point!

But in all honestly, he is such a sweet, beautiful baby. I could not ask for more. I feel truly lucky to have this little man. I just hope he stays adorable in adulthood, and loves me as much as he does now :)

Did he just say "up"?

My mom and I were sitting on the couch, while I played the "up, down" game with Nolan (I say "up" then lift him so that he can stand on his feet, then say "down" and let him sit back down on his butt). This game is one of Nolan's favorites; I love that babies are so easy to please sometimes!

Then after saying "up", Nolan made a sound that sounded a lot like "up"!!!! My mom and I quickly looked at each other in shock, and both said, "Did he just say 'up' "???
I could not get him to say it again, and I cannot be absolutely sure if he really said it or if it just a higher pitch noise that sounded a lot like "up", but my mom and I heard what we heard....and we say it was "up"!

He must be a genius :)

Sleeping through the night! (technically)

Last night Nolan slept through the night (technically)! I say "technically" because "sleeping through the night", as defined by the baby bibles, is 5+ hours.
For quite a while, we've been able to get a 3.5 - 4 hour sleep, following by another 2 - 3 hour chunk. But last night, he slept for 5 hours 15 min!!!
I will take this win, but I am still really hoping for 8+ hours. This would make mama a very happy - and a bit more sane - woman :)

10 weeks - are you serious?!

I really can't believe that Nolan is 10 weeks old now. I truly enjoy each day more than the last that I spend with my little guy. He is such a little personality!
He smiles all the time and is overall a pretty happy guy. He has his moments, of course, especially when it hits around 8pm....by that point, he's pretty worn out and can have a break-down until he can tire himself to sleep. Besides that, he's an overall pretty happy baby that loves to show off his amazing smile and funny little "what you talkin' bout face".
He also talks all the time. He says his "oohs" and "aahs", but also says things that sound like "wow" and "da" and "ma"....he must be a genius! :)
I guess my biggest stress right now is the thought of going back to work. I am so freaked out about that April 1st date - leaving him everyday will be agonizing! I think my mom will watch him, but I still need to figure out if I should get a part-time nanny since she will be watching Connor 1/2 days, as well. On top of that, I'm freaked about even allowing someone else to put my baby in their car, let alone take care of him all day. I'm really hoping I will be able to cope during the work day without my baby boo....

Just doing my push-ups

Nolan really loves doing his daily push-ups. He has been able to hold up his head since the day he was born. But for quite a while (I'm not sure exactly when, I would say at least since 8 weeks....I really need to keep on top of my blog!) he has been able to push his chest up using his extremely muscular 2 inch guns :)

"Look at my skills, Ma!"

"Let me show off a bit more..."

"Okay, I'm tired now!"