Oliver Avery Update: 3 Months

Well, three months is actually almost over; Oliver turns 4 months next week. Before it passes by completely, though, I'd like to share some pictures and thoughts from this past month. First, this might be my favorite picture of Oli to date, taken two weeks ago at my grandmother's in Wimberley, Texas:

But I'm getting ahead of myself... Just before he turned three months (the last few days before we left for the US), Oliver and I had several outings (due to the construction going on in the apartment above us... let me just tell you how naps were going due to the noise...). One day, sitting in the food court of a mall, I couldn't help but take a few shots with my iphone (therefore, excuse the quality). Even at that time, Oli was talking, laughing, making fabulous expressions, and interacting so much. He was so easy to take around in the Moby, too, that we had lots of pleasant outings:

By the way, does anyone else see an uncanny resemblance to John in that second photo? Anyway, the sweet boy was (and is) still adoring his baths, too:

But one day before he turned three months, we flew to the US. Let me just say that I wish I could fly like this:

Talk about comfortable! And Oliver was AWESOME. Yes, we gave him some Benadryl, but still, he was good for a 10-hour flight, which is more than I can say for myself sometimes! And he adjusted to Houston time beautifully. Although he woke up a few times during the first night, he was back to sleeping 7-8 hour stretches by the fourth night, which again, is more than I can say for myself. :-) We also began sleep training while in Houston. It killed me to let him cry, but he had recently begun waking himself up over and over again at night (the two weeks before we left for the US), so we decided that even if I could rock or nurse him to sleep the first time, I couldn't do it 15 times each evening... So he had to learn to fall asleep on his own. A little history: this kid hasn't drifted off on his own since he was three weeks old. Aren't babies supposed to sleep?!?!?! Not this boy... When he gets tired, he just gets mad; he doesn't fall asleep without a lot of help. So, the training began. And he did quite well, actually. We started by only tackling falling to sleep on his own, not necessarily falling back to sleep on his own. He still only takes about 30 minute naps on average (one battle at a time, friends), but at least he's falling asleep on his own, with less and less crying each time. Maybe more info than you wanted, but that's a big part of our life right now.

His awake time, though, is what's really been the most incredible. While in Houston, he got a lot of quality time in the bouncer where he showed off his hand-eye coordination skills by batting and grabbing the hanging toys (thank you, Browns for the loan!!!).

And he experienced his first photo shoot where we made him sit up... Isn't he such a little man?!?! I just adore some of these expressions:

He had a little trouble staying up the whole time, sweet thing:

He also got to wear dad's hat a few times when it was sunny outside:

And in Wimberley he really mastered his army crawl stance (because, yes, mom finally got with the program and made him have some tummy time...):

He even had his first few swims and hung out on the towels afterward:

Since we've returned home, the time-change transition has been a little rougher. He slept from 3 am to 10 am today... We're working on it. But he's happily gone down for two naps today (albeit only 30 minutes each). I think his nighttime sleep is hindered not only by the time change but also by his development, though. He had a big day when we returned from the states! He rolled over for the first time and sat up in his Bumbo:

He even hung out happily while I made dinner:

And though I missed catching his rolling over the first two days, I finally got it on film this morning. I have no idea how to post a video here (I'm sure I'll figure it out one day), but I promise, grandparents, that I will send it to you asap.

I'm not sure about his stats; I think he's around 15 pounds... But he has his 4 month check up next week, so I'll give you the details then. In the meantime, sorry this got so long, but I hope you enjoyed seeing how fast he's growing up!