Whitney is THREE months old!

I know I will regret saying this, because as soon as I let this "out there", time will instantly move into "fast forward" mode and I will want things to slow down. But I must say...things are perfect right now. She's not growing up "too fast" and she's certainly not going "too slow". I love watchign Whitney learn new things everyday, and she is still my cuddly little baby. I hope she will always want to snuggle and stare into my eyes the way she does now (and has done since she came home).
Whitney doesnt have another doc appointment until next month, but Eric jumped on the scale with her and got "15 lbs, 10oz.", and then he measured her with a tape measure and she's roughly 23.5 inches. She wears size 1/2 diapers, but will soon be into 2's. She cant war too many newborn clothes anymore but I sure tried to squeeze some of 'em on her body so I could get one last picture in them! She wears 3 month, 0-3 month, or 3-6 month clothes, depending on the brand. She has some 6 months shorts that make her look like a big girl, but they technically fit. Almost all of her shoes/flip slops fit, and more than one person has said "she's finally growing into those bows!!" :)

Our Daily Schedule:
Our schedule is still not a set "schedule" each day. We are still not out and about as much as I would like, but there are several reasons/excuses for that. A) Its freakin HOT here. So we try to take a walk everyday, but it is BRUTAL unless we go EARLY or LATE...and she is usually sleeping at the ideal times. B) It costs money to join any of the "My Gym" kinds of places. C) While Whitney is fun and extremely happy, there really isnt much she can "DO" right now. The splash park wouldnt be fun for anyone involved. The library doesnt have a program until she is 6 months old. And the playground is ummm...she's 13 weeks old. Not gonna happen. We go to my mom and dad's at least once a week, and the usual errands happen. And we go to friends' houses on the weekends,and church every Sunday. So I guess, now that I think about it, we ARE out and about quite a bit....it just doenst FEEL Like it somedays :)

Activity:
Whitney is VERY active now. She plays in her exersaucer, her jumperoo, her bumbo, her playmats, her bouncy, her swing, her crib (talks to her mobile), and with me! Whitney has recently discovered the joys of Blue's Clues, too. She LOOOVES her some Blue! Before I list shows she has enjoyed at some point or another, I dont want yall to think I stick her in front of the TV all day long. She watches TV when I am in the shower or making lunch or dinner or if I am cleaning/doing laundry. So dont judge. :) She squeals and really kicks when she sees Little Einsteins and Blue's Clues, but she has seen almost any animated children's show out there/on Noggin/Disney. She loves staring at herself in the mirror and watching me talk on the phone. She thinks its sooo funny. :) In the last 3 days, Whitney has learned that she can use her hands, and has even passed items from one hand to the other. Often, when she grasps an item, she will shake her arm back and forth as fast as she can! She is still not a BIG fan of books, but she does seem to like some flashcards I have. And the Baby Einstein book that has a mirror on every page is pretty fascinating. :)

Sleeping/Napping:
Whitney can sleep anywhere, anytime. She continues to be a good sleeper at night, and takes at least one long nap most days. No matter what time she goes to bed at night, she is awake between 7-7:30 every morning. She has slept in her crib for quite a while and seems to really like it. We close her blinds, turn on her nightlight, turn on her white noise, swaddle her up, say quick prayers, give her kisses, and put her in her crib. She is usually awake when we lay her down, but quickly falls asleep on her own. When she wakes up in the morning, we hear her coooooing and talking to her mobile, and she now talks to her hands. :) She is soo happy when she wakes up! I LOVE going into her room and peeking over her crib! She lights up and smiles SOOO big! Its the best feeling in the whole world!
Her naps are not at exactly the same time each day, but pretty close. She's usually sleepy by 11am and will sleep from 45 minutes to 4 hours...just depends on how tired she is and how busy we are. If she is sleepy, we give her the binky and a blankie and she is out. It could be in my arms, my mom's arms, a friend's arms, a couch, her swing, her crib, the floor....it doesnt matter. She can sleep anywhere. And Whitney is amazing in that she can take a 10-15 minute power nap and be smiley and happy again when she wakes up. :) I dont know ANY baby who can go from SLEEEEEEPY to SMILEY in under 15 minutes the way Whitney can :)

Eating:
Whitney is eating 6oz bottles every 4-5 hours during the day. She gets a warm 8oz bottle with rice cereal at night (8pm-ish), and typically lasts 5-7 hours before her next bottle. I am going to start phasing out the middle-of-the-night bottles, as I think they are just habit now, and not something she NEEDS. The last few nights she has stopped at 3oz and passed out in my arms. So last night I just gave her the binky and re-swaddled her, and she slept for another 2.5 hours, leading me to believe the bottle was more habit than necessity. We'll see...
We tried rice cereal on a spoon this month and Whitney did pretty well! She didnt gag or push the spoon out with her tongue as much as I anticipated, and she opened her mouth WIDE, ready for the next bite. :) The bottles have been holding her over longer again, so we are going to wait on cereal (on a regualr basis) for a little longer.

Personality:
Whitney, quite simply, has the BEST personality of any baby I know. :) I think she took allll the good parts of all the babies at the daycare I worked at, and none of the tough/difficult/yucky traits. :) She is truly my PERFECT baby. She smiles at EVERYONE and is just so easy to please. She STILL hasnt shed one tear (and i know I will about DIE when she finally does), and she doesnt really "cry" at all. We heard our first true belly laughs this month, and they melted my heart! She laughed out loud once for me when we were playing on the floor. But stopped when I got the video camera out. Then she laughed again for me and my mom. But only once. And then....Eric made her fly. And she thought that was the FUNNNNNIEST thing EVER! So we got that on video and watch it over and over. :) She squeals in between her belly laughs, and that just makes me tear up every time! She is soooo perfect! :)
Whitney LOVES other kids. She went to her friend Emiley's 6th brithday party this month, and she LOVED watching all the "big" kids (3 year olds) play and run and have fun. She also REALLLLLY loves her cousins Kyle and Dean. She smiles at them and stares, wide-eyed, at every move they make. :) (And they are soooo good with her!) We have heard from more than one person "she is such a GOOD baby!" and "she is so easy-going/laid-back/content!" These are such HUGE compliments and we just LOVE hearing it over and over :) And of course, we ALWAYS hear "she is soooo cute!" everywhere we go. (Hey...its MY blog for MY kid...i can brag all I want.:))

Pictures:
Proof of her cuteness :)
Whitney Faith Bass, 4 days old:


Whitney Faith Bass, One Month Old:


Whitney Faith Bass, Two Months Old:


Whitney Faith Bass, Three Months Old:



The Bass Family, 5 days old:


The Bass Family, One Month Old:


The Bass Family, Two Months Old:


The Bass Family, Three Months Old:


And some outtakes from the photo shoots :)