3rd child

In the past week or so, L has learned to belly laugh, reach out and grasp things, is struggling to sit up, and is enjoying a few toys.

Watching my third child master these milestones is just as exciting as watching my first two. It may even be a bit more fun, as I don't worry as much as I did with my first. My worrying definitely lessened with my second (but I did do a lot of comparing between him and his brother), but this time I just feel joy when she accomplishes something new and I'm not wondering when she'll do the next new thing, and I'm definitely not comparing her to her brothers! I can see at 5 & 6 that they are both fine -- even if one did walk at 9 months and the other at 13. In fact, my late walker is a much faster runner now.

I remember that I kept a detailed Excel spreadsheet with C -- tracking when he ate, when he slept, when I changed his diapers and what kind of diaper!! Then I would average out the information for daily and weekly numbers and check it against developmental charts to see if he was sleeping enough, etc. It makes me laugh to remember those days now!! I definitely had more time then, but I know L will be just fine without all the obsessive tracking. I feed her when she appears hungry, change her when necessary, lay her down for sleep when she needs it. I couldn't tell you how many times I feed her in a day, or how many diapers I change -- but I look at her and see that she is thriving all the same.

On a sleep note - she is consistently sleeping from 10PM to 5AM, and then usually sleeps from 6AM to 9AM or so daily. Hopefully putting this into writing won't jinx us!