Rays and Getting more ZZZZs

My teeny tiny little boy is now officially a three month old. He's not as "breakable" to me anymore. I'm a bit more secure in the things I do with him: bath time not as slippery; feedings are quicker; diaper changing is something I can do in my sleep, and have done. He's developing a personality. I can sense when he's starting to get really tired and can seem to get him to sleep before he starts to get upset. He is getting better and better at Tummy Time and doesn't get mad about it after only a minute or two. We have "cuddle time" (to prevent flat head syndrome I've been warned about) and he is starting to be able to hold himself upright on his own more and more. His head is less "Ray Charles" and more steady on his neck. He's growing so fast. He's already moving into size 3 diapers. This means he's over 15 pounds already. It's so strange how we are running out of the size 2 diapers and with only four left, they suddenly seem like Cabbage Patch doll diapers. It seems instantly he's outgrown them.

The past week or so Brady has begun sleeping through the night. I have heard that anything over five hours of sleep at night is considered sleeping through. He slept almost eight hours last night. Of course, I stayed up to watch "The Notebook" on TV for the 80th time in my life. I got five hours of consecutive sleep because of that. Even that amount of sleep feels like an eternity to me! I remember my first couple of nights that he started sleeping through. I would wake up around five or six in the morning and search my nightstand desperately. I wondered if there was an empty bottle and maybe I just don't remember feeding him. Sometimes I would glance over to see if there was a still-full bottle from waking to feed him and falling asleep waiting for him to fully awake. Every time I had a mini panic attack, I realized he didn't wake up during the night, and no, I did not sleep through a hungry cry. A few mid morning freak outs and I was over worrying that he wasn't getting his 3AM feedings. While I am so relieved the "hard part" of sleepless nights is about over, I am a little sad too. My newborn baby is not so new anymore. He's maturing more and more every day. Some days we wake up to see a totally different baby. I swear he changes every night.

This past weekend we took Brady to his first ever MLB game. He got to see the Rays play at the Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL. We were so excited to take him to his first baseball game. I think it was definitely more thrilling to us to take him than it was to him. He was truly mesmerized and enthralled by the domed stadium. The lights were so bright. The cowbells in the audience were so invigorating. The announcers and the music was so much louder than we remembered... or we are now parents and notice those things. I think it is the latter. Our 12 week old boy made it six innings before he was just too upset to handle it anymore. He wailed for just a minute or two during the sixth inning and I got myself some pretty nasty looks from the rows in front of us. Must've been so horrible of me to have my baby there to them. He was there for six innings, people. It's not like I just brought him in and he became devastated instantly. The more I looked around, though, the more I did see lots of little babies. It really is great to be able to take a baby with you to a game. They don't need their own seat until they are two. Seat or no seat, I took a wiped-out Brady to the cafe where they have TVs and a bit less commotion for the poor baby. He swiftly fell asleep in my lap. Luckily, I could see the game and I didn't have to make Kyle and our friend leave the game early. In the end, it was a victory: for the Rays (beat the Marlins 7 to 3) and for our boy. He was such a great baby. He could have been a crying mess the whole time, but he wasn't. I am so glad we are starting him off early. He will be a pro at going to baseball games before he's a year old!

The boy is napping, and that is how I had the time to write. Better go do something else productive while I have the time!!