3 months

Our little Alma is officially past the "fourth trimester" and is well on her way to transitioning from infant to baby. 

Here are some of her stats:

• Alma can easy pop her thumb into her mouth.  It acts as a soother and we often hear her sucking her thumb vigorously in the middle of the night.  Actually, she sucks on her left thumb and/or the first two fingers (pointer and middle) of her right hand.  Often times, she uses the hand that isn't in her mouth to push the other hand further towards her tongue.
• She is technically sleeping through the night.  At the most, she has done 8 hours in a row but, on average, she wakes once or twice every night.  We hope that her sleep will lengthen further; just as we have seen a gradual progression from sleeping in 1/2 hour stints to 7 or 8 hour blocks, we think this number is still growing.  What's funny is that a month ago when we attended a family function, I was excited that Alma had just started sleeping in two hours segments.  When someone tried to make me admit that that was awful, I was adamant (and truly believed at the time) that two hours was sufficient and I was happy with that.  Now, with a little perspective, I realize that I was crazy at the time.  Like, certifiably insane type of crazy.  With more sleep, I feel like I'm finally starting to come out of the fog I was in since Alma was born.  I'm not going to say that I'm fully out of the fog just yet ... 
• She is happiest in the morning.  The morning smiles and giggles are the most genuine and loving.
• She has started to realize that her hands can grasp things.  While she doesn't seem to know exactly how they work, she seems to understand the concept of grabbing things.  Today, she saw one of her shirts which seemed to spark her interest.  She put her hand on it (all-be-it, the back of her hand) and then opened and closed her hand repeatedly.  It is so incredibly fun to watch her try to figure this stuff out. 
• Alma LOVES baby yoga and massages.  Every morning I give her a massage, do some light stretching of her body and then do my own stretching while she watches.  She nearly flips out with excitement (kicking her legs, smiling and making her cute squeak noises) when I begin our daily routine.
• She also seems to enjoy being read to.  Honestly, I thought that reading to babies would be simply reading out loud while they did their own thing.  But the first time I tried to read to her when she could see the pictures, she was extremely attentive.  So now, we spend about an hour a day laying on our backs and reading.  She seems fully engaged the entire time and often "reads aloud" with me with her gurgles.  Too fun!
• She is still nursing every two hours, with many days when it is difficult to not have her nurse more frequently. 

In other news, two days ago Joshua and I celebrated five years as a couple.  We met at a climbing gym and many of our "dates" the first year we were together were either at that climbing gym or at a yoga class.  We have always done yoga classes together and occasionally practice at home.  Now when we practice at home, we have a little yoga mat buddy who seems to love watching us ... although, she often wants me to take a break and snuggle before the workout is over.