Three Months: Observations

• Our little sweetie girl is growing and changing!  She loves the mirror and will coo and babble at her own reflection for a good while.  She craves seeing people, and will often immediately calm at the sight of a happy face.  She is very social, and even when she is quite hungry, wants to talk first, until she remember how hungry she is, and then gets down to business.
• She shows interest in toys, and is especially taken with a brightly, colored butterfly we received from Dallin's co-workers.  She is interested in unique sounds: jingle bells, rattles, squeaky toys, and seems to love to hear Daddy play violin.  
• Earlier this month Maren discovered her arm and fist, and would watch it move in the air above her head.  More recently, she has discovered how to bring her hands together in front of her chest and interlock her little fingers.  She is developing more fine motor control!
• Tummy-time is not a favorite, but she is improving her upper-body strength slowly.  She has a decided preference for her right side, and often topples to the right because she puts all her weight on that side.  So, she is rolling over, accidentally.  

• Maren still hates hats, hair-bows, and headbands.  If you want to make Maren mad, any head ornament will do the trick.
• The baby laughs!  She is ticklish along her jawbone, cheeks, and earlobes.  She always laughs when I pretend to eat her little chubby cheeks.
• She is sleeping through the night now, about five days out of a week.  She usually nods off at 10:30 and sleeps through until 7:30 or so.  However, she will sometimes go twelve hours straight without a nap during the day, which is rather exhausting.  Or, she will nap two or three times, 20 minutes at a time, and want to be talked to and played with all the rest of the time.  Lately, any Maren nap is cause for celebration (like right now!)
• She still has her wavy, crazy adorable hair that seems to have the very slightest reddish tint.  Her eyes are still a beautiful, clear blue, and I think it is the color they will stay.  (At three months, Ezra's eyes were decidedly dark green.)