3 months...

Ben just turned 3 months old! It is hard to believe it has really been that long that we have had this little guy on the "outside"...that already we have come to the end of the "fourth trimester"...that it has almost been a whole year that we have been on this parenthood journey. It's also a little scary for me...because every parenting book/article/magazine etc. out there says that it is impossible to hold a baby too much for the first 3 months...that their needs and wants are synonymous...just do what the baby wants and what feels natural. Even resources that are pretty gung ho about making kids be as independent as possible as early as possible make an exception for the first 3 months. And now that period is over! Now, I am well aware that each child is different and needs different parenting. I'm also aware that we are probably not going to "do it right" all the time with any of our kids (sadly! I so wish we could!)...but it feels to me like now we are entering the tricky part...the part that is less clear, and where it is more likely that we will mess up more with our parenting decisions!
Ben has become much more animated this last month...he smiles frequently now, and has started to giggle occasionally (I try REALLY hard to get pictures and/or video, but he thinks the silvery box is interesting and so always stops whatever cute thing he is doing to look at it). He also has long "conversations with us that consist of some very animated smiling and cooing on his part and a lot of smiling, cooing, and laughing (and just plain adoration) back on our parts! I think he also recognizes voices. He also gets very excited when he can tell I am getting ready to nurse him, which is pretty funny to see!
He has also become a little more fussy/hard to soothe this month. I'm not sure why (and it seems most resources say 3 months should start a less fussy stage?). My 2 theories are that it could be a reaction to the change of Mommy going  back to work or it could be teething related, maybe? He seems really young for that but he does have some hard little nubs under his gums and has been chewing things and drooling, so maybe.
He is also HUGE! So huge that the swing doesn't swing with him in it anymore :/ It's kinda hard because he is still a very young baby, but things made to soothe young babies are now getting too big for him! It's even a little hard to fit him in the Moby in the "newborn cradle hold" because he is so tall, but his legs are not ready for the regular hold yet!
We started ECing this month! (Elimination Communication...basically "potty training" the parents to know when their baby needs to go) We are doing it VERY part time...as in my goal is just to catch the poops in the potty. I feel like a terrible mother for saying this, but I can't tell when he needs to pee because I am not with him enough during the day. But he makes the poops easier on us because he always goes right when he wakes up and often strains and groans at other times. So I started just taking him in the morning when he first wakes up. The first few times I figured it was luck (and counted myself lucky that he didn't mind being dangled over the toilet to go potty!) but now anytime someone holds him over the potty, he tries to go to the bathroom. A few times we have misread the signs, so he just manages some gas passage and/or pee, but it's really interesting how quickly he caught on (especially since we are NOT doing it full time!). Once or twice he has even woken up with a dry diaper (he did this today) and then done SEVERAL sizable pees and poops in the potty. Mommy needs to get better at aiming the pee, though...
Anyway, we just love our little guy so much and I think he's getting cuter by the day!  I know I'm biased, but look at these pics and then let me know if I am wrong!! :-)

Cooing

This is a 12 month size outfit

Utterly adorable!