Elora, 3 months

This month baby is photographed on Sleeping Porch Moths in Twilight.

Most of the time when I put a device in front of baby Rora to photograph or video her, this is what I get...

Which translates to, "Where did you go, Mommy?" and instantly stops the smiles. But today I managed to get all of her, all thirteen pounds of her... Smiling!

That's our girl! You may have noticed we adopted the nickname "Rora" over her full given name, Elora. Well, that's what Brandon and I call her, anyways. Aria calls her "Nora" and Liam calls her "Lora-Lori." Every day she brings us so much joy, and she brings us together in a special way.

I can't get enough of her on this fabric. It's a perfectly delightful pairing!

Memory Box {Three Months}

Milestones: Hand to Mouth: Is all the time now. She'll also take a toy to her mouth and hold a rattle. Sleeping Through the Night! She goes 8-9 hours between feedings most every night. Tummy time: She's finally comfortable lifting her head when lying on her tummy. But she seems to be trying to scoot forward rather than figuring out the whole rolling concept. I'm not worried, though. I can luxuriate in the glorious expectation that it will all come eventually!

Biggest Challenge: Naptimes. Everything in phases, right? This baby used to be impossible to wake until it was feeding time for the first two months of her life. Now she's struggling to connect her sleep cycles when napping, so she sometimes needs help to stay asleep about 40 minutes into a nap. Not a biggie, though. It's been a great month!

Biggest Surprise: She's such a happy baby and so easy-going that she smiles nearly all. of. the. time. She smiles literally every time she's having her diaper changed. She smiles when she's being undressed for her bath. She smiles when she's coming out of her bath, wet and dripping. And the last three times I used the NoseFrida to clean her nose, she smiled while I was cleaning her nose. Seriously.

Special Memory: Rora is already a talker! She has so many sounds and likes nothing more than to have a conversation after breastfeeding or while being changed. I love the way she answers my babbles with coos and tells me when she needs a change of scenery by getting loud and screechy. Even with new church nursery workers, they tell me, "She's so vocal!" when I pick her up. Aria was a big talker too. I know where this is headed, come toddler time...