Dear Miss Leyba,

Today you turn 3 months old or 13 weeks or 1/4 of a year! I wanted to throw you a birthday party since a bunch of friends were coming over anyway, but Daddy put his foot down. He’s so practical. I guess we’ll have to wait until January to really celebrate! (I’m already thinking about party themes! Just you wait.)

You’ve had such a big month. You can do all sorts of new things like roll from your back to your side to your tummy; have raspberry (zerbert) conversations with us (sometimes from across the room!); grasp everything (hair, noses, clothing, toys); and chewing on your fist (or mama’s shoulder or hand) is THE thing to do. You also love to drool. And be read to. And make funny faces together. You get so excited when I sign and sing to you. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is a big hit in our house right now.

Your personality is really starting to come through now that you are trying to communicate with us. You smile frequently and just started to really laugh (especially when I blow on your tummy or give you tons of kisses). You still are often serious, especially when we are out and about; then you quietly watch intently. You show your frustration now, most frequently when you are trying to crawl but can’t quite get it. I hate to say it, but that frustrated whimper of yours is so sweet.

I think you are so fun, engaging, and darling. Next to your dad, you are my very favorite person. I can’t get enough of you. I feel so lucky to be home with you every single day. And I love knowing and feel so thankful for the fact that I won’t be going back to work anytime soon. I am all yours, sweetie. I am truly blessed.

I love you so much.

Love, Mama

but clearly she is David’s daughter.

This shot of David is from November of 1980 when he was around 5 months old (versus Miss Leyba at almost 3 months on the left). Super cute!

(Sorry for reposting this picture of our daughter. I like how it’s taken at a similar angle to David’s shot for comparison purposes.)

I’m trying to track down my baby pictures. They are in a box somewhere in our spare bedroom. Those of you who have visited can attest to the fact that it could take a very long time for me to find them. Hopefully I will track them down soon.

Yesterday Miss Leyba REALLY giggled (while awake!) for the first time. Evidently, Daddy is so funny when he makes funny zerbert noises. I can’t wait for the belly laughs to begin.

She’s been giggling in her sleep for a while now. I am so curious about what she’s dreaming of when she’s smiling and laughing! I think she’s probably moved on from just dreaming about breastfeeding (remember all that sucking in her sleep?). It truly cracks me up when she falls asleep during a feeding and then smiles and laughs WHILE STILL ATTACHED TO MY NIPPLE! The girl has skills.

Nowadays I have a feeling she’s dreaming about us making funny faces or noises or tickling her or some such funny thing like that.

What do you think she’s dreaming about?

We love our weekend rituals. Yesterday they were somewhat interrupted when we tried to reintroduce egg into my diet and we then spent the whole day dealing with baby spit up and lots of tears (poor Miss Leyba!). (What was I thinking?! An omelet for breakfast seems so innocent.) Today she is feeling much better, so we decided to venture out of the house and head over to the market to hang with our dear friends. Love those Sunday morning rituals.

Hanging with my girls. (Please excuse the white nursing bra. I just ordered some new ones! SO EXCITED! The things that I get pumped for nowadays… Sheesh!) And, yes, my bracelet is Miss Leyba’s wooden teething ring (a practical and stylish accessory).

In other news, it appears Miss Leyba is well on her way to teething. The drool is constant and she’s biting on everything. (Mama’s shoulder and fingers are special favorites.) David popped his first teeth at 4 months, which is right around the corner, so we think it’s likely she’s taking after him. AGAIN. Stay tuned for a post about how much Miss Leyba takes after David. She’s such a Daddy’s girl.

Hope you all enjoyed your weekends and were able to get out and about!

Right to left: sleepy and asleep (yep, she still likes those funky sleep positions)

Baby factoids:

age: 12 1/2 weeks

weight: 14 lbs 15 oz (as of April 12th)

length: 25 inches (as of April 12th)

growth percentiles: 95% for weight and off the charts for length (in other words, in a room of 100 babies her age, Miss Leyba weights more than 95 of them and is longer than all of them)

time she wakes us up: 6 am (though lately it’s been closer to 8 am! how lucky are we?!)

# of 2-hour naps she typically takes each day: 2 (also # of 2-hour naps required for her to be happy)

minimum # of times we read Harry the Dirty Dog, Green Eggs and Ham, Dr. Seuss’s ABC, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar each day: 2

Family factoids:

# of kisses, hugs and “I love yous” we say daily to our daughter and each other: way too many to count! It’s a giant Spritzer Leyba love fest over here!

Organic baby clothes are super hot right now. In the last year a number of new companies have sprouted up and many major chains now sell organic baby clothes (see the bottom of this post for a list). The selection has never been better and the prices are dropping.

For Earth Day this week, we thought we’d feature a Miss Leyba Fashion Show of our favorite organic baby items. Enjoy!

All time favorite pants:

• Wiggle Pants by Hanna Andersson (all of their pjs and much of their other clothing is now organic; we’ve been impressed with their super soft, high quality weave, and great fit!)

Best quality body suits and one pieces:

• Speessees (now offering an Earth day special — use the code EARTH to get free shipping on orders over $50)

Best kimono shirts and footies:

• Under the Nile (check out their new colors and patterns!)

Best color selection:

• Kate Quinn Organics (beware: their sizing and fit tend to be scaled for smaller babies! Order up!)

Other organic clothing manufacturers that we haven’t tried yet:

• Sage Creek
• Fig Organic Kids Fashion
• Lapsaky Organic Children’s Clothing
• Gaiam
• American Apparel

Other places selling organic clothes:

• Nubius Organics (use coupon code ECO15 to save 15% on all purchases)
• Gap
• Pottery Barn Kids
• Land of Nod
• Kohls
• Babycenter
• Babies R Us
• Kmart
• Target
• Nordstrom
• Amazon

Non-organic clothes we love:

• Zutano
• Tea Collection (they just started offering some adorable Organic Baby Clothes!)

Know of any other great organic children’s clothing manufacturers?! Please leave a comment!

We’d like to send a huge thank you to our friends and family who bought Miss Leyba the beautiful clothing featured here! We are so lucky to have such supportive and generous folks in our lives!

She’s starting to smile more when I’m holding the camera! Hooray!

I remember No Traces writing about how difficult it was to capture an in-focus photograph of his newborn daughter because she was always moving. Before Miss Leyba arrived I didn’t get it. How much could a little girl move?!

Now I completely understand. For every 10 photos I shoot, 1 is (maybe) in focus. She is constantly moving her head, hands, fingers, legs, feet, etc. I love how she is exploring the world, but thank goodness for digital cameras and being able to shoot a gazillion photos of each moment. I can’t imagine how fast I would be burning through film if I hadn’t switched over to digital.

So, I am sorry for all of the blurry photos I’ve posted over the last three months. This actually marks a big transition for me: I’m now all about capturing the moment rather than capturing the perfect, artist shot. Hence, a family blog rather than my old photoblog. I hope you are enjoying it.