3 months old

Dear Leo,

Today, you are 3 months old, and the last 31 days have been filled with all sorts of exciting changes.

For starters, the LWDFC (Leo William Dougan Fan Club) has grown by leaps & bounds. You've been to your first 3 parties, all in the space of a mere 2 weeks, and you've made fans at every one. You've met our next door neighbor, the lady who helped us buy our house, people that your Mama works with, and people that I play games with. You also met some of your Mama's friends that she goes out with every month (the Girls). You've made fans at every turn.

It's amazing how much more mature you little body is, too. You're having far fewer of the problems that you used to have keeping your food down, and we don't need to spike your bottles (with prune juice) to help you with other messy functions. Not only are you having poopy diapers on your own, you're sometimes having more than one of them a day! You even had your first blowout this month, and it was an exciting night for mama & me when you did. We eventually figured out how to clean it up without making a bigger mess.

Other news has me starting a very special collection of burps from little boys named Leo. We tend to have fun when we're trying to figure out where you're hiding the burps to add to my collection. "Does Leo have elbow burps?" has nearly become a mantra, the very thought of which makes your mama laugh uproariously. (She's starting to get over it now, but it still provokes her to giggles.) Knee burps and armpit burps are popular ones, too. You and mama have great fun playing the "Leo's nose, Mama's nose" game, too, and you can even hold onto some of your toys.

You've become amazingly vocal, and you react visibly to us when you can see us. I love knowing that I'm going to be greeted by a great big smile when I get home, and I think Mama feels the same way. I feel all glow-y inside to know that just seeing me makes you so excited that you can hardly contain yourself.

Mama had to go back to work this month, and so you've started going to day care. All of the grown-up ladies there love you, and we think you're making friends there. We haven't scheduled your first play date yet, but that might change when the room gets another baby closer to your age. (You're probably still a bit too young for it, but people do sometimes ask us.)

Along with going to day care, you've started to sleep through nights in your own bed. The bath and bedtime stories probably help in that department, but I think it's mostly getting comfortable with knowing that we'll be there in just a few minutes if you need something. You're not old enough to have really developed an attachment for a security toy of some kind, but the way you like to play with your burp clothes makes us think you'll be a Linus. (Your mama still has her sleepy blanket from when she was a little girl.)


Tomorrow, I have to fly back to where I grew up in Michigan to see your Granddaddy & Great-Granddaddy Dougan. You Great-Granddaddy turns 80 on Sunday. At 3 months, 80 may seem like absolutely forever, but you'll probably appreciate it someday. Although you can't really see it it the picture, the bib you're wearing says "Daddy loves me." Look at it once or twice while I'm gone and remember that. You and Mama get to have a big adventure being all by yourselves for a couple days, and I can't wait to hear all about it.