Some snapshots and video of the girls from this past week…
Dan playing patty-cake with Mirei the other night…
May M&M Snapshots…
Mirei
All posts about our second daughter, Mirei Mirabelle Allen.
Mirei’s 100th Day
Mirei is 100 days old today! It seems fortuitous that her 100th day falls on the same day as Kodomo no Hi (Children’s Day) and Cinco de Mayo! 🙂 So much to celebrate and be thankful for. We love you baby girl!
For this special day, I dressed her up in this beautiful hybrid yukata/dress that our friend Noriko-san gave us. My mom kept gushing over how cute Mirei looked in it, saying that she looked like a little Japanese girl (well, she kind of is… haha*).
To celebrate, my mom made a delicious sashimi and tempura dinner for the whole family! We didn’t have the traditional okuizome meal, but it was delicious and I ate a lot to ensure that Mirei could enjoy the meal, too! 😉
Happy 100th Day, Mirei! We can’t wait to see how you’ll continue to grow.
Mirei Rolls Over!
I’d been a little forgetful/lazy about having Mirei do tummy time compared to when Mio was a baby, but her neck has been pretty strong and stable even since birth! On Friday, I laid her on the floor with the intention of having her do some tummy time, and she surprised us by rolling over for the first time! She was on her back at first, then pretty quickly twisted her body so that she was on her side… and she stayed like that for 10-15 minutes — grunting, twisting, and kicking — until she eventually pushed herself over from her side to her tummy! I was taking a video of her just in case, but I was kind of stunned that she actually did it when she hadn’t really shown signs of trying to roll over until that day. It’s also really interesting that the age at which Mirei rolled over (3 months and 1 week, or 97 days old) is almost exactly the same as when Mio rolled over! (Mio rolled over at just over 3 months as well, at 102 days old)… as if to say, “Gotta keep up with big sister!” Well, Mirei, you successfully broke Mio’s record by a few days!
Here’s the video of the last few minutes of her trying to roll over and succeeding!
We’re so proud of you, sweetheart! ♥
I feel like compared to my experiences with Mio, the second time around, my baby’s growth seems so much faster. It can probably be attributed to the fact that I’m taking care of two kids at once and therefore am a lot busier and can’t really fully immerse myself in enjoying Mirei’s baby days. Milestones creep up faster, and while with Mio I would (sometimes impatiently) wait and look forward to them, with Mirei they sneak themselves in before I know it and I find myself thinking, “Wait, she’s already able to do that?” The pace at which Mirei is reaching milestones has thusfar been pretty similar to Mio, but it just feels so much faster! It’s of course a joy to see her growing well and able to do more, but it’s bittersweet because I feel like she’s growing up too fast and I haven’t been able to take pause and enjoy her babyhood as much as I did with my first child. It’s yet another reminder to really appreciate and savor every day I have with my little girls.
Mirei’s 3 Month Doctor’s Visit
Mirei went to her latest wellness exam on April 24, the day before she turned 3 months old. I wanted to get her in for an exam at closer to 2 months, but because we had gone in to check on a cough at around a month old (which turned out to be nothing to worry about) and I wanted to get Mio and Mirei both scheduled at the same time, the appointment getting booked a lot further down… so it became more like a 3 month old wellness exam. Oh well! The pediatrician said it’s fine, and that we should come in at around 5 months next time instead of the usual 4 months — they seem pretty relaxed about the timing and assured me that the scheduling doesn’t have to be too strict!
The following are Mirei’s latest growth measurements.
Mirei weighed in at 15 lbs 8 oz, which puts her in the 93rd growth percentile based on weight-for-age.
She measured 24.5 inches long, putting her in the 88th percentile for height-for-age.
Mirei’s head size was 16.75 inches, which is in the 99th growth percentile based on head circumference-for-age.
As you can see, she’s really bulked up since the last time we saw the pediatrician, doubling her birth weight. Again, the doctor said she’s “perfect†in her continuing growth, though we never had any doubts that she was healthy! I thought Mio had been a really chubby baby, but Mirei seems to be even a little heavier/chunkier than Mio was at this age.
The tough part about these early doctor’s visits is that they are usually accompanied by immunization shots, and this checkup was no exception. Mirei got four vaccines, one of which was orally given while the other three were administered as shots injected into her thighs. It’s always hard to watch your child crying in pain from the shots, but it’s all for the sake of keeping them healthy and protected. Here’s a video my sister took of Mirei getting her immunizations. (Sidenote: I noticed while watching the video back that one of Mirei’s bandaids had transferred to a really unfortunate location on my shirt! lol. I’m kind of horrified that I had spent the rest of the day unknowingly walking around with that in public…)
Poor baby is tired and teary-eyed from all the crying…
To make up for that sad video, here’s some cute footage of her smiling a few days later!
So thankful that our baby girl is so healthy!
Three Months Old.
Mirei officially graduates from newborn-hood today as she turns three months old! While the past three months have had their challenging moments, Mirei has really brought so much joy into our lives and we already cannot imagine life without her — our family now feels complete. ♥
(I’ll be taking photos of Mirei sitting in my white desk chair and wearing her monthly onesie every month until she’s one year old.)
Previous Photos:
One Month Old • Two Months Old
The Rundown at Three Months…
Stats: At your doctor’s visit yesterday, you weighed 15 lbs 7.5 oz, approximately double your birth weight! You are now 24.5 inches tall, so you’ve grown a bit in height as well. Even though you are only three months old, Dan and I have been saying that you’re already getting quite heavy too hold! Your head size is 16.75 inches in circumference — you’ve got a big noggin!
Things You’re Doing Now: Since a couple weeks ago, you’ve started becoming much more alert and stay awake for much longer periods of time during the daytime, and there are some days that you are awake for 6 hours straight even! You continue to sleep through the night most nights, usually going to bed around midnight and waking up anywhere from 6 to 8am. We can tell that you can see a lot more clearly now, as your gaze follows us and Mio everywhere we go when we move around the room, and you stare into our eyes when we face you. Your cries sometimes sound more like whines and complaints, and you sometimes “talk” to us with your coos and babbles. The late-night colicky crying has settled down a bit, although you are still more irritable in the evenings than in the daytime. You like to blow bubbles with your lips and often furiously suck on your fist and fingers. You are smiling more and more now, which never fails to warm our hearts.