Joaquín’s Three Month Update

Joaquín turned three months old on April 5th and I still simply cannot believe it! Time has flown by, however it feels as though he has been with us forever. Our lives have changed dramatically since having him, but he fits into them so perfectly that it feels very natural to have him with us.

Motherhood by far is the greatest adventure I have undertaken! I try to describe to others what it feels like to be a Mom and the best way for me to articulate my feelings is to explain that every day I feel like I am falling in love for the first time. I vacillate between never wanting another baby, because it is too difficult to imagine that I could ever love another person as much as I love Joaquín, and wanting five more children, since I enjoy being a Mom so much.

Having said that, Motherhood is hard. Really, really hard. Thankfully, we have a lot of amazing help, as we are surrounded by family. Also, with each passing day I become more comfortable with my new role. When Joaquín was first born his crying would cause me a lot of anxiety. Now, I instinctively know why he is crying and what to do to soothe him and thus it does not phase me in the least bit.

For me the hardest part about being a Mom is finding the balance between work and my son. It is not in me to be a stay-at-home Mom (I am a workaholic by nature and I am extremely passionate about all of my businesses), but I have cut back my work hours for the foreseeable future. He is my #1 priority now and while work is of course important to me, he comes first.

Joaquín began to sleep through the night at seven weeks and that was life changing for everyone. Prior to that, he would only sleep for an hour at a time and usually only on someone. My husband, Lucas, and I had to take shifts and never saw each other. With the help of a sleep training expert and the book On Becoming Baby Wise, within a couple of days he became the dream baby; sleeping in his own room from 10PM to 7AM without waking once! The method is controversial for some, since there is “crying it out” involved, but it was the best decision I could have made for my son and my marriage. Sleep is essential for babies and it is our role as parents to teach them how to sleep properly. The change I saw within the first 24 hours in my son’s digestion system and alertness was so dramatic that I knew immediately we were doing the right thing. I highly advocate using this method and will be using it with any future children we might have.

During his first month of life the problem he suffered the most from was gas, then during the second month it was acid reflux, and now in his third month he has unfortunately began teething already. I can tell that he is in a considerable amount of pain, but we have found some things to help him (he especially loves to chew on my fingers). I know this is the beginning of a very long process, so we are taking it a day at a time. When he is not in pain, he is either laughing or smiling. We feel so blessed to have such a happy baby!

My husband and I “argue” whom he looks more like. I think he has all of my features with Lucas’ coloring. I am constantly falling in love with something different about him. Currently, I am obsessed with his eyelashes, which seem to grow more and more with each passing day.

We still cannot comprehend that he was a premie! He is almost 15 pounds and wearing 9 months to 1 year clothing. He seems to be reaching all of his milestones very early. Just last week he began trying to say “I love you.” At first we thought it was as fluke, however now he says it at least 20 times a day in response to someone saying it to him (you can watch him saying it here and here). The only thing that he hates, but is starting to accept, is tummy time.

His favorite animal is the monkey and he smiles whenever he sees one or if we call him that. He also loves the ladies, being naked, having his feet kissed, being tickled on the back of his neck, spoken to in Spanish, bath time, and staring at the globe in his room. Regarding the latter, every night he gets his last bottle of the day while staring at the globe. If we feed him in a different room or are holding him so that he is not facing the globe he cries. Oh, how I wish I knew what he was thinking during those moments!

Lucas is ready to travel with Joaquín, but I need another couple of months before I can entertain the idea. It is overwhelming to think about everything that we would need to pack for our son! Once we start traveling with him though, I think it will be hard to stop. He is incredibly curious, so I know he will love going to new places. We are going to apply for his first passport soon.

It is an extraordinary feeling to wake up knowing that somehow Joaquín will surprise me today. It makes each day seem like a treasure! He is the inquisitive explorer who pulls me by the hand into the future and he is in all of my thoughts, wishes, and dreams.

Now, if I could only find someone who would pause time for me!

Andi Perullo de Ledesma

I am Andi Perullo de Ledesma, a Chinese Medicine Doctor and Travel Photojournalist in Charlotte, NC. I am also wife to Lucas and mother to Joaquín. Follow us as we explore life and the world one beautiful adventure at a time.

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