Little Pumpkin

What is Halloween without a pumpkin picture or two? (Many thanks to our friend Stacy who knitted this hat.) Luckily we had a farm right down the street from us where we could walk around in the mud and find a few to take home. We may have been premature about teething, no teeth yet but Madelyn sure does love to chew on things now, preferable your finger or part of your hand while she drools all over the place. No new noises this week, we are still trying to get her to giggle more for us, but what can you do to a three month old to make her laugh?

Her latest trick has been to learn how to splash Mommy while in the tub. She used to kick her feet but has now figured out that it's more fun to pump her arms and splash everybody within three feet of her, including herself. She knows how to swap a toy to her other hand. If I place her toy keys in her right hand she will slowly transfer them to her left before she really shakes all around. Perhaps the best part of all of this is just watching her change, she'll settle into a routine one week and as fast as you figure things out she has changed again. She is almost double her birth weight, weighing it at ~15 lbs now. We'll have costume pictures for the next post. My pictures seem to be improving as I get more familiar with the new camera, I still only get about a 5% keeper rate. We took about 80 pictures at the farm and came up with about 5 good shots. Thank goodness for digital cameras :)

New Videos

Two new videos have been added. Click on the links or the bottom two video's on the left side of this page.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAtOHatOMJU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UajAgD99Dgc

First Giggles and Teething

Madelyn continues to surprise us every day. She giggled for the first time this week, seems to be teething and is learning how to roll over onto her back. This is how our week has gone, Mom spends all day feeding, cleaning, comforting and playing with her until she's almost ready to pass out. Dad comes home and takes over, Mom leaves the room for a break, Madelyn does something new for Dad and Mom misses it.

Needless to say this is frustrating for Mom and endlessly fascinating for Dad. Last night I blew a Zurbert on her stomach and cried when she looked back at me and giggled, Mom caught a few but she stopped giggling after a few rounds. I don't think there is a sweeter sound than than the laughter of your child or any child for that matter. The same thing happened on Tuesday night when Dad egged Madelyn on to roll over onto her back. Luckily she has since put in a repeat performance for Mom.

Teething also has started this week, but that's not as much fun as the giggles. Basically she will try to chew on anything in sight and drool, man does she like to drool. Yet again something else they failed to mention to us in parenting class. We can't see any teeth yet but they must be getting ready to pop.

She is sleeping most nights from 9:00ish until about 7 or 8 the following morning, because of this the daytime feedings and routine are in flux. It seems like just when you get her or the routine figured out she changes on you.

Life with the harness has been ok, she gets it off in two weeks on Nov the 5th, yippie!!

Fall Pictures

We finally went to the park today and got a picture taken with the three of us, thanks to the Leatys for getting us out and to Karin for finding a place with some great fall color.

New Sounds

Madelyn has continuing to make new sounds this week to her Mothers delight. They seem to change day by day and provide us with endless amounts of entertainment. Tummy time seems to be getting easier but it's still not her favorite activity. She can recognize us fairly well and will kick her legs when she notices Mom or Dad is around. She also likes to smile at her Memere , Pepere or any of our friends or neighbors who happen to be around. Sitting up in the Bumbo helps to give her a new perspective but she's still aways away from doing so on her own. Simon our cat still does not know what to make of this little women yet, but finds her hat a fun play toy.

Three Month

Well time seems to just be flying by, has it really been this long since we brought her home from the hospital? She weighs in at 14lbs now and we already miss the days where we could hold her in our arms for hours on end. Now it more like 15 minutes or so and the thought of, "man your getting heavy kiddo I have to put you down." New tricks and sounds are coming on a daily basis now. First she loves to kick when she's out of her harness at night, it's like she needs to get in her full days supply of exercise in that time. Life with the harness has gotten easier after the first week with it. 5 more weeks to go, we just remind ourselves every day that it's only temporary.

She can also grasp your finger and squeeze it with all of her might or hang on to a toy and wave it all over the place as if to say "look what I can do!" Sometimes her thumb will make it to her mouth but she does not seem too interested in sucking on it unless she is hungry. 2-3 times a day she will coo and make a few noises at you and wait for your response. If she deems it favorable she'll blow a few spit bubbles for you or make some other odd sound and hope that you react to it.

Sleep has thankfully become much better, she slept 8 hours a few nights this week but her normal routine is a 9ish bedtime and a 2-3am wakeup for a snack and then back to sleep until 7 or 8 the next morning. It's not perfect but it sure beats the 2-3 times a night feeding in the beginning.

She is also more into people and will react to Karin and I when one of us comes home. Zurberts and kisses on the cheek always seem to draw out the smile that melts our hearts every time. Yes she loves giggles but we have not heard any from her yet.

12 Weeks

We have adjusted to life in the harness. For the most part Madelyn does not seem to mind. We just keep reminding ourselves that it's temporary. Heck she does not even know she has legs yet so how bad can it be to have them buttoned up for a few weeks?

Her new skills besides learning how to bat at things has been the ability to sleep for 5 hours at a stretch, wow. She is very curious about most everything in the house, turning her head around to get better views or to pinpoint a sound. Putting her down for a nap is usually a challenge, what is it about kids fighting to stay awake sometimes?

Two new videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfX6v5oANhE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpSu9Q-xdiE

Our little Paratrooper

Well if we have learned anything recently it is that kids are anything but predictable. Madelyn had a mild case of Hip Dysplasia. Basically her hip joint at the top of her femur where it meets the hip, is loose. That's the bad news, the good news is that since her bones are still rather soft she can wear this harness for 6 weeks to reshape her joints. Karin had this condition as a newborn and it turns out that first born females are more prone to it as well. She can come out of the harness for 1 hour each day for playtime and baths etc...She's well taken care of, we've had a few visits to Children's hospital for Ultrasounds and to get the harness fitted.

Cute baby pictures will be slightly harder to come by, We will make the best of it. I'm trying to figure out a way to make a Paratrooper costume for Halloween.

Up with the Head

Madelyn hates to be on her tummy, after 2-3 minutes she'll cry and fuss like no tomorrow. That was until this weekend. She almost is happy to have a new perspective on the world and when it happens it's a mad dash to turn the camera on and snap a cute photo like this one. Of course now her limit is more like 3-4 minutes before the head gets too heavy for her. She responds to sounds around the room and is always twisting her head around while being held. She had her two month appointment last week and all is well. We turn her around in the Baby Bjorn (Baby Carrier) now since her head control has improved so much. She still loves long naps in the Bjorn on walks with Dad. She's still on one feeding at night.

Our silly cat Simon has now decided that Madelyn's Bumbo (used for sitting) is really a great place to sit. Why he thinks that and is it really comfortable for him? I think not, it's most likely another desperate plea from the cats for any type of human attention.

10 Weeks

Has it really been that long? It seems like such a long time ago that we brought Madelyn home but 10 weeks is barely a blink of a eye in the bigger picture. Madelyn's biggest development this week has been her ability to hold her head steady when she's held upright, the "bobble head doll" days appear to have thankfully passed. She loves to stare out the window or at most anything actually, but her favorite site is still her Mom, her biggest grins are always saved for her.

She is happy to be held but at almost 13lbs now that gets tiring real fast, thankfully she does not mind a few minutes in the swing or the glider while she checks out what going on in the room. Our cats are still desperately trying to figure out what this "hiarle.....................(Simon typed that) As I was saying our cats are desperately trying to figure out why this "Hairless Cat" is getting all the attention now. Just the other day I had to intercept their Craigslist post they had managed to submit for a new home.

** Side note, Blogger has launched a player of all the photo's that are submitted to them in real time, its a fun random thing to watch: http://play.blogger.com/

Big Smiles

To everybody's delight Madelyn has begun to smile more. Mornings are her best times, 8:00am normally finds her wide awake and kicking her legs for all she is worth. Thankfully her time between feedings has grown to 5+ hours on most nights, it's nice to have some sleep back. I added some links to the YouTube video's and will upload some more movies this weekend. I hope people are enjoying these pictures as much as we do.

8 Weeks

What a difference a few weeks make. Madelyn is much more expressive and aware of her environment. When we go on walks she just stares at everything as if she is saying, "What's that?" If you place a small toy in her hand like a plastic ring she might hold on to it for a few minutes and wave it around. Smiles are becoming more frequent and she seems to have a stronger sense of who her Mom and Dad are. Life is somewhat easier, it's not as much of a hassle to go out now, but we still long for the good old days where we just ran out the door or spontaneously decided to go somewhere. Whenever we feel sorry for ourselves we watch and episode on Discovery Health of a family who has 2 (6) years olds and 6 (2) year olds. Life never seems that bad after that :)

Karin's Pictures

We found a few pictures from Karin's album. Helen (Karin's mom) kept notes on the back of the pictures so we can compare Madelyn and Karin's pictures. The picture above is Karin and her Dad, Ken at one month.





Madelyn at 6 weeks above and Karin at one month below. Where the chubby cheeks came from we don't know :)





Karin at 9 months in the tub, this was too cute to pass up.

DVD anybody & Old Baby Pictures

If anybody wants a DVD of the first month drop us a email.

Thank goodness parents seem to save most everything baby related. A trip to my parents house (Mike) yielded a treasure trove of baby pictures. I've posted a few this week. We'll crack Karin's childhood trunk sometime this week and include some of her early childhood pictures on the next post.

Week 6

Life with a 6 week old is always full of surprises. A few nights ago Madelyn discovered her tongue at 3:00am. Why 3:00am was the magic hour we don't know but she started smacking and sucking on her tongue so loud it woke both of us up. Nighttimes are always fun, It will be a few more weeks before she can sleep though the night but for now she wakes up to feed twice. As long as we avoid looking her in the eyes and even talking to her she usually justs eats and thankfully goes back to bed. From the sounds of her screams the car seat is really just a torture device, she can make it down the street as far as the horseshoe saloon before she figures out she really does not want to be in it. Normally that's where I would like to pull over and have a beer to cope with the screams but I'm actually getting used to them (Or I'm loosing some of my hearing). She showed good progess at her doctor's appointment the other day. Did you know that babies are born without kneecaps, isn't that crazy?!

Another YouTube clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i9_-bArwAw

5 weeks old and still kickin

Madelyn seemed to not like her swing so we tried a glider this week with big success given her smile in this picture. She loves her time in the baby slings and I have taken her on several hour long walks while Mom naps. She smiles more now, to the delight of everybody around her.

4 Weeks

It's hard to imagine that 4 weeks have gone by. 4 weeks of wonderful surprises and a few train wrecks tossed in for fun. We helped to put on a baby shower for a friend yesterday at our house. Who would of ever thought that it would have taken 48 hours to prepare for it :)

More Newborn Pictures

We received the remainder of our newborn pictures yesterday, here are a few more. Madelyn is starting to follow objects, we catch her head turning from side to side as she stares at her mobile. Light and dark objects also seem to draw her attention, like a shade that is 1/2 way drawn across a window. She likes her baths as long as she's part way covered up with a washcloth so as not to get cold.

You Tube part II

I wanted to buy a Mac these past few days. Editing video on a PC can be frustrating to say the least but I seem to have the bugs worked out, here is some more footage. I'll have more pictures later today or tomorrow.

Madelyn continues to do what 3 week old babies do, eat, sleep and look cute.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDSX8EmV3S0

iPoo

Well the fussy baby period has begun, its great that she is awake more but sometimes she just does know what to do with herself. She's asleep on my chest right now while I peck away on the keyboard one-handed.

At times Madelyn has an endless appetite for Milk, there is nothing that she loves more. If we are not burping her we are watching her devour another meal, babies are amazing. Her iPoo outfit seems appropriate for any infant. Mom's new nickname is Input and Dad's has become Output.