One Month Old Already!!!

Time just continues to fly by and I can't believe how much Madelyn has grown and changed right before our eyes in such a short time.  I get so sad because I feel like she doesn't even look like a baby anymore.  Isn't that silly!  She is not only starting to look around, but also focus on objects with serious intent.  We believe that she recognizes her name when we call it out across the room.  Maybe she's just responding to our voices, but we believe that she knows her name ;o)  She even loves to be fed in the recliner or sit in her bouncy chair on the coffee table and watch TV.  It is the funniest thing, but we're sure it really just the light that catches her eye.  IF she is watching TV, her first show was Harry Potter  :o)

We had a quick weigh-in at the doctor's office and we are proud to report that she is putting on the pounds!  {Madelyn,  you won't hear those words to often later in life, so enjoy them now sweetie!)  In just one week from her last appointment, she went from 7 lb 10.5 oz to 8 lb 7 oz - YAY!!!  Our next visit is May 6th and it will not be a good one for mommy....we're going to be getting shots that day.  Cross you fingers that I make it through it  :o(

She's really starting to "come alive" with some personality.  She's starting to "coo" and make noises as she's beginning to figure out she can make noise apart from crying.  It's so cute; almost like she wants to talk already!  And she's getting so strong!  She is starting to hold her head up all by herself.  Although I must admit that she holds it up the longest when she's extremely mad that she has to take a break to burp.  Also, the other evening she was sleeping on the couch and while Ryan & I were staring at her she screamed out like she just had a nightmare and something scared her.  It was so sad, but so cute at the same time.

She even does these crazy kicks (yes, I recognize them very much...) with her crazy long legs and then will hold one or both up in the air with her toes pointed.  When she does it, we say "Sexy Legs".  Nana Tolle even laughed one day sitting at the breakfast table as she noticed one leg sticking up in the air from the bouncy chair on the coffee table.  You couldn't see anything else, but that "sexy leg" sticking up. 

The girls stopped by to visit and brought lunch.  They all got to meet the new addition to the group.  Our first new mini-theta  :o)  It was so nice for the girls to get to meet and hold her, but more than anything it was nice to have some grown-up conversation in the regular pitch of my voice.  I love that I have such wonderful friends that I've known for so long to share so many wonderful parts of my life with!

  



We read our first story, Dr. Seuss' One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish!  Ryan picked that one because it was "one that he remembered from when he was little".  She didn't make a peep the whole time and would just stare at the pages with all the colors.  Personally, I think the one that enjoyed it most was daddy!

We have two fond stories to share from our first month of parenting.  First, is that you will go through so many diapers!!  I can't tell you how many times Madelyn has peed or pooped on us, on the changing table, in my hand or in the "just-put-on" clean diaper.  It is amazing!  I've personally gone through five or six diapers in a single changing!  Contrary to belief, you do have to worry about the girls peeing all over too!  Also to share, is how complicated bath time can be.  We get so scared when bathing her because she's all slippery and moves so unexpectedly that we fear her falling out of our arms.  We bath her in the sink to make it easier because the sink is a better heighth and more comfortable for us.  We have a frog shaped body bath sponge that I would put in the bottom of the sink to sit her on so you don't have to hold her the whole time and it keeps her from slipping around.  But we still had to tilt her up out of the water with only one hand and use the other hand to bath her, which is still very challenging.  AND then she pooped in the middle of the bath and all over the frog once!  It was so hard to clean up the mess while getting her out of the water all while not letting her get cold.  NOT to mention that she screams the whole time either from her sensing how tense we were or because she preferred a shower in the sink with running water on her.  So I went to the stack of baby gifts in the living room that we thought she wasn't old enough to use yet to see what handy baby inventions we had on hand that might be able to help us out.  There it was.....the bathing chair that Grammer got us!  Thank Goodness Grammer got us that bathing chair.  It's a reclined chair made of mesh fabric that you sit in the shower/tub (sink for us) and the water (or in our case water and poop) just runs right through.  She sits happily while we wash and rinse her with running water from the facuet (her favorite).  WE HAVE CONQUERED BATH TIME....for now  :o)



Our favorite is the noises and faces she makes while she sleeps  :o)  Be sure to turn up the sound before watching the videos.