She Did It!

Just one moment ago, Madelene Kate rolled from her back to her belly - for the very first time. She was lying on her back playing with a toy, and I looked over to see her almost over. So I moved everything out of her way and went back to helping James with his lunch and making my own. I kept looking over, and she did it! All by herself. No coaxing. No help. She rolled over.

And now she's fussing, kicking her legs and wishing she'd never done it at all!

She's officially on the move...

Spontaneous Laughter

Moments ago, Madelene Kate broke into laughter.

She was sitting in her swing, rocking back and forth when suddenly she began to laugh.

I looked up. What was bringing my girlie such delight? Her eyes were fastened on her big brother who had just stood up from drawing on the floor beside me. He wasn't doing anything funny. But her eyes were bright and her laughter contagious.

James jumped up and down. Madelene Kate laughed with glee.

James walked away. Her laughter ended and she watched him intently.

James walked back. He looked at her. She began to laugh with delight.

Oh how I wished for the video camera to capture this moment. Alas. This post must suffice.

5 Months Old

It defies my understanding how time can literally slip away. Days barely seem to begin before they are ending. Suddenly a week is gone. Then I dare to look at my neglected blog and discover a whole month has passed.

Our dear girlie is growing and developing so quickly right now. She is becoming quite proficient with her hands and arms. She can grasp her pacifier and pull it out of her mouth with confidence. But only occasionally can she get it back in the right way! And then she becomes rather distressed when the side of it keeps finding its way between her lips instead of the intended nipple. She loves to grab other objects including hair and noses, too. And she finds lengthy enjoyment in a variety of toys her brother brings to her.

Her current best friend is Millie - the Build-A-Bear doggie that James picked out for her when Grammy P took us there for an Easter treat. At naptime, before she's figured out that she's really tired, she will lie on her back and use her legs to move Millie up to her face. Then she talks to Millie while sucking on her soft ears. Soon after, Millie falls from Madelene Kate's grasp and our little one turns her head to the side and drifts off to sleep. (But sometimes she cries for her pacifier first.)

We are ever so grateful for the lovely weather we've enjoyed here lately. Little Miss and Big Brother and I have spent many mornings outside. James loves the electric 4-wheeler that Grammy has - he's quite the pro at driving and backing up! And Madelene Kate gets to bounce in her Exersaucer while I play ball with James.

Though still not interested in turning over, Madelene Kate has begun to end up almost on her side when she falls asleep. She does NOT like tummy time at all. And between Daddy, Brother and Grammy all being soft on a crying baby, she spends little time there. It doesn't seem to be hindering the rest of her development, though. She can often be seen pulling her head up, trying to draw herself up from a supine position. And two days ago, when I sat her up in a "froggy sit," she stayed up for several minutes!

She seems quite interested in big people food, eagerly watching every bite making it way into our lips. Not too long ago, she pulled my water bottle right into her hands and put it up to her mouth. I helped her tip it enough to bring a bit of water to her lips, and she was delighted! I've told Ben that although I was hoping to wait until she was close to a year before starting solids, if this keeps up, I will probably give her the joys of texture and flavor once she sits up on her own and has a couple of teeth.

On Thursday, I took James to see the pediatrician because of a tight cough, and it turned out he had croup (the real virus). Sadly, on Friday, Madelene Kate developed a yucky runny nose. Her second cold - bummer! But she is such a happy baby, other than a shiny face around her nose and mouth, you would never know she was sick.

James continues to adore his baby sister. He is very good at figuring out what she needs. He frequently runs to put in a pacifier or to let me know she's crying. He hugs and kisses her whenever he gets the opportunity. And he becomes quite distressed whenever anyone jokes about wanting to take her home with them. She in turn watches him with great interest, smiling and laughing when he engages her. I pray every day that they will enjoy an enduring friendship.

What a sweet gift these two children are to their Daddy and me... we are simply amazed by God's favor and kindness.

2 month & 4 month stats

Madelene Kate is already 4 months old. We had her well-baby check up today. I was glad to note that she is doing everything she should be by now, except rolling over.

She is a chunky monkey. She vocalizes way more than James ever did at this age. Her hands entertain her for a good long time - just holding them together in front of her, looking at them as she turns them this way & that. She holds her head up high when she's on her belly. And she's been putting weight on her legs since birth. I actually pulled out the Exersaucer for her yesterday, because I can't hold her upright long enough for her preferences!

She has done a pretty good job with sleeping - falling asleep on her own without much fuss at all. In fact, when she's tired and wants to sleep, she will fuss until I put her on her back. Then she just turns her head, closes her eyes and off she goes to dreamland! On occasion, she will need to cry for a minute or two before sleep overcomes her. But that is actually rare.

Although she falls asleep on her own pretty well, she doesn't nap super well during the day. Sometimes she only sleeps for 45 minutes at a stretch. But nighttime sleep has been pretty good for awhile now. She goes at least 6 hours between eating. And we've had a couple of nights where she's gone 7 or 9 hours!

For awhile, she would start her long sleep stretch at 6 or 6:30 p.m. and then awaken every three hours for the rest of the night. If I woke her up at 9:30 or 10 to eat, she'd still only go three hours after that. So I got in the habit of letting her sleep. But sometime in the past couple of weeks, she started stirring when I'd go to bed, so I tried feeding her. Wonder of wonders, she'd sleep 6 hours after that!

I have not been as good with giving her a bottle as I was with James. But eventually she has taken one when offered. It just seems to take time. I want to get better about giving her one a day since I could be hitting the point of no return!

She recently decided to put herself on 4-hour eating routine. And she is efficient. She usually only eats for 8 to 10 minutes now. James ate for 20 minutes total no matter what. So I couldn't figure out what was up when, after 3 hours, I'd try to feed her, and she'd start to cry after less than a minute. If I'd wait an hour, she'd eat for 3 to 4 minutes on one side then seem to be done. So I'd burp her and trade sides only to have her eat a max of 6 or 7 minutes (if that, sometimes). Finally someone suggested that she was just efficient and only needed to eat every 4 hours. Oh - right!

It hasn't hampered her growth at all... "little miss-miss" as James calls her, has gained weight just fine.

So without further ado, here are Madelene Kate's stats for 2- and 4-months:

Jan 22, 2010

weight - 11 lbs 5 oz (50-75th percentile)

height - 22 3/4 inches (50-75th percentile)

head circumference: 39 cm (50th percentile)

Mar 19, 2010

weight - 14 lbs, 5 oz (75th percentile)

height - 24 1/2 inches (50-75th percentile)

head circumference: 41 cm (50th percentile)

She is a darling little chub, if I do say so! She has a ready smile, and has begun to laugh. She's so easy going, only really crying when she needs to be changed. Otherwise, she fusses when tired, and squeals when she wants someone to talk to her.

I can hardly believe she is my girlie. What a wonderful gift from our gracious God's hand.

"He's Handsome!"

Each day last week, a different one of my friends had James over to her home so that I could get things done as we prepared to list our townhouse on Thursday evening.

Today, I received this e-mail from one of those kind friends. Her daughter is just a month older than James.

I was just talking with my daughter and I was telling her that two children were coming over, and she says to me "how about that handsome boy?" I was wondering who she was talking about and then I said James' name and she says "yeah, him he handsome!"

Play Date

One of these days I will post about what in the world is going on at our house. But for the moment, I have this link to a friend's blog. Shauna kept both James and Madelene Kate yesterday while Ben and I worked at our house, getting things finalized for the painters.

Enjoy the pictures and videos!

Look What She Found!

Madelene Kate loves to suck. She typically has a pacifier in her mouth when she's not eating. But today, while we were running errands, she lost her pacifier, and after crying for a very short time, I heard her sucking profusely. Looking in the rearview mirror, I discovered to my delight that she had found her two middle fingers and was happily engaged with them instead!