Strong Baby

She is checking herself out in the mirror here.  She can seriously hold her head up this high and steady for 3 to 4 minutes at a time.  We think she developed her strong neck muscles by bracing herself against my pelvis when she was stuck during the bad contractions during delivery.  She has never had a floppy neck or felt like a floppy baby to us.  It's too funny to see her like this since she is so small!!

Stretchy Baby

Mark and I LOVE it when Maddie wakes up because she stretches like CRAZY.  She is swaddled when she sleeps and as soon as you "free" her she goes to town stretching.  We think it's so cute because her arms are so short and just barely reach beyond the top of her head.

 

 

Interruption

Due to malfunctions with my stupid laptop we will be temporarily skipping the Sugar Land portion of the Texas trip and skipping to what Maddie is up to these days!

Bryan, Texas

On the plane headed to Texas!

On Saturday, March 5th we escaped the snowy cold of Indiana for some warmer air in Texas.  Madeleine did great on the plane and on the drive from Intercontinental to Bryan.  She was a total trooper.  

While in Bryan she got to meet all four of her cousins, Aunt Becca and Uncle Russ.  We also headed went out to eat a few times (we hadn't done that yet!) and she did great at every restaurant too!  Mark and I were also able to get out just the two of us thanks to two very enthusiastic baby sitters!  But mostly Maddie just spent lots of time cuddling with her Paw Paw and Rie Rie.

Is that a good looking group or what?

Cousin Katie loved Maddie.  Because of her great love for babies her mommy has taught her instead of "over loving" them to wave at babies instead.  It's a hoot!  I wish we had a picture of her walking by Maddie and waving at her.  She is too cute.

Here is Mark rocking Maddie in his grandfather "Coloy's" (I have no idea how this is really spelled!) rocking chair.  This chair has rocked a lot of babies!

All the Richards!

She's a SMILER!!!

These are some of the first pictures we were able to capture of Madeleine smiling.

 

Can you tell this girl loves her daddy?

2 Months Old - March 10th

Here is what Madeleine has been up to in her second month of life:

• Maddie is an itty bitty thing. She didn't cooperate at her two month appointment (which was actually at 10 weeks old) so we don't know exactly how big she was but probably around 9 lbs and 22 inches long.
• She is still in newborn clothes and diapers but has started to outgrow her outfits that have feet attached to them.
• Maddie has even more hair and it's actually long enough for me to clip a bow into it without using anything to stick to it. I can also put it in a ponytail on top.
• Her eyes vary from a muddy looking version of Mark's blue-green color to a dark muddy brown.
• Her tongue is still her favorite thing to play with. She copies us when we stick our tongues out at her.
• She coos sweetly.
• She has a MAJOR need for sucking and if you don't get that pacifier to her fast enough she go for her thumbs or fists. She has even gotten both thumbs in her mouth at the same time. Too cute!
• Maddie still has pooping and burping problems.
• Madeleine has decided this month that her daddy and I should be cuddling her at ALL times (unless she is asleep at night) so that has been trying. The Moby Wrap has been a LIFESAVER for this phase.
• She loves her baths, cuddling, looking in mirrors, her Art book, and music with a good beat like Cee Lo Green, Kanye, and Usher. She REALLY loves Cee Lo. It will stop her fussiness every time.
• She is tiny but really strong. She holds her head up really well and likes standing and sitting like a big girl. It's pretty funny to see a baby so small sit up so straight and steady!
• She can roll from her tummy to her back. I don't think this is intentional though. More of a wow my head is getting heavy thing!
• She started doing real social smiling. First at her daddy then later at me.
• She still sleeps about 5 to 6 hours at night but the good afternoon nap is long gone. It's back to just catnapping. I miss my afternoon nap!
• She eats about every two hours during the day and before she goes to bed she will take 4 oz of formula as fast as she possibly can.
• She still sleeps in the pack and play in our room but she has graduated from the newborn napper part to the regular part of it.
• She took an airplane all the way to Texas and didn't fuss at all! She was so cute that Continental gave her an extra seat so she was able to stay in her car seat instead of our laps. That was nice!
• She met all her cousins and Aunts and Uncles and had her first trip away from home to Paw Paw and Rie Rie's.
• She took her first trip to her future college home...Texas A&M. I'm sure there are many more of those trips to come! I love that Paw Paw and Rie Rie live in Aggieland!

Mommy Your Blogging Stinks!