Spring Break

We added some new pictures to the February Album. Follow the link on the sidebar to see them!

Madelyn is now seven weeks old. She is starting to get a little more talkative. She mostly just coos and gurgles, but we're both pretty sure we've heard her say "I Love You" (Ah Laa La). We have her sleeping in her bassinet again instead of her swing. Occasionally she will go on a hunger strike and cry and scream when we try to feed her. Our strategy is to trick her into eating by feeding her when she just wakes up from a nap and is still too groggy to figure out what is going on. Evenings are still her fussy time of the day. The sound of the hair dryer continues to be our best way of calming her. Of course, that sound can be a little irritating as well...

Carrie started back to work this week. It was a nice week for her to ease back in because it is Spring Break week at Michigan, so my work schedule was very flexible since there aren't any students around. Her plan is to work in my office in the evenings on her publications, conference presentations, and dissertation. Thus Daddy gets to hang out with Mady alone in the evenings when she is cranky. :)

On a completely unrelated note, we picked up a new couch this week because our local La-Z-Boy is closing and they were offering great discounts. We don't really have a lot of space for it in our little apartment, but we moved some things around to make it work. It was hard to pass up such a great deal on something that we will hopefully have for a very long time.

Happy Valentines Day!

Madelyn had a very exciting Valentine's Day weekend. Her uncle Steven came up on Thursday and Friday because he was in town for a grad school interview at EMU. Grandma and Grandpa Beyer were in town because of the long President's Day weekend. Steven and Krista came back out to see everyone again on Sunday. Since we had babysitters around, Carrie and I got to go on our first post-baby date. We were out for two hours, and it was exciting to get some time to ourselves, but we also ate quickly and hurried home. I think we both missed our baby. :)

Mady is just over five weeks old now and we are starting to see some exciting changes. She is giving us some smiles now while she is awake. She has been smiling in her sleep for over a week. She is also able to hold her head up for short periods of time and has been tracking our faces and making eye contact. Most importantly, she is sleeping for a good 6 hours at night!

Mobile

This is a fun video Carrie got of Mady watching her mobile. Watch that leg go! Kinda looks like a dog when you rub its belly...


The exciting news for this week is that Mady slept through the night for the last two nights. We're hoping it continues. We added a few new pics to the picasa album. There is a new link on the sidebar that will take you to the pictures.

One Month Old!

As of yesterday Madelyn Joy is officially one month old. She is starting to track our faces a little better, which is exciting to see. She is still fussy in the evenings. All of the books we've read seem to agree that "colic" peaks around 6 weeks old, then starts to fade away.

I was trying to find a better way to share pictures with everyone, and I think I found it. Here is a link to an online album I created. I believe you can access this without logging in to anything and you can download pictures and order prints. Please let me know if it works as well as I hope it does and if so I'll continue to upload new pictures there.

http://picasaweb.google.com/chriscarrie0503/BabyMady?feat=directlink

I also finally figured out how to get this slideshow to work in the sidebar!

Baby Daze

The weather in Ann Arbor has been a balmy 30 degrees, so we've taken Mady out for a couple walks around the block. She always does very well on outings. She has been to the cafeteria with us nearly every day this week (I've discovered college girls get very excited when the see babies). Over the weekend we took her with us to the Graduate Library at UM to go on a tour of ancient Biblical Manuscripts. UM actually has the 5th largest collection of Biblical papyri in the world, including the oldest existing copies of Ephesians and Hebrews! Mommy and Daddy thought it was very cool, and so did Mady. We thought it was a little risky to bring her there, but she did a great job. Mady also watched her first Super Bowl with her Daddy this weekend. Actually, Mady and her Mommy slept through most of it despite Daddy's occasional involuntary outburst of excitement.

She was a bit fussy during a trip to the grocery store recently. Carrie was walking around with her while I was taking care of the recycling and apparently she got lots of comments from other shoppers. Tip for everyone: if you encounter a mother with a crying baby in a grocery store, keep your comments to yourself, they aren't helpful. After she quieted, a woman commented to Carrie about how cute Mady is, and Carrie grunted in acknowledgment while reaching for something on the shelf, and the woman actually said, "What, you don't think so?" Seriously.

She still requires lots of attention and consoling in the evenings. Otherwise, she is very cute and agreeable. One of these days I'll take pictures of her fussing so everyone can see the other side of Madelyn. For now here are a few more cute pictures for your enjoyment.