Erin Go Bragh!

Happy St. Patricks Day! Madelyn is now nearly 10 weeks old! Mady's Godparents, Matt and Sarah came to visit over the weekend. It was very exciting to see them again. They got to learn how to change diapers and they even helped give Madelyn a bath. We got to play games, go for walks, Chris and Matt got to play racquetball, and we even had a surprise birthday party for Sarah. Good times were had by all.

It seems that Madelyn is changing every day. She is getting much better at focusing on objects. Her mobile has become a big hit. It runs for twenty minutes then stops. We can put her in her crib and turn on the mobile, which will keep her entertained and quiet for exactly twenty minutes. She lets us know as soon as it stops. I've been tempted to push the button again and let it go for another twenty, but that idea got vetoed. It's probably for the best. :)

Other than her mobile, her other favorite toy is little stuffed ducky that is small enough for her to grip. I put a rattle in her hand last week. I was really excited to see her gripping it and waving it around, until she bonked herself in the head with it and started crying. Now only soft toys go in her hand, and the ducky is the only one that fits. She likes to suck on it, but doesn't yet have the motor control to navigate it up to her mouth, but sometimes it will accidentally find its way there.

In the last week we also promoted Mady a few weeks early up to the "3-6 month" outfits. She seemed to be getting too long for the "0-3 month." She had her third visit with the doctor today and we found out that she is 24" long. She has grown 3" since being born, which puts her in the 90th percentile for length! Her weight is 11.5 lbs, which is exactly where she should be. She is just a very long baby. She also got some vaccinations today, which she wasn't very happy about. The doctor suggested that we start developing a bed time routine, which we will be able to use to put her down much earlier than she is going to bed now. We'll start working on that later this week after any discomfort from the shots wears off. Hopefully we'll have some positive results to report with the next post!

On the Mommy front, Carrie completed her pre-oral defense last week. Her defense date has been set for 5/27. She has been working very hard in the evenings to make the final revisions to her dissertation. The end is in sight! Yay!