Laughter

Madeline's been laughing for a while now, but I just recently got a chance to capture it on video. In this case, all it took to crack her up was a (clean) sock on mommy's hand.

Seven-month check-in

Madeline doesn't have another scheduled doctor appointment until December, so we took her by the office today for a seven-month weigh-in. She weighs 19 pounds, 12 ounces and is 27 inches long. She's grown about a quarter-inch since her last appointment, earlier this month, and put on 1 pound, 6 ounces. That's 22 ounces, or almost an ounce a day, over the last 21 days.

We're not sure how to attribute her rapid weight gain (at her last check-in she was gaining about a half-ounce a day), especially since she seemed to have lost some weight as a result of her illnesses this month. But she's still in about the 80th percentile for weight, which is just fine.

This picture, taken this afternoon, shows how she's starting to get up on her hands, elbows and knees. She got up like this and rocked back and forth several times before collapsing back onto her stomach.

Exploration

Here's another picture from our outdoor session this week. It's fascinating to watch Madeline explore new things, like this grass from our yard. While she'll handle some objects roughly, slinging them about, banging them against the closest surface or dropping them on the floor, there are other things that she'll handle ever so tenderly.

She'll hold an object in her fingers - just tightly enough so it won't be dropped - and turn it over and swap it between hands, slowly inspecting it from every angle. Then, of course, she'll try to eat it.

The thirtieth week

Madeline has been a ton of fun this week. Almost immediately after returning home from our vacation last weekend she began to rediscover her former cheerfulness. No longer sick, she was sleeping through the night and napping well during the day. And lots of rest means lots of energy at playtime.

She has been impressing us all week with her movements - she's been getting up on her hands and knees during playtime over the last few days as she practices rocking back and forth and otherwise generally squirming around. It's as if she's making up for all the energy she didn't use when she was sick for two weeks.

But just in the last couple days her naps have been a little less restful and she's had a little more trouble getting to sleep at night. These are the same symptoms she displayed several weeks ago when her first teeth started to come through. Maybe we'll start seeing those upper teeth soon?

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Happy 60th birthday tomorrow to Grandpa Glover!

Movement

Madeline is so full of energy that when we put her on the floor we don't have to wait very long for her to do something fun.

Today I put her on one side of her blanket and put a toy on the opposite side, about three feet away. Sure enough, within about two minutes she wriggled and squirmed and propelled herself across the blanket and grabbed the toy. It's the first time I've witnessed her move herself that far with a single-minded purpose.

She has also been pushing herself backward in a straight line, a motion that I've read is a precursor to forward crawling. And today she actually got herself up on her elbows and knees, even though she didn't hold that position long.

Hitting the streets

Today Madeline and I went for our first run together. Running was a big part of my life before Madeline arrived, but I found out quickly how having an infant in the house can curb those kinds of activities - both because there's little time to get away and, when there was time, I was often too tired to think about going for a run.

But over the past couple months things have been smoothing out at home and I've been able to run more frequently. Also, Lacey bought me a running stroller at the neighborhood yard sale a few months ago, but we had to wait until Madeline was big enough to fit in it - six months is the recommended age.

So today was the day. We kept it short and quick - 2.3 miles at an 8:21 pace - and I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to push this big stroller around.

Like Lacey cooking some of Madeline's food, this is a passion of mine that I can share with Madeline, and another good way to get her out of the house and in the outdoors.

Back home

It's been a busy weekend, but it's nice to be back home after a week at the beach. Madeline is feeling much better after two weeks of back-to-back illnesses - I think that just being at home and getting back into the normal routine has helped put her at ease. She had been abnormally quiet during her sicknesses, but today the house echoed with her familiar laughs, chirps, oohs and drool-soaked spitting. She's happy again, and we've certainly missed her.

To celebrate the first day of fall today, we spread out a blanket and played in the front yard. For reasons I can't explain, this is the first time we've done that. We've had a yard, and we've got blankets, but this was the first time the two were combined for playtime. Must have been something about the gorgeous weather today and Madeline's rediscovered good cheer.

Madeline loved playing in the grass, exploring the slender stalks with her fingers and attempting to eat anything she could pick up. Hopefully we can get out in the yard more frequently as the weather softens over the next few months.

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Happy birthday to Nana Glover today!

The twenty-ninth week

"Vacation" now and forever has a new meaning for us. What once would have been welcomed as a week-long respite from the rigors of daily life instead became a simple relocation (and, at times, an amplification) of those rigors.

We returned today from a week at the beach - a highly anticipated trip for Lacey and me. However, as I wrote last Friday, Madeline took a turn for the worse the day before we were set to leave after apparently recovering from a bout of hand-foot-and-mouth disease earlier in the week. Friday night was terrible and we visited the pediatrician on Saturday morning before our scheduled departure. We were told that Madeline had an ear infection, and her poor sleep and agitation the night before were a result of her (obvious) stuffiness and discomfort.

The first few days of the trip followed the same script - little sleep and lots of crying. She was so congested that whenever we laid her down for a nap she would clog up and wake in a coughing fit. Eventually we decided to let her share the king-size bed with us at night so we could comfort her there instead of having to get up every few minutes.

By the end of the week she was stringing together several hours of night sleep, which was great news for her parents, who had been vacationing on as little as three or four hours of sleep a day. Madeline was also in a much better mood as she began to feel the results of the prescription antibiotic and benadryl.

Even if Madeline hadn't been sick, this vacation would have been a different sort of trip. Since Madeline has been with us, my profession has taken a less prominent role in my life as my focus shifted to caring for my daughter and being there for Lacey. It used to be that a vacation was an escape from the workplace and the monotony of the daily routine. But when the issues that consume your life are family-related, they become permanent companions. It's almost as if the vacation was more stressful and tiring than a normal week at the office might have been.

None of this is to say that we didn't have a nice time. We were at the beach, after all. We spent the week with family, we played in the ocean and saw the sights. Madeline set foot in the Atlantic for the first time.

During the first part of the week I wondered if we made the right decision to continue with the trip despite Madeline's illness. I think we did the right thing, despite the struggles. We'll remember the good moments - of which there were many - and the bad ones will simply be filed away among the experiences that strengthen our parenting confidence. We made it through, and managed to have a good time, and that says a lot.

Vacation 4

One last photo until we return from the beach.

Vacation 3

I guess every parent thinks their baby is the cutest of them all, and we're no different. But sometimes I do think it would be hard to argue otherwise!

Vacation 2

Madeline says hello.

Vacation 1

We're on vacation this week, so I thought would populate the blog on time-delay with some pictures taken before we left last week.

The twenty-eighth week

Sigh.

Madeline has been sick this week. She ran a fever on Tuesday and Wednesday, seemed to get better on Thursday, and then got worse today. The fever returned and she didn't want to eat or sleep in the evening. I finally got her to sleep just now, almost four hours after her normal bed time.

And Lacey's sick, too.

And we're scheduled to leave tomorrow morning for the week-long beach vacation we've been planning for months.

I'm not going to think too deeply about the timing of everything - how we've all been healthy since Madeline was born, and then fell ill in the days before our first family trip. We still plan to go - the beach could be a good place to recover. And we'll have some extended family there to help spread the duties. I just hope we can get some sleep before tomorrow morning's 4-hour drive.

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Addendum: Madeline slept until about 2:30 before waking up crying and completely stuffed up. We gave her some medicine and I ended up walking her around the house for an hour as she continued to cry. I think she was frightened since she wasn't able to breathe through her nose - it's the first time she's ever experienced that sensation. I was able to rock her to sleep at about 3:30, but I held her in the rocking chair through the night so I could keep her upright and hopefully keep her uncongested. It seemed to work, even though I didn't get much sleep. It's been a long time since we've had a night like that!

The fever

It has not escaped my notice that Madeline hasn't been sick in her entire life. She was diagnosed months ago with acid reflux, but that's more of a condition than a sickness. Otherwise she's been happy and sniffle-free.

That all changed this week with today's odd and surprising diagnosis of hand-foot-and-mouth disease (not to be confused with hoof-and-mouth disease, which affects livestock and is unrelated to the human illness).

Madeline came down with a slight fever yesterday, but it wasn't high enough to warrant a visit to the doctor. She was also very tired all day and not quite as interested in eating her solid foods. We attributed her symptoms to the vaccines she received during her regular checkup the day before.

When her fever increased today we made an appointment with the pediatrician. After a few questions and a short inspection, the doctor hit us with the diagnosis. He mentioned he's seen several similar cases in the last few weeks, and that the disease is common among children under 2. It's a viral infection, so there's nothing we can do but let it run its course while treating the symptoms with ibuprofen. The fever should last about three days, and a sore throat is common with this virus. She should be back to normal within a week.

We suspect Madeline contracted the virus during a visit to our neighborhood playground last weekend. I guess this is a taste of what childhood is like - constantly picking up germs from all the unsanitary surfaces she comes in contact with.

Six-month check-in

Today Madeline had her six-month check-in with the pediatrician. She weighs 18 pounds, 6 ounces and is 26.75 inches long. She's grown an inch and a quarter since her last check-in, at the end of July, and put on 1 pound, 7 ounces. That's 23 ounces, or 0.6 ounces a day, over the last 38 days.

She's gaining weight at a lower rate now, down from a high of about an ounce a day a few months ago. She's in the 90th percentile for weight, but the doctor said she's "perfect" and will start to thin out in the face and tummy once she starts walking in another few months.

Madeline also got four immunizations today, in the form of injections in her thighs. The doctor said this is the last time she'll get four immunizations at once, which is nice. We didn't hear Madeline cry during the shots, and she was quiet and happy when she was done. In fact, she's been pleasant in the hours since the shots - the last two times she's had rough afternoons after getting her immunizations.

Not that we were worried, but the doctor says everything is right on track, from Madeline's development to her eating to her sleeping. Our next scheduled check-in is at nine months, which will be the beginning of December.

Good morning vomit

On weekend mornings I get to sleep in for an extra hour or so. On these days I am always delighted, upon awakening from a restful slumber, to see Lacey bring our adorable baby daughter into our bedroom to say good morning.

Today, as usual, Madeline was placed on the bed next to me and started grabbing my face and cooing cheerfully. She ended up stretched across my chest, her hands patting my cheeks softly as she happily nuzzled her face next to mine. I was enjoying the moment when suddenly I felt a quick spasm in her stomach and was instantly doused in a wave of warm vomit. Directly on my face. First thing in the morning.

Lacey, being the loving, helpful wife that she is, immediately burst into laughter. Madeline, too, broke into a wide, "did-I-do-that?" grin.

There are many unpleasant things you expect as a parent, and spit-up in the face should probably be one of them. If only it could have waited until after my first cup of coffee.

Playing to (and with) the camera

Here's a video taken a couple weeks ago as Madeline was practicing sitting by herself on the couch. Seems like she was more interested in the camera than her sitting.

The twenty-seventh week

Madeline and I have a fun game we like to play. I lay her in the middle of our bed and slowly start to leave the room. She'll watch intently and sometimes make a squawk or chirp as I get farther away. Then I'll quickly spin around to face her, and her expression shifts from a look of nervous suspense to a broad smile. I rush back to her and she starts to squeal and squirm with delight, often breaking into a full laugh as I swoop down and embrace her and nuzzle her belly.

It can be quite a boost to one's ego when there's someone who is always so smitten by you - someone who beams when they see you and who becomes calm and comforted when held by you (and only you). Someone who is perfectly content just to be with you. It goes beyond the fact that she's dependent upon us - in addition to taking care of her needs, we make her happy.

As I write this, I realize the situation is mutual. Madeline has become the foundation of our lives as well. She makes us happy - being with her makes me forget everything else, and not worry that I am forgetting it. She has become a natural part of our lives, no longer a foreign entity that must be accounted for. Instead of "the two of us" and the baby, it's now "the three of us."

I understand it's all temporary. Eventually she will be embarrassed by everything I do or say. Instead of smiling at the sight of me she will roll her eyes, if she even acknowledges me at all. We'll take that as it comes, but for now I plan to enjoy being the center of someone's universe, no matter how tiny that universe is.

Drama queen

Sometimes Madeline just likes to hear herself make noise. Her babbling, aimed at no one, will be interspersed with halfhearted coughs - not because she needs to clear her throat but, I think, because she likes the way it sounds.

Sit, play

We're almost getting to the point where Madeline can sit by herself and play. Often we'll place a pillow behind her in case she tumbles, but she's pretty good about staying upright even when she gets excited or is reaching for something close by. I think she likes the new perspective - sometimes she'll fuss when she's on her back but become happy when we sit her up.

Breaking through

Madeline's bottom front teeth have finally revealed themselves. Occasional grumpiness has been the only real side effect over the last couple of weeks, but a teething ring usually helps (it also helps to just pick her up, which tells me that the grumpiness might not be entirely a result of teething, but just that she wants more attention).

Madeline seems happy to experiment with her new teeth by biting down on objects in her mouth rather than sucking on them. For instance, she'll clamp down on the spoon while we're feeding her, and she's also been gnawing on the ears of one of her stuffed bunny toys.