The tenth week

Shortly after we brought Madeline home, I apologized to Lacey in advance in case I were to ever speak to her in baby talk. I spend so much of my day talking to Madeline that I sometimes forget to switch to adult mode when addressing my wife. I don't mean the high-pitched "goo-goo" talk, but things like not using pronouns and calling her "mommy" in the third person. (ie, "What's mommy going to have for lunch today?") I imagine this will only get worse as Madeline starts to talk more.

The big story this week has been Madeline's newfound mobility. It's been amazing watching her intellect blossom and evolve over the past weeks, but her rollovers this week have been the first instances of her actually moving herself. She's no longer a sedentary sack of cuteness (well, most of the time she still is). She's also been kicking her legs a lot more, and pushing off when I put my hands on the bottom of her feet. I just know she'll be crawling before we know it.

The other big development this week has been Madeline's sleeping patterns. Every night this week she's gone to bed between 8 and 9 p.m. and stayed asleep until her 2-3 a.m. feeding. After that feeding she'll sleep soundly until about 6:30. And she's been sleeping all night in her crib. This means her parents are actually getting some good sleep (for Lacey, it's the first good sleep she's had in months).

She's all hands

It's fun to watch as Madeline uses her hands more. She occasionally grabs objects that are in within reach, although it still seems accidental. I guess soon she'll discover her hands and nothing will be safe again.

As a side note, Lacey reports that Madeline rolled over a couple times yesterday morning, proving that Sunday's events were not a fluke.

Saying hello

I received my new video camera today, and this is some of the first footage of Madeline. Due to the time-consuming nature of uploading video to the blog, I will still be posting mostly still photographs, but I hope to share the occasional movie.

My birthday

One year ago today, I celebrated my birthday in Death Valley. Lacey and I packed the bare essentials and flew out West to camp and hike for five days in one of the most brutal environments on Earth. Today we celebrated the date by taking our daughter to Maymont Park in the sunny, perfect weather of early May.

Two celebrations, a world apart. Gone for now are the days of globe-trotting adventures for Lacey and me. We traveled extensively in recent years knowing that luxury would be finite. At the time, it was hard to imagine a life centered around our home, a life that wasn't enthralled by the exploration of the distant corners of our world.

I don't write this with animosity. I once thought that I might later look back on those adventures with a sense of longing for what once was. But today I never wished I was anywhere else. A year ago, miles into a desolate, lifeless canyon under a baking desert sun, I turned to Lacey and said, "this is exactly where I want to be right now." I couldn't think of another location or activity that would be superior to that moment. Today, sitting with my wife and daughter on a carpet of green less than 10 miles from our home, I had the exact same thought.

This is exactly where I want to be.

On a roll

This afternoon Madeline hit a big milestone - she rolled over. She had just eaten and was in a good mood, so I put her on her tummy for some play time. I had my camera at the ready, and before I knew what was happening she rolled onto her back.

I was astonished - when I put her on her tummy I thought she might raise her head and do some pushups. I wasn't even thinking about her rolling over. And I think she was just as surprised as I was - slowly a smile crept across her face and she began to chirp and coo.

I put her on her stomach again and almost before I could move my hands away she rolled over again. And then she did it again. After three good rollovers she was worn out, but my spirits were high. After weeks of gradual developmental improvements (watching and grasping objects and more frequent vocalizations), we were excited to have a more momentous occasion to celebrate.

The ninth week

It's been a quiet week, a good week. The days have been nice and the nights are slowly getting better. Madeline's daily schedule has become as predictable as the seasons.

Madeline sleeps well for the first part of the night, from about 9 p.m. until about 2:30 a.m. Occasionally she'll need to be comforted to fall back to sleep, but she usually doesn't need to be picked up. After her 2:30 feeding, though, things can be a little more tenuous. Once she's put back down she often grunts and cries out, even though she might not be awake. And she's generally ready to get her day started by about 5:30.

As some of you may know, I work evenings at the newspaper. So it basically works out that Madeline is sleeping well during the early of the part of the night when Lacey is in bed, and then is restless and awake once I come home and try to sleep. But Lacey has been nice about letting me sleep a little in the morning.

Notes from this week

- Lacey and I were amused Thursday as Madeline grabbed the pacifier from her mouth and then tried to put it back in, sideways. While it was pretty funny to watch, it was also a good indicator that she's working on her hand-eye coordination. She still doesn't grab objects purposefully, but she grasps things she comes in contact with casually.

- We've started putting Madeline to bed in her crib again after letting her sleep in her swing in our bedroom for a few weeks. When the acid reflux was in full force, she would only sleep when she was in motion. Now that the symptoms are mostly gone we're hoping she'll take to her crib, sparing us from listening to all those small grunts throughout the night. So far it seems to be going well.

Going mobile

Over the past several days we've noticed that Madeline is more engaged with her environment than before. Instead of her gaze jumping randomly around the room, she'll focus on an object and study it. She pays more attention to toys that we display in front of her, and she's entranced by the mobile above her bed and the lights on her jungle adventure mat, which she used to ignore.

This weekend I even saw her smiling and laughing at the mobile above her swing, which is made up of simple, colorful shapes Lacey cut out of construction paper. I think a fellow blogging dad said it well: "Nothing strips a fresh parent of delusions regarding the depth of the emotional attachment of his child faster than seeing her give total adoration and allegiance to a cardboard disk."

Well, at least she's happy.

Two-month checkup

Today was Madeline's two-month checkup with the pediatrician. She's still growing like crazy - she weighed 11 pounds, 6 ounces today and measured 21 and 3/4 inches long. That means she's put on 15 ounces in the last 10 days!

She also got five vaccines during today's visit - four shots and one oral dose. She cried out as she was getting the shots - we heard her from several rooms away - but she quieted quickly afterward. The doctor said the vaccines would make her drowsy this afternoon, so we took advantage of the situation and did some shopping and grabbed lunch after the appointment.

The pediatrician listened thoughtfully to Lacey's questions today and told us everything seemed to be going well. She put to rest most of Lacey's concerns about Madeline's sleeping and feeding routines and basically said we're doing everything right. Madeline is growing well and pretty much eating and sleeping when she's supposed to (although we would like it if she slept a little more at night without needing intervention from us - just because she goes six hours between feedings at night doesn't mean she's sleeping all that time!).

The eighth week

Two months. I guess it's almost time to stop measuring Madeline's age in days and weeks and move on to the next larger increment - months.

As things smooth out over the passing weeks, we sometimes find ourselves wondering what we can be doing to influence Madeline's development. Lacey has focused on the baby's routine - when and how much should she be sleeping, and does it matter where she sleeps? On paper it looks as if Madeline has a well structured day (we still make written notes of feedings and naptimes). She generally feeds on the same schedule every day, and she's down to one overnight feeding.

We also focus on other developmental issues - thinking about the time she spends on her tummy and using books, toys and sounds to stimulate her.

Along those lines, Madeline seems to be progressing nicely. She's more vocal and has even used two-syllable words. I'm not sure if she's laughed yet, but sometimes when she's smiling and engaged it's obvious her high-pitched vocalizations are a result of her excitement. On her tummy she holds her head up and looks around, and she's starting to use her arms to push her chest and shoulders up. Lacey reports that Madeline batted a spinning toy for several minutes a couple days ago, and she's been reaching and grabbing more frequently in general.

And, as you can see in the pictures, she's been sitting up with the help of the Boppy pillow. While she tends to topple frequently, she's getting better at supporting her head and looking around.

Note: The acid reflux seems to be getting better after we started the medication last weekend. It seems like there are still times when she experiences sharp discomfort, but she's sleeping better at night and during the day. We'll find out more at her two-month check-up on Monday.

Lost in a good book

We have been trying to read to Madeline at least once a day. Many times she loses interest after only a couple minutes, and other times she's completely enchanted. In this photo, taken Monday night, she can't wait to discover what Brown Bear sees next.