First time outside in about a month!

It was about 30 degrees this past Saturday, so we decided to take Maddie out.  We realized we hadn't taken her out in roughly 1 month! She got a bad cold (coughing / sneezing / stuffy nose), then there was a blizzard, and then it turned bitter cold.

We took advantage of the "warm" weather and went to visit Bak Bak. After we got home, Joseph strapped on the Baby Bjorn carrier and we talked around the neighborhood (specifically we walked up to a new pizza place that was giving out free pizza!).

Maddie seemed to love being very high up and facing outward.  Joseph and Maddie got tons of smiles from passersby.  Who doesn't love a cute baby, and cute daddy!

Development - Standing propped up and Holding her own bottle!

Maddie surprised us yesterday with two things.

First, Joseph propped her up standing against the couch again and she stood all by herself, holding the couch, for a few seconds!!  Picture and video proof below.

Then in the evening before bed, we gave her a bottle after I nursed her as our hungry, growing baby girl wasn't satisfied (my supply has dipped a bit since returning to work so we have to supplement in the evenings once in a while.  We decided someone other than me will give Maddie bottles so she doesn't think she can just fuss and I will give her the bottle.  With me, it's boob or nothing!).

She held the bottle all on her own, with both hands!!

We knew our baby girl was getting big, but she is starting to surprise us almost daily now.  She is growing so fast!

Sad Maddie

Overall Maddie is quite the happy baby. She is almost always smiling, and has started to laugh!

A few things do make her very unhappy though. We hate to see her sad or upset, but it is quite adorable (just like everything about her) when she first starts to fuss, as she makes the cutest little frown. We try to do what we can to soothe her before she gets extremely upset (which is normally right before bedtime - she normally cries when I'm changing her for bed, but she's hungry and tired!).

Here's what typically makes her unhappy & fussy:

* Being hungry (of course)
* Anything having to do with her head being touched, such as:
     * Being changed (normally she's okay after I put the onesie on, but starts to really get upset when the second layer gets put on. Not sure if it's because of her head or because her arms are constricted for a little while)
     * Putting on / Wearing a hat
     * Drying her hair (she is fine when we wash her hair)
* Laying down for too long, our girl likes to sit/stand up! / Being bored
* Dirty diaper - though she has gotten a lot better at tolerating a wet/dirty diaper!
* Being tired. When all of the items above have been checked off, we then look at the clock and realize it's time for a nap!

I am a bad mom and decided to take pictures of her fussy and crying before picking her up. In these photos she is fussy because she didn't want to be laid down anymore.

Cute Videos - Talking, Smiling, Laughing & Sticking out her tongue

Here are a couple of videos of Maddie being just adorable, if we say so ourselves.

Here she is smiling and sticking out her tongue.

Here she is laughing!  She was laughing up a storm before we decided to video, and of course she stopped shortly after we started.  So far she doesn't laugh much, but when she does, it is the cutest thing ever!!

Cute pics from the past couple of weeks

Here are some cute pictures from the past couple of weeks

Maddie loves being up high!  She likes to grab Joseph's ears to hold herself up.

Maddie loves to sit up and stand, so Joseph decided to see if she could hold herself up, and she did very well!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Maddie celebrating Chinese New Year!  2015 is year is the year of the Goat (or Sheep).

Maddie was born in the year of the Horse, the same year as Joseph!
The jade necklace has a gold horse embedded into it, Pau Pau Nancy bought it from China. The gold coin pendant is a gift from Bak Bak for Maddie when she was born.  Both the jade and gold bracelets are mine from when I was a baby.

3 Months Difference

One of the very few things Madeleine still fits in from when she was a a newborn is a sleep sack from Aunt Corrie.  I remember I had taken some pictures of her in when she was about a week old so I tried to take a similar picture and put them side by side.

The picture on the left is from 11/17/14 when she was 9 days old.  The picture on the right is from 2/14/15, 14 weeks old.  She has always been a very alert baby.  She has really filled in, she is almost 7 pounds heavier now.  I can't hold her anymore on my forearm like in the first picture, she's too big and way more active now.

Valentine's, Part 2

We had another cute red dress for Maddie to wear so I put her in it on Thursday morning for Valentine's Day, Part 2

Madeleine's First Valentine's Day

Four More Videos

4 Videos from the last week....

Shaking a rattle

Talking loudly

Eating her own hand

And just a little bit of her laughing

Vickie's First Day Back at Work

After 13 weeks with Madeleine, my leave from work has finally ended.  My first day back to work was yesterday, Monday, February 9th.  I had stopped into the office a few times during my leave so they wouldn't forget me, haha.

I plan on heading into the office 3 days a week (M, W, F) and Pau Pau will come watch her during the day.  I will then work from home 2 days a week (Tu & Th).

All went well yesterday, Maddie did great with Pau Pau and I worked a full day and didn't shed any tears!

This morning routine has worked for the past 3 days (we did a practice run on Sunday):

Maddie wakes up around 6:15-6:30am.  I nurse her then bring her into the bathroom with me so I can watch her (and she can watch me) while I get ready for work.  I lay her on the nursing pillow on her back and also on her tummy with the rings and rattle to play with. She seems to enjoy it!  I also play with her in between brushing my teeth, washing my face, putting on makeup, etc.  This works for now since she is not mobile.

Then I change her into her outfit for the day and we proceed to play some more (kisses, tickles, sit ups, stand ups).  We then go downstairs so I can grab something to eat and drink.  And if I don't forget, we go to the basement to feed the cats.  By now Maddie starts to get tired so I start to rock her to sleep. So far she's been asleep by around 7:45-8:00am which is perfect!

Here's a picture of us before I put her down for her nap and before I left for work on the first day back:

Joseph takes over from 8:00-9:00am until my mom gets there at 9am.  I will be doing my best to leave the office at 4:30 so I'm home by 5:00pm. Maddie usually starts to get fussy and sleepy around 5:30-6 so I will be getting about 1-1.5 hours with her before bedtime.

Here's Joseph and Maddie playing before bedtime:

And I finally have my own office!  My company rearranged the front office while I was gone, so my cubicle was all packed up.  We have had an empty office for a while which I planned to pump in a few times daily, so I asked if I could just have the office rather than go in there several times a day, and they agreed. Yay for privacy!  I'm also more productive since I can just close the door and work while I pump.

The office needs some pictures of Maddie, and definitely some new curtains (they are probably 50 years old, yuck!)

In all, the first day back was a success!

Monthly Photo (3 Months)

Maddie is now 3 months old.  She weighs approximately 14.5 lbs, is roughly 25-26 inches long, and has outgrown her cloth diapers.

The Best Of (Week 13)

Here's a recap from the week...

Maddie wore her OU colors to show support for her Grandpa who was a bit under the weather...

Boomer Sooner!

Vickie got the flu, and Joseph had to leave town for a few days... but everything worked out OK because Vickie started feeling better and Pau Pau /Uncle Jeff came to visit/help.

A huge snowstorm hit Chicago.  20 inches of snow accumulated and Joseph's flight was cancelled. 

Maddie got sick with cold/flu symptoms.   She had a slight fever (around 100) for a few days .. and then started getting a stuffy nose/cough/wheeziness.  Luckily, she didn't seem to notice she was sick and was in just a slightly grumpier mood.  This is just after a hot steam to help her sinus congestion.

And here are a few additional cute pics from the week..

Dance Hits, Vol. 1

Here's Maddie dancing/wiggling to "Low" by Flo Rida.  Sorry that it's upside down.

Maddie doing the "Dougie"

"Turn Down for What?"

Playtime

Here are some updated pics of Maddie during playtime.  All of these activities are on the current rotation
 
This is the Bumbo chair/tray.  We usually sit it on top of the table/counter.  Maddie likes it because she can sit at the same level as the parents and watch them.  We like it because it allows us to keep her distracted as we do something else like prepare dinner, eat dinner, or type on the blog.

This is one of our Tummy Time mats.  We stick Maddie on this 2-4 times a day for 3-10 minute stretches.  She still doesn't like being on her tummy much, but at least she's tolerating it now. 

Maddie usually concludes playtime on her back.  There, she can look at a mirror, play with hanging stuff, or just flap her arms/legs wildly.   She usually spends 15-20 minutes on her back before she goes into her 1000 yard stare.   At that point, she is ready for her nap.

When she has a lot of energy, we like to put her into the jumparoo chair.  She can barely reach the ground with her tiptoes.... so we have to help her with the bouncing.  She can tolerate about 15-20 minutes in the jumparoo before she tires (goes limp, slouches in chair, head bobs).

Piano playing is a new activity that we introduced this week.  We play her a song or two, and then let her go at it.  She should be ready for her first recital in a few weeks.