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.