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.