Madelyn Gets The Giggles!
Music to my ears! I finally got Madelyn to giggle and I wasn’t even trying!
She’s been smiling for weeks and as much as I love her huge, gummy smile, they’ve been silent and I’ve been craving a belly laugh to complement them. This afternoon, I thought we’d take a little siesta together, but that was not part of Madelyn’s agenda. She was wide awake and did not succumb to her usual coma like she typically does after gulping a big bottle. So, what’s a mom to do with a baby and all of her energy? Play!
I propped her up on my thighs as I stayed in bed and made silly sounds. She smiled over and over and finally let me know I was hilarious by offering a giggle. And another giggle. And more giggles! My heart inflated like a big, red balloon! It was probably the cutest thing I’ve ever seen and heard and I immediately tried to capture it on video, but the lighting in the room was too dark. So, I thought of the next best thing: audio! I’m so glad I thought to record her giggles because they are just too adorable; coos interspersed with gasps from deep down in her scrumptious belly!
Seinfeld… Crystal… Martin… some of my favorite people that slap grins on my face, but there’s nothing funnier or more entertaining than a 3-month old giggling. I’m Madelyn’s biggest fan and there’s nothing I won’t do to elicit more giggles from deep down to her toes (you’ll notice I sound like a lunatic. Oh well, it works!)!
Loosening The Straps
As Madelyn grows, there are some things that will be welcomed with open arms: a potty trained baby, spoken words of “I love you,” and reciprocated cuddles. I can’t wait for those milestones to happen and know I’ll be super excited when those stages begin.
However, this baby is growing too fast! This baby that we couldn’t wait to arrive is already almost 14 weeks old and is basically a mini giant in my lap. My first realization that she’s no longer a newborn occurred when I went to strap her in her car seat before going on a drive.
I went to fasten the buckle and I pulled and pulled, but the two ends barely touched. I looked over at Princeton. Lacking thumbs, did he manage to tighten the straps when I wasn’t looking? That sneaky dog! I thought maybe Bryan had played with the fastener and left it too tight. Perhaps the last time I took Madelyn out, I pulled the straps in the opposite direction to make it more snug. None of these scenarios made sense. But just for kicks, I tried her in her bouncer to see how she measured up there.
Sure enough, the straps were tight and the “male” and “female” ends of the buckle didn’t quite snap together.
And then it hit me. Madelyn was growing and it was time to loosen the straps.
Loosening the straps marks a milestone in her growth and development. She was such a teeny thing when we brought her home from the hospital, and although she grew right in front of our faces, we lost track of just how big she was getting. It’s hard to measure with your own eyes. It’s a subjective way to track. But buckles and straps don’t lie. They are factual in their measurements and don’t change over time like our Madelyn.
So while all the objects around her stay the same, Madelyn continues to grow, adding on inches and pounds to her fingers, her waist, her legs. Her cheeks continue to bust outward and her chin keeps on sweeping low. She is no longer a tight, compact package, and instead this baby is branching out to become a little person. And if that’s just the outside, I can’t even begin to comprehend how she’s growing on the inside!
I used to look at her when I held her and couldn’t believe she was once inside me. And now I look at her as I loosen her straps, and can’t believe how she was ever so small. Time has flown and I desperately try to hold onto each minute because I don’t want to miss a nanosecond of her growing up. She will never be the same person she was a minute ago and a minute before that. And if each minute is so wonderful, my brain hurts to imagine how the next minute can top it. But it always does.
Left: Madelyn at 4 days old. Right: Madelyn at ~9 weeks old
Despite the nature of this topic, I’m not actually thaaaat mushy of a writer, so I must end the post with this: If this was a movie, and my words were complemented by a montage of scenes depicting a mother and her child, the soundtrack would be Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” and there’d be lots of slow motion.
Three Months!
And just like that, we are a quarter of the way through Madelyn’s first year. Holy, dirty diapers, the time has fah-lown by! And my, has she changed! November 9th marked Madelyn’s third month of pure deliciousness.
At three months old, Madelyn now…
Love our little Madelyn! Happy 3 months, babygirl!
Havin’ A Cow
It’s only been nine days since Halloween. This post isn’t overdue at all. Nuh uh.
Oops.
Things have been crazy at the Friedman Abode. The Halloween costume is still draped over the dining room chair, so naturally, a recap of Madelyn’s first Halloween is a bit tardy as well. I even questioned doing Halloween at all. Madelyn was less than three months old on October 31st, and she’ll never remember it, and obviously the only candy she gets to enjoy is her formula which is her breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well! Let’s face it, though, Halloween for babies is more for the parents than it is for the little ones. It’s all about the photo op, and we definitely got them!
At first Madelyn was going to be a strawberry for Halloween. I saw a cute costume on Old Navy’s website and ordered it, but when she tried it on, it was too big and baggy. She looked cute in red, but it wasn’t even obvious that it was a strawberry. Quite a bummer, too, since the selection was in honor of her daddy’s favorite food!
While at Costco, I saw costumes by Carters and they were adorable! They must have been all the rage this year, because according to Facebook photos, it looks like most babies and kids wore a variation of a Carters animal costume for Halloween. Color us trendy, because Madelyn looked moooootiful in her cow costume!
Although, I have to wonder, is it a little meta that Madelyn drinks milk while she’s in her cow costume? She seemed to enjoy her bottle of formula with extra zest that day. I wonder if she finally understood “you are what you eat” in its truest sense.
Since I haven’t cared about Halloween since college, I really got into the spirit this year since I now had a reason to participate. I baked Halloween cupcakes and made yummy Oreo cookie bars. I even made Bryan dress up with me as Madelyn’s little farmer/cowboy caretakers. I couldn’t decide if we were farmers or cowboys, so I interpret us as a hybrid of such noble professions.
Oh, and we decided that the cowboy farm specialized in pumpkins as well as cows. Hey, it’s two ingredients in to having a full-blown pumpkin pie.
I couldn’t wait to bring her over to her friend Brielle’s house (who made the cutest ladybug!) so we could have a mini Halloween party with our families. We enjoyed good food and lots of playtime. We ventured out to a few houses in Brielle’s neighborhood which is in the same community as my elementary school. I went trick-or-treating there as a kid, and it was fun to carry the tradition over for Madelyn as we started our own new tradition with Brielle and her parents! The babies, um, we got some candy and just before dusk, we came back home and 7-month-old Brielle went to sleep.
We always have such a fun time with Brielle’s mommy and daddy. I’ve known Brielle’s mommy since we were kids and we are having so much fun with our baby girls!
Madelyn’s First Moments
We all enjoyed a lazy family weekend at home and enjoyed spending quality time with Madelyn. She’s really aware and curious now, and loves to be held facing outward so she can see the world. She’s a little baby Yenta already. We watched her explore on her new play mat and discover the adorable baby looking back at her in the mirror. It’s so clear that she’s becoming a real person and it’s fun to be surprised by her new changes.
I got a little nostalgic and looked through the zillions of photos from her first few days with us in the hospital. She was so little and puffy and fresh. Her features weren’t very pronounced and her interaction with us was minimal. Still, we fell deeply in love with her then. And now? Well, now, forget about it. We’re mush!
I came across a video that Bryan took with his iPhone while he was in the nursery with her. I was still getting stitched up, and he got to escort her to be poked and prodded before her first bath. I had no idea Bryan took this video until yesterday when I found it in the pile of hospital photos, and I am so glad he captured her first minutes after she was taken from me in the O.R.
And now, after seeing this, it’s obvious just how far Madelyn has come in her almost-12 weeks. She’s been changing right before our eyes, and these first recorded moments mark the beginning of our lifelong happiness with our daughter. Not going to lie — I totally teared up when I watched this for the first time yesterday. Daddy of the Year, my husband.