Three Months & Laughing

I totally missed making a post about Maddie hitting her three month mark last week, and the guilt has been eating at me all week. So here we go....

Madeleine is three months old now!!!!! She's smiling a gazillion times a day, tries to talk a LOT (sometimes for like 10 minutes, non-stop!), smiles when she hears familiar voices, holds her head up about 98% of the time, and this week she laughed for the first time!!! It happened around 8pm when she was acting a little punchy. I zerberted her cheek and she gasped, and then I laughed and then she started laughing and laughing and laughing. SO cute!!! Andrew was with me at the time so he got to witness it, and he was laughing too! Lots of exclamation points here, I know, but that's what happens when you have such a cute baby!!!!!!!

What else is she up to? We bought her a yellow Bumbo baby seat so she can sit up and hang out with us when she's awake without me having to hold her ALL the time. So far it's taking some getting used to, but she's starting to like it. She's weighing around 14lbs, but we haven't measured her length though she's definitely over the 24" mark. Last night I put her in a size 6 months sleeper and it fit her just fine, so within the next couple weeks she'll be graduating to the next size up. Her legs are getting chubbier - but not rolly poley. Her eyes are still bright blue and I have to say I'll be sad to see them turn brown/hazel. Her newborn hair is starting to fall out along the sides and back because she turns her head a LOT while settling down to sleep, and new hair is growing in thick on top of her head. Right now it looks light golden brown like Andrew's was at this stage. She's starting to drool a lot also and LOVES exploring things with her tongue. Her grip has kicked in and she's starting to pick things up, so pretty soon the tongue exploring and handy skills are going to join together for a lot of trouble, I'm sure. Maddie's legs are still very strong and she loves to stand up and bounce on them. Oh, and she's also quite mesmerized by the ceiling fans and her body parts - especially her hands and feet. She's learned to 'talk' to daddy on the phone and is loving it, but she still won't talk to anyone else. She loves to stare at Andrew and watch everything he does with rapt attention. Oh, and this I'm afraid to admit but she LOVES the tv. LOVES it!! If the tv is on in the room and there's nothing else going on, she turns her head until she finds it and then gets mad when I try to get her to look at something else. Funny kid. I broke out the baby einstein dvd's and she really doesn't care for them at all. I should say, YET. She loves music too, and especially loves us singing to her.

Okay, so I could go on and on, but it's just so exciting that she's hit the stage where all these things are happening. We are loving it!

And big brother? He's doing great!! Making so many friends at school and learning so fast and growing so strong. This week he's taken to writing notes to people and making lists, all the while asking us how to spell words and names. For instance, he keeps revising his list of who he's going to invite to his birthday party 7 months from now. Funny kid! He's learning to read really well too. It's fun when we open a book and he's pointing out the words he knows and trying to sound out the rest. It's nice to know that all those books in his room will finally be appreciated. :) For those who've been following Andrew's physical progression, a couple weeks ago he showed us how he can walk up and down the stairs without holding onto the rail, and that is a HUGE accomplishment for him! It's probably 25% physical and 75% mental barriers that've kept him from doing it for so long, so we're so proud that he was brave enough to just do it!! Today is his last day of school before Christmas vacation starts so we had a mini-celebration when we turned off his alarm this morning. I've grown to hate that thing, and I think he feels the same about it. We're just not morning people.

Travis and I are doing well. Working hard and trying to survive each day until our lives normalize a little. Huh? Yeah, for example, I went to bed at 9:30pm last night, but didn't fall asleep until 12:40am.... I just couldn't sleep. Too much going on in my head. Then instead of sleeping until 6:30am like she's been doing the past week, Maddie decided to wake up at 4:40am. After that I couldn't fall back asleep at all. If it weren't for her adorable smiles and coos and laughter..... I tell ya! :)

Okay, the faxes just came through from my boss so I've got to get to work. Merry Christmas everyone! We love ya!!!