Madelyn's 4 months old

Madelyn is looking around and soaking up the world. Yea!  She is still very serious but we are starting to get some smiles without much work.  Since she is waking up to the world, she needs to be in a quiet place to nap. She no longer can nap on the fly so that makes it harder to get things done on the weekends.  Madelyn has really started to love her massage time before bed.  She especially loves it when I massage her cheeks since she uses those muscles a lot to eat and when I massage her chest by drawing a heart on her. She is starting to reach for toys and LOVES eating her fingers.   She has begun to laugh more and daddy can usually get some good giggles out of her by pretending to hiccup or say CRAZY!

Madelyn eats 5-6 times a day.  She is taking 3 bottles at 6 ounces each at daycare and just switched over to her faster flow nipples. She LOVES them according to daycare.  She is starting to take longer naps at daycare. Sometimes for 2-3 hours at a time.  Madelyn loves her tummy time and hates being on her back. She can push herself up and do mini push-ups now.  I think she'd probably be a tummy sleeper by now if we didn't have to still swaddle her.  She hasn't rolled over in awhile so maybe she had accidentally done it before. Who knows. She loves her mobile, ceiling fans and her crib soother and is starting to enjoy her other toys.  She started to keep her pacifier in her mouth at three months but now she has figured out how to pull it out of her mouth. Most of the time she'll take it out and hold it and then smile but sometimes she'll pull it out and then scream.  Silly girl. Stop taking it out then.

She sleeps still swaddled but through the night most nights.  She only sleeps with a pacifier for naps not at night. Daylight savings time was not fun for us. Now she is going to bed closer to 6 pm when before it was closer to 7 pm.  Some people have asked what I mean by sleeping through the night. Most nights we don't hear from Madelyn except for a few sneezes or coughs.  On a few occasions she'll actually cry out but is back to sleep on her own within minutes.  The worst nights are when she hasn't napped well during the day or we get her to bed too late.  Since two months old, we have only had to get out of bed and console her twice.  Don't worry--we know that we are very lucky and we'll see how things continue

Here's a picture of her napping.

She keeps us busy but we don't remember what we used to do before we had her!

Doctor Apt Stats

4 Months:
Head Circumference: 15.875" (36%)
Length: 24.5" (66%)
Weight: 14 lb 4 oz (74%)

2 Months:
Head Circumference: 15.5" (61%)
Length: 23.5" (83%)
Weight: 12 lb 11.8 oz (87%)


Here are a few 4 month photos:

I wasn't having much luck getting smiles so guess who I got to help me with these...DADDY!

One of my favorite past times

I love my fingers!!

Unfortunately, Leia loves her fingers  too. YUCK!

Madelyn and Leia

A very traditional Madelyn look!

She still has her moments though as can be seen from this photo! It was time for bed. Actually past time for bed.  She certainly needs her sleep!

Juliana's Birthday

Juliana turned four on November 9th. We celebrated by going to Choo-Choo Johnny's for dinner.  Madelyn wore her cupcake onesie since she couldn't partake in eating any.  Saturday November 12th Madelyn turned four months old and celebrated by dressing up as a princess for Juliana's Princess Party.  I took the day off of work Friday to make Juliana's Princess Castle Cake.  It was quite an ordeal. 4 cakes, 24 cupcakes and LOTS of frosting later, it turned out pretty good.  Beth came over and helped with the finishing touches and helped transport it to her house.  Unfortunately the cake towers were quite unstable so I had to stay on "cake watch" the whole party or else the towers would have fallen over. I was happy when the cake was cut so I didn't have to stand guard any more.

If you want to see a photo album of all the cakes I've made click here.

Madelyn and Juliana at Choo-Choo Johnny's

Juliana's 4th Birthday Cake

Cupcakes with Princess or Dragon Rings

Princess Madelyn! She liked playing with her dress.

Cousins: Caroline and Madelyn (2 weeks apart)

 

Madelyn, Beth and Caroline

Mommy and her princess

No those are not age appropriate beads

 

They had little tiaras for the little ones :)

Grandma Giese and Madelyn

First Toys

Madelyn has tried out some new toys. She also is starting to like some of her old toys more.

Madelyn and Daddy Reading her Taggies Book

She was really into it that night.  She was all about turning the pages.

Madelyn and her daddy

Her first time in her ExerciseSaucer was on October 30th (3.5 months).  Her expressions were hilarious as she explored this new toy. She lasted about 5 minutes but I think with time she will come to like it more and more.

Her first time in her Doorway Jumper was on November 12 (4 months). She seems to like this one but hasn't figured out how to jump yet. She likes looking at herself in the mirror that's attached to the cable and she is starting to find the toys in front.

She is starting to like her playmat more although she prefers to be on her tummy rather than her back. I have a feeling as soon as she can do it by herself, she will turn into a tummy sleeper like her dad.

Girls Breakfast

My neighborhood girls got together for breakfast. Here are some cute photos of Madelyn and Ava!

Madelyn seems to be eying the mimosa. Not yet Madelyn!

Maria, Madelyn, Ava & Kristen

So big! 

Madelyn, Rosie and Ava

Breakfast was so fun but Madelyn was all tuckered out.

1st Halloween

Madelyn celebrated her first Halloween by being a pink and purple butterfly.  She had a party at school on Friday and then went trick-or-treating with her cousins, Juliana and Connor on Monday. We were surprised by how long she lasted. I think she liked being outside in the cool air and watching all the kids run from house to house.

Madelyn and her pumpkin

What Madelyn wore to school

 

 

Look at all Madelyn's Treats!

Halloween is fun!

Some Fun Video

Here's Madelyn "talking."

Here's Madelyn catching Daddy's breath.

 

Hope you enjoy!

Madelyn Jane Hartsell is Baptized

Madelyn was baptized Sunday, Oct 23rd.  Her Godparents, Beth & Joe, her grandpa and grandma Giese and her cousins, Juliana and Connor were there to celebrate with her. She did great with no crying or much fussing the whole service.  Connor was more than happy to cheer on Madelyn from the pew as she got baptized.  Madelyn wore a baptismal gown from the late 1800's that her great-great grandmother wore as well as her grandma, her mom, her first cousin, Juliana and her third cousin, Reese. After the service, we all celebrated with brunch at Pancake Cafe. Juliana surprised us by eating all three of her large chocolate chip pancakes!!  Madelyn ended the day by showing us how she can roll over from front to back & back to front! Yeah!

Out celebrating at Pancake Cafe