Prior to going on maternity leave, my co-workers threw me a baby shower and one of the gifts that I received was an activity center, which converted into a walker and then converted into a walk behind toy. Needless to say, the toy is huge.
Madeline can almost touch the bottom with her feet, but she has learned to play the music and to work some of the toys. She seems to enjoy it for now (thank goodness, because this toy takes up a lot of room!)
We knew it was bound to happen, but Madeline had her first cold last week. (would have posted sooner, but the past week has been very hectic). Vicky took Maddie to the doctor last Tuesday and found that she had an upper respiratory infection. Luckily, she didn't have a fever, but since her baptism was fast approaching, the doctor put her on antibiotics.
A week later, she's still a little stuffy here and there, but throughout her illness, she was never crabby. Matt and I keep saying how lucky we are to have such a good baby.
At Madeline's last check up, the doctor said that we could begin Madeline on solid foods...but just cereal for now. We began with rice cereal. She didn't seem to mind the cereal, but she didn't care for the spoon too much. After this first try at the spoon, we added the cereal to her formual in her bottle. That will work for now until she gets used to eating from her spoon.
Maddie is growing so fast! We took her to the doctor on Monday for her four month check up. She is now 16 pounds, 4 ounces (she's gained over a pound in the past month) and is now 25-1/4 inches (she's grown almost 2 inches as well).
She did get a shot in each leg, but only cried for about a minute. Luckily, we remembered to give her some baby Tylenol right before the shots to help dull the pain. She cried a little Monday night, but other than that, she's been great.
The doctor said that she's doing really well, that she's healthy and that we can start to wean her off of the Zantac to see if she really needs it anymore. It was originally given to her to help with the reflux burning her throat, but if it doesn't seem to bother her when she spits up, we can continue to cut back how much we give her. We're starting with taking away her night dosage. If all goes well, we will wean her off completely. If it doesn't...we start up both doses again.
We spent Easter with Grandma Peggy and the Amico side of the family. They hadn't met Madeline yet, so it was great that we were able to get together. Madeline was a little overwhelmed at first, but warmed up after awhile. The picture above is our little cousin Francesca playing with Madeline. They were so cute together.
Madeline is now 4 months old. Matt and I were looking at her the other day and we can't believe how fast time has flown by. Madeline is talking more and more and has begun to giggle more. She has also discovered that she can suck on her bottom lip and can suck on her hand. When she gets excited and smiles, she puts her hand right into her mouth...it's very cute. Matt and I have gotten into gear and are planning Madeline's baptism. Luckily, I'm a fast planner and was able to schedule both the baptism and the luncheon. Invitations will be going out this week, so put it on your calendars!
Here are some new pictures of Madeline. She is such a happy baby!
She is always smiling. She has just recently started laughing
Her expressions are priceless!!
Our cousin JoAnn had a surprise party on March 2nd, and it was the first time the Fredendalls got to meet Madeline. We were so glad that we could make it! It was an hour and a half drive, and Madeline had never been around that many people before, but she didn't cry the entire time (well, she did when she was hungry :) )
Here are a few pictures...
