The First Month

Sorry this one is a long one!

I know I have said it before, but this first month has flown by! You would think the days would go super slow being stuck in our house in a Minnesota winter, but we blink and half of the day is already over!

Madeline continues to be a dream baby - I am not sure how we got so lucky, but someone must have known we couldn't handle the challenges of Mikko and her undergarmet escapades and a challenging baby, so things seem to be equaling out.

Things seem to be changing so quickly I thought I would capture what Ms. Madeline is up to these days.

At one month Madeline...

• Is inbetween sizes...she looks like a giant in her newborn outfits and a midget in her 0-3 month outfits. Although it is hard to let her grow out of the newborn outfits, the fact that she couldn't stretch her legs out all the way in her pajamas last night is a good sign that she needs to move up. Diapers are another challenge as the size 1 diapers look like they can cover most of her body...but we have decreased the number of blowouts, so that makes mom happy!
• Is sleeping 3.5-4 hours at a time at night. Is up like clockwork at 2-2:30 and will sleep until 6ish.
• LOVES to lay on her tummy on your shoulder curled up in a ball. Even when you try to move her, she will try to lay in this position.
• Is a world class snuggler. I hear this doesn't last forever, so papa and I are taking every opportunity to snuggle you!
• Isn't the biggest fan of the swaddle, although you sleep much better that way. She works so hard grunting and fidgeting her arms and legs out of the swaddle and when she finally accomplishes her goal, is furious that she has one random arm and leg sticking out of it. I admire her determination - I wonder where she gets that from.
• Will not lay on her back unless she is in the swaddle - will roll to her side or completely over giving her mom a heart attack.
  
• Is becoming more interactive with me and papa and always seems to have her eye on Mikko.
• Is smiling randomly...sometimes in response to us, but more likely in response to something in her pants. We can tell you are going to have a beautiful smile though :).
• Has the most adorable sigh - Jeremy and I are still hopeful that we can capture this on film...but usually after she sneezes she takes a big breath and lets out a huge sigh - like it was the hardest thing she has done all day!
• Goes through no less than 3 outfits a day. Just when you thought you had a lot of clothing, after a couple of days you are dressed in your PJ's until the laundry is done!
• Rarely cries...is more of a grunty whine normally when you want to eat...although every once and and a while it is that you want to be snuggled.
• Receives no less than 2357028 kisses from Jeremy, Kate and Mikko every day.
• Is called Madeline, Maddie, Peanut, Peanut Butter (?? - likely from the amount of peanut butter i give Mikko to keep her busy during the day!) and June Bug.
• Ha the typical blue grey eyes and is thinning hair on top and growing hair on the sides and back - developing a nice little baby mullet.
  

At One Month Jeremy and Kate:

• Can watch your facial expressions all day. Days can go by where we have done nothing but eat sleep and watch your facial expressions when you are awake and your peaceful sleeping expressions.
• Do no less than 496324769 loads of laundry in a week. Between Madeline's spit up and blowouts on her own clothing and our clothing our washer and dryer could be going 24 hours a day.
• Are getting a good amount of sleep. Your longer stretches of sleep have kept us out of newborn coma. We hope this continues.
• Kate loves mornings of snuggling in bed with my two girls - Mikko (usually snuggled under the covers) and Madeline enjoying her mid morning nap.
• Has been out of the house a lot. Between some wandering around target and the mall to lunches with friends and Jeremy, Madeline has been such a good baby out and around the town and usually gets plenty of compliments on how cute you are (we couldn't agree more).

Madeline is definitely becoming more mobile (or less likely to sit still) which is making each photo shoot more challenging - most of our pictures turn out something like this...



Some pics with Kate, Jeremy and Mikko on my 1 month birthday:





Madeline thinks turning one month old is nothing but exhausting...especially with all of this picture taking!