Ten

Photo by Jamie Turner

Dear Maddie,

What a busy girl you've become! You walk, walk, walk whenever you can. You took your first step on Easter, a few steps on your nine month mark, and by the time April 25th rolled around you were officially walking, taking between 10 and 12 steps! Now you're walking everywhere. You can stand yourself up without holding on to anything, so if by chance you do take a stumble, you get yourself right back up and you're off again.

When you walk you hold your arms above your head and you look like a little chimpanzee. It's the cutest little thing. That's not where the comparison ends, just like a little monkey you love to climb all over the place.  We have to keep an constant eye on you because you are quite the daring little girl. Sometimes you will climb onto kids chairs and then stand up on them.

You are quite the talker. You still say "Momma", "Dadda", and "Hi". This month you have started to say "ByeBye" when you wave goodnight and you even said "Boo!" when you were playing peek-a-boo with Daddy. You have started to make the cutest little trumpet sound lately. You also love to point at things and talk about them in your baby gibberish. It seems you have paid attention to all the pointing and talking Mommy does to try to teach you about the world. Today at the Zoo, you were pointing at the giraffes and saying "Dooo doo dooo bo la ba da da!" you were quite excited about it all.

Photo by Jamie Turner

You love reading books. Your favorite book is Goodnight Moon. You always point at the mouse when we get to the "goodnight house, and goodnight mouse" part. You love books so much, that we have started to keep a book with you in your crib. (This is after you managed to grab three books off of the bedside table near your crib and maneuver them through the bars when you woke up one afternoon from a nap.) You love to read on your own when you wake up in the morning or wake up from a nap. You don't cry to alert us that you are awake anymore, we finally just hear you talking jibberish and when we open the door you have a book open on your lap.

You love to copy whatever Mommy and Daddy are doing. If we are eating dinner you demand to sit at the table and eat with us. You also love to help with dishes and laundry. (Though you definitely prefer emptying the dryer than filling it).

It's so fun to watch you grow up baby girl. Thanks for making me a Mommy. I can't imagine my world without you.

Love,

Mommy

Nine

Dear Maddie Girl,

We've hit a few fun milestones this last month. You got two teeth, you started standing without holding on to anything, you learned to click your tongue, and you even took your first steps.

You are getting more and more confident with walking. You cruise around the room using the furniture for support and you make the transition from one object to another seem effortless. You have become very confident with standing. You will often stand on your own (without holding on to anything) for thirty seconds to a minute (as long as you don't get bored). You love to walk back and forth between Mommy and Daddy and you sometimes take a step or two on your own in the transition between our safe arms. You took your first step on Easter and you took two steps yesterday! You love pushing your walker all over the house. Sometimes you push it one handed, sometimes backwards, and sometimes you push it while you hold onto a toy in each hand. If your walker isn't handy, you will often push chairs around the kitchen to get to and from whatever catches your eye.


At eight months you were starting to wave goodbye occasionally. Now at nine months, you wave hello and goodbye whenever you have the chance. Seeing your cute little hand open and close is the cutest thing. Sometimes you use two hands when you are extra excited and decide a double wave is necessary. You are also starting to imitate whatever we do. You'll shake your head, bounce, click your tongue, wave, clap, and wiggle if we do it first.

You love to jabber. You still say "Momma" and "Dadda" and "Hi". Lately you've been working on your "R" sounds and and "La" sounds. You like combining different sounds together. You also talk in a cute high pitched voice when you are really excited about something.



You have such a playful spirit. You love to play hide and go seek and tag. I'll hide around the corner of the couch or behind your pack & play and you'll get all excited and start chasing me. If I peek around the corner you giggle and put your head down and start crawling faster and faster. Once you reach me you squeal and start climbing all over me. You also like to hide. Sometimes when we are visiting in the family room you will crawl through the kitchen and sit and wait around the corner in the hall. Once someone comes to peek around the corner you take off crawling as fast as you can down the hall, giggling as you go.

You are eating more and more food. We often share whatever we are eating. For baby food, we still use your baby oatmeal or some baby food as a base and add bits of whatever we are eating. You also love to eat whole peas on your own, bits of carrot, pineapple, blueberries, apples, noodles, etc.

Your growth has slowed down a bit (for the first time in your life). You've been moving around so much that you haven't gained much weight at all. You are exactly 20 lbs and you are 28 inches tall. You are no longer in the 98th percentile, at the moment you are in the 75th percentile. There is no need to worry, the pediatrician said that you have trimmed down from all the activity and that you will likely have another growth spurt soon. Even though you haven't gained much weight you still have healthy baby chunk on you! You are mostly wearing size 12 month clothing and some 18 month clothing. Your size three diapers are fitting much better now that you are becoming more lean.



We can't wait to see what this next month brings! We love you sweet Madeline!

Love,

Mommy & Daddy

Eight

Madeline,

You are eight months old and full of spunk. Now that you are mobile you are always on the go and the days of being content to hold still have passed. You love to pull yourself up and walk around the room using the furniture. You can pull yourself into a standing position using anything, whether it's a baby wipes container, a rocking chair, or just a flat wall. Sometimes you even let go and stand on your own for a few seconds.

Last week you also figured out how to climb stairs. I was cooking in the kitchen and you were playing in the hallway at the bottom of the stairs in eye sight. I turned around to stir something and then popped it into the microwave, when I turned back around you were gone! I figured you had crawled down the hallway, but then I heard some coos coming from the stairway! I rushed to the bottom of the stairs and low and behold you were on the third stair smiling ear to ear incredibly proud of yourself. I about had a heart attack. It was then that I realized that I need to baby proof things before I even think it is necessary.

You are quite the communicator. You are saying "Momma" and "Dadda" more and more and it seems like you understand what those words mean. You love to clap your hands. You clap your hands whenever I come in to get you from a nap. You also clap your hands if you fall down. I think it may be a habit you adopted because daddy and I always clap and smile when you fall down so that you don't cry.  You are also starting to wave goodbye.

You are eating more and more food. You love oatmeal, avocado, pears, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, and peaches. You also like grapes and apples. You aren't sure about peas, but we're still trying. We're starting to grind up whatever we are eating. Last night you had some carrots, potatoes, and pot roast. 

Your new favorite toys are things that aren't meant to be toys. You love shoes (especially the shoelaces), paper cups, water bottles, rugs, remotes, spoons, and baby wipes containers. 

You are still sporting your adorable natural mohawk and toothless grin. We are so happy you came to our house to be our baby girl. 

Love,


Mommy & Daddy

Seven

Sweet Maddie Jaye,

At seven months you are a busy busy girl. You are really starting to get around now that you are crawling. You are also strong enough now that you can sit up from laying down all on your own. Your newest trick is pulling yourself up into a standing position using furniture or toys. Sometimes you will even try to stand up from a crawling position. You straighten your legs so that your cute little tush is straight up in the air. Then you slowly back up your hands as if you are trying to stand up completely. Even though you can crawl and move all over the place, you are very content to sit and play with your toys. (I realize this won't last long, so I'm enjoying it while it lasts!) When you do crawl, it's usually to get to your favorite toy. Once you reach it, you crawl backwards while holding it and back yourself into a sitting position.

Earlier this month you started to clap your hands. You clap whenever you get excited or happy about something. You also clap your feet if your hands are busy holding a toy. Grandma Holly likes to say "I love you!" and she uses sign language when she says it. Whenever she signs "I love you" you bring your hands together and move them around as if you are trying to sign back. It's so cute to see you try to imitate Grandma.

You love food. Since you started solids a month ago you've had avocado, pears, sweet potatoes, and squash. You also gnaw on apple slices sometimes. You haven't refused anything yet which makes Mommy and Daddy really happy.

You have completely lost your interest in bottles. When you are being babysat you refuse to take it and instead wait for me to get back home to nurse. However, you LOVE water bottles. You like to steal my water bottle whenever you can get your hands on it. As soon as you get it you put the mouthpiece or straw into your mouth and gnaw on it for a while. You haven't figured out how to drink from it, but you still like to imitate Mommy. We may just get you your own waterbottle or sippy soon and put the bottles away.

Your hair has been growing a lot on the top and not as much everywhere else, so you have the cutest little natural mohawk. It's my favorite thing in the world besides your laugh.

Love,

Mommy

Stay tuned: I'll be posting more pictures very soon!

Six

Madeline,

My little newborn is gone and has been replaced by an active and rambunctious six month old. On Christmas eve you started sitting on your own for more than five- ten minutes at a time. Before this day, you only sat for short bits of time (a minute or two). Now you can sit completely unassisted and you rarely fall accidentally. When you do decide you've had enough of sitting you either roll to your side or you lean forward onto your hands and knees and lower yourself onto your belly.

You are rolling over a lot. You use your ability to roll to move quickly around the room and get to your favorite toys.  Earlier this month you learned how to lean forward from a sitting position to go onto your hands and knees. Dr. Carter said that developmentally you are 1 1/2 months ahead. Because of this he said we should get started with baby proofing our house because he suspects you'll be crawling in no time. Tonight you started dragging your body all around, in almost an army crawl. We can't believe how fast you are growing up!

You weigh 19 1/2 lbs and you are 27 3/4" long. You are mostly wearing size 12 month clothing but you still wear some 9 month clothes as well.  You are staying at the top of the charts in the 97th percentile for both height and weight.

Now that you are six months old we've started solids. We started you on mashed avocado. You love it! The texture initially gives you a funny face, but quickly you are back to smiling, giggling, learning towards the spoon, and wanting more.

You love to talk. You love to babble and join in on any conversation. Your favorite things to say are "Pa Pa", "Ma Ma", "Guh Guh", "Bah Bah Bah", " Gah Ma Ma" and "Da Da". You are starting to discover more and more consonants. We're excited for you to really start talking and for you to actually associate "Ma Ma" with me and "Da da" with Daddy. We can't wait to communicate more with you as you continue to discover words. We're sure you have a lot of interesting things to say!

Your favorite toys are your big blue car key that makes sounds, your first doll, and your colorful giraffe and monkey that hang on your car seat. You also love to play with your Grandpa Birkeland's shoes. You like to untie them over and over and over again. You love to sit in your high chair and play with your toys. You toss your toys to the ground in a random order, but for some reason the blue key is almost always the very last to go. You love moving around. You love sitting on the ground, rolling around the room, and discovering whatever you can.

Now that you are six months old we are also starting to put you to bed in your crib. You're doing a great job of falling asleep in your crib for naps and bedtime. You sleep in your crib for the first 6-7 hours of the night and then you come in bed with Mommy and Daddy for the rest of the night to snuggle. 

We love you Maddie girl. We are so glad you came to our family.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

5

Dear Maddie,

You are five months old and full of smiles. You are the happiest and most content baby girl. We are so excited to celebrate Christmas with you this year.


You weigh nearly 19 lbs. You are mostly wearing size 9 month clothing but you still wear some size 6-9 month clothes as well. 


You love to talk. You are starting to discover more and more consonants. What used to be "Oooowwaaahhh" has now turned into "Baaah Bah Bah!" Sometimes you even say "Mah Mah" or "Dah Dah" which makes your Daddy and I really happy. And every morning when you first wake up and we say "Hi!" you say "Hi" back. Of course, we don't count any of this as your first words because we know you have no idea what you are really saying. But it still melts our hearts as you continue to mimic the sounds you hear.


You are finally rolling over again! You started rolling over quite early in life, around seven weeks, and then those thighs got in the way. Earlier this month you started rolling over again and again and again. You are a master now.

You continue to sit on your own for longer and longer bits of time. You can hold yourself up for thirty seconds to a minute before you throw yourself back in excitement or lean and fall to the side. Daddy or I are always close by to catch you just in case.

You are getting more interested in faces. You love to grab Daddy's face when he talks to you. You mirror our facial features as we talk and laugh with you.

You love being in your Johnny jump up and the sling. You hate missing out on anything. You are quite the social girl. You love visiting your cousins. They make you laugh by playing peek-a-boo and keep away with you. Your favorite toy is still your noisy paper. You are starting to love your books too. You love handling the books and turning the pages yourself.


We talk to Grandma and Grandpa Birkeland on Skype at least a few times a week. You love to talk to Grandma and Grandpa while they are on their mission in Sweden.

Happy five months baby girl! Next month we'll be talking solids!  

Four

Maddie enjoyed helping Brett test the lights for Christmas!

Sweet Maddie. You are now four months old. 1/3 of a year already!

You continue to grow taller and wider every day. At your four month appointment you were nearly 26 1/2" tall and you weighed 17 lbs and 3 oz. This puts you in the 98th percentile for both length and weight. You are a big girl, so most people think you are a lot older than you really are. You are now wearing size 6-9 month clothing and you've been in size three diapers for almost a month.

You're becoming such a great sleeper. You sleep for about 10-11 hours straight at night. The only down side is that you are still quite the night owl and you don't go to sleep until 11:00 or 11:30. Needless to say, Mommy gets a lot done in the morning before you wake up. But, we're still working on getting you to sleep a little earlier each night.

You are a fast eater and you now eat about six times a day. I sometimes wonder if you are getting enough because after eight minutes of eating you are done and ready to play. The pediatrician told us not to worry, "We're obviously not concerned about whether or not she is getting enough calories." Well said Dr. Carter, well said.

If you aren't sleeping or eating, you are most likely laughing. And it's not just a polite "Ha!" You have a full on belly laugh just like I did when I was a baby. You laugh when I laugh. You laugh when we change you. You laugh when you first wake up in the morning. You giggle when we give you baths. You laugh when I touch your feet. You laugh when you see Daddy when he gets home from work. You laugh the hardest when I pretend to nibble your neck. I do my best to enjoy it while I can since I am sure by the time you are a teenager I'm sure you won't find me the slightest bit entertaining.

You can sit on your own for longer periods of time now, but Daddy or I are always close by to catch you just in case your throw yourself back. Although you were rolling over at seven weeks you are now having a bit of a harder time and rarely do it. When I mentioned this to the pediatrician he laughed and explained that your now chunky thighs were the culprit. Not to worry though, it just takes a bit more strength to move that weight around which will come as you get older and continue to practice.

You love your johnny jump up and play mat. Your favorite toys are your loud pink paper and O'ball. You are now starting to occasionally take a Binky around bedtime and nap time. We don't think it's so much the sucking you enjoy as much as you just enjoy having something in your mouth. We're pretty sure you are teething. You are drooling a ton and you love to gnaw on anything we give you (and anything you can reach).

You love to do what we call "baby sit-ups". You stretch your legs out in front of you and raise them off the ground and then lift your head and shoulders off the ground, holding your breath and crunching your little abs. Add your sly little smile and it makes for the cutest and funniest sight.

We love watching you grow up baby girl. But couldn't you just slow down a little bit?

Three

You are three months old Madeline. Why do you insist on growing so fast? I feel that at any moment I'm going to turn around and you'll be walking, riding a bike, or driving.

At three months you are full of smiles and giggles. You are so expressive. When you smile your entire face lights up. From behind, I can tell that you are smiling by the way the top of your head looks. Your family and friends can't help but smile when they see you. You brighten everyone's day.

You love talking.  We can't really understand what you are saying yet, but we know you are pretty passionate about whatever it is. We ask you questions and you respond as if you know what we're talking about. You love making sounds and mimicking Daddy and me. You especially love to say "Oooowaaaah!"

We're reading Harry Potter now because a nurse told me that novels are best for babies your age. You love watching me while I read and I can see you moving your mouth and tongue trying to figure out how to make new sounds.

You are a big girl and you keep growing and growing. You are 16 lbs and around 25 1/2 inches long. You are wearing size two diapers and six month clothing. Some 3-6 month outfits fit while others can't stretch long enough or wide enough for you.

We're not sure what color your eyes are going to be but at the moment they are still light. We think you may beat the odds and have blue eyes rather than the hazel eyes that Daddy and I have.

You sleep for six-seven hours at night and then fall right back to sleep for another three hours after I feed you. Thanks for being such a great sleeper!

You are getting stronger and stronger everyday. You can sit on your own for short bits of time and you love standing up on daddy's lap. You are starting to use the Johnny Jump Up that Grandma Birkeland gave you. You're not jumping a lot yet, but you love being able to stand and twirl.

You have the happiest laugh. You laugh the most when we play peek-a-boo or when you first wake up in the morning.

We love your playful spirit.

2 Months

It wasn't until I was driving to the pediatrician's office that it hit me that Madeline is no longer a newborn. As of four days ago she is two months old.

Madeline has grown up a lot in two months. When she was born she weighed 8 lbs 13 oz and was 22 inches long.

Now Madeline weighs a solid 13 lbs 10 oz. And she's long too! She is now over 24" long. For height and weight she is around the 97th percentile for her age.

She is now wearing size 3 month clothing and size 2 diapers. 

Our pediatrician kept on remarking on how strong she is for her age.

"Wow, she is strong." He kept saying as he tried to check her hips. She kept pushing against him and he continued to repeat over and over how strong she was.


"I don't know if I've seen a two month old with this kind of strength before!"

And it's true. She really is a strong girl. At seven weeks she turned from her stomach to her back and during tummy time she easily lifts her head up and pushes off with her legs. She's even already scooting a bit.

Madeline is quite the mommy and daddy's girl. She loves being held and telling stories. Even though she's only cooing, we make sure to give her our undivided attention and talk back, otherwise she gets offended.

She smiles all the time now and is even starting to laugh!

Madeline loves reading books and hearing songs. She smiles the biggest when I sing Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree and The Itsy Bitsy Spider.

Brett and I are trying to savor this time as much as we can. We can't believe how fast the last two months flew by and we're starting to realize that people were right when they said that she'd grow up in the blink of an eye.

I wish it were possible to stop blinking.