One Month!

Madeline is a month old. She is still mellow and completely adored by her family. She has occasional fussy periods but overall is very easy going. She loves to be held and does not seem interested in being on any kind of schedule, but she sleeps pretty well at night and usually goes back to sleep immediately after her middle of the night feed. At 4 weeks, she is 8 lbs, 12 oz, 22 inches long and as smiley as can be.

Ow

We had a great week. My mother-in-law came to visit and help out with the kids, Ethan started kindergarten, Maddie turned 3 weeks old. All very fun and eventful. I'll have to post pictures later. Last night at 2 am my father-in-law flew in to meet Maddie and spend the weekend. This morning Jason took Ethan and my in-laws on a 3 mile hike in the state park by our house. I stayed home with Madeline and Colin. Twenty minutes before they were due back, Colin really wanted to carry Maddie to the couch to hold her. I was carrying her down at his level and he was "helping" me. We were 3 feet from the couch when I walked into the wheel of a metal Tonka dump truck. I wasn't even walking fast. It really, really hurt, but I didn't think much of it. I sat on the couch and it hurt more and more. I looked down and knew my toe was broken, because it was sticking out at a 30 degree angle and swelling fast. I called Jason, and we spent the afternoon at the ER (expedited because he's a doctor at the hospital we went to, thank goodness). They set it, taped it, and gave me a lovely boot to wear for the next week. I feel clumsy and stupid and I'm in pain, but at least I'm not stuck using crutches with a newborn to take care of.

First Day of School

Ethan started kindergarten! He was a little sad the first day, but loves it now. He's in school for 30 hours a week. That seems like so much, and by the end of the week he's exhausted, but he loves it and is really happy. He's growing up so (too!) fast.

Dear Grandma,

Thank you so much for all you've done for us since Maddie was born (or more accurately, since one hour after I went into labor). The babysitting, overnights, the crucial delivery of the peanut butter milkshake to the hospital, the laundry, meals, cleaning, baths, baby holding, etc. It would have been a much harder adjustment without you! And thanks for leaving the brownie mix in the pantry. Colin loved "helping" us make them this afternoon:

P.S. Dear Grandpa: Thanks for all your help and support, too, and especially for fixing my dresser drawer. It works great!

Love,

All 5 of us

Clones

When we first saw Madeline, Jason and I were shocked at how much she looks like Colin. Ethan even comments on it all the time.

Madeline at 2 weeks.

Colin at 4 weeks.

We think Colin's pretty cute, so it's a good thing as far as I'm concerned!

Antics

Colin isn't even 2 yet but he is determined to keep up with his brother. This is what he learned this week.

And this is his favorite thing to do for some reason.

Two Weeks

Our little princess is 2 weeks old today. The time goes faster with each kid. She is a dream so far. She has a good stretch of sleep at night (ranging from 6 to 9 hours) and only fusses during the day if she wakes up and finds that she's not being held (the horror!). She's mellow and good natured...let's hope those traits stick around.

She loves having her hands up by her face, and sucking on her fists. Her hands were right up by her face in every ultrasound we took of her.

I tried to capture a few shots of her this morning, and of course the boys had to get involved.

The boys have been shipped off to my mom and dad's for 48 hours. I had the most perfect, peaceful day resting with Maddie and recovering. I would feel guilty sending the boys away, but my mom and Colin are in the middle of a mutual love affair, and Ethan's only concern was whether or not he could take with him the toy he was playing with.

Madeline's eating great and already back at her birth weight. Oh, and we found out at her one week appointment that her head circumference is 25th percentile. Both her brothers had head circumferences in the 99th percentile range. This goes a long way toward explaining why they both took 2 hours of hard pushing (each!!) to get out, and she took less than 20 minutes.