Month One Recap

Wow! I can't believe Maddie is a month old. This has been the month of firsts: first baby, first diaper change, first bath, first car ride, first Thanksgiving, first Christmas story, first snow. Matt and I are finally getting the hang of things. We're much quicker at changing diapers now which makes Maddie much happier because if there's one thing she hates its being cold and exposed. We can recognize most of her cries and little cues, and we're developing a quirky little vocabulary all our own. Here are some of the new Mommy-Daddy-Maddie words:

Nah --
This can mean several things: a. I'm hungry. Get me a bottle. Stat.; or b. I need Passie. Sometimes also used to describe a bottle as in "Daddy's making you a 'nah' right now."

Nah Monster --
Invisible monster that arrives on the scene with his friends "Hunger" and "Scream."

Passie --
Term of endearment for a green "Soothie" pacifier*.

Didie --
Slang for diaper. I have no idea why it isn't "dipie" or something like that.

Poopsmith --
See earlier post.

Knowing us, I'm sure this list will only grow.

We can't imagine our lives without Maddie. Yes, we're not getting much sleep and we haven't worked out a good system for tag-teaming the middle of the night stuff yet, but whenever we wonder how we'll keep going, we just look down at this little girl and know we'll keep doing whatever we have to do. I don't think there's anything better than holding Maddie on my shoulder and feeling her little head in the crook of my neck as she sleeps or seeing her in her daddy's arms.

Maddie is growing bigger every day. She eats about every three to three and half hours now and has even had a few four hour stretches. She still has reflux problems, but we're doing what we can and hoping she grows out if it in a few months as her digestive system matures. She has more periods where she's bright-eyed and alert (unfortunately one of those was late last night).

Her facial expressions crack us up. She'll form an "O" shape with her mouth when she's "making a diaper" which is pretty funny. She's even started "talking" to some of her toys a little bit. One of the best things is that she now seems interested in looking at us. She'll gaze into our eyes and sometimes gets upset when she can't see our faces.

We have story time each day and try to sing to her. Unfortunately our repertoire of songs that we actually know ALL of the words to is pretty small. These songs pretty much include "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", "The Wheels on the Bus," "Five Little Ducks," "Miss Mary Mack," and "Hotel California" (yes, the Eagles song). We're going to have to work on that.

I can't wait to share some of our Christmas traditions with Maddie this next month. I know she won't be able to fully appreciate it, but it will be fun to make cookies, watch Christmas movies, decorate the tree, hang her stocking and visit our families.

Last night as we were all piled on the couch together (me, Matt, Maddie, Gooseyard and Callie) watching TV and eating a snack, it finally felt like we were a family. I think my wish was finally granted.


*Wal-Mart and Target now carry these pacifiers. We're in passie heaven!