Happy Easter. Busy, busy!

Who knew that having a baby was so much work! Sorry to those of you who have checked in recently only to find old posts. We have been updating the picture website so if you don't have the link, send us a email and we'll send the link.

We are all doing great. Madeleine had her two month checkup and is doing really well. She is now 9 lbs, 1 oz,10th percentile and 22 1/4 inches long, 50 percentile. She is often awake so she is ahead of the curve on responses and intelligence (as of course I assumed:)). Madeleine is really reacting to the world around her and is smiley, smiley, smiley. Coming up this week, she will get to meet her Sommer Grandparents, who are coming for a visit from Washington.

Madeleine is growing fast!
She had her 2 week check-up over a week ago now (February 5th). The doctor said that she was very happy with her weight gain and growth. She was up to 6lbs. 8oz. and measured 21 inches. That put her in the 5th percetile for weight and the 50th for height! Tall and skinny! I'm sure she's grown a lot since then too. It seems like some days you can almost notice the difference from the day before! She is very busy lately eating to keep up with her growing needs.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Good Dogs

Those of you who know the dogs know that while they are friendly to a fault, they are high energy and perhaps not the best behaved dogs. This caused more than a little worry before Madeleine was born because we were unsure of how the dogs would react. Fortunately, Digby and Bowie have been excellent with Madeleine. Digby wants to give her kisses (which we discourage) and guard her and the rest of the family. Bowie has discovered her maternal instinct and acts as Madeleine's nanny. When Madeleine is feeding, Bowie will not allow Digby within five feet of Mel and Madeleine and stands vigil nearby.

Party Animal

As you can see, our little Madeleine has already turned into quite the party animal. She enjoys staying up all night and drinking her beverage of choice: milk.

We are working on negotiating more of a daytime schedule with her but are happy that she has a good appetite and is very engaging (even if her favorite hours to interact are between 10pm-3am.)

Madeleine with Grandma and Great-Grandma

Madeleine Grace is Born

Madeleine Grace was born on 1/22 at 6:07 pm. She weighed 6 lbs even and was 18 inches. Melanie was an absolute rockstar during the labor and birth. We are home now and things are going great. Madeleine is eating well and has started gaining weight. We are getting used to our new sleeping schedule, which is dictated entirely by Madeleine. She does seem to sleep longer during the day than at night, when she has been waking every 2 hours or so. That said, she has not been a fussy baby at all. Often, she just wants a cuddle, which her parents are happy to provide.

Digby and Bowie are doing better than we even imagined. Digby has accepted Madeleine as a member of the pack and is doing a good job protecting everyone. Bowie, who we were the most worried about, has adopted Madeleine as her own baby. When Madeleine is nursing, Bowie has to lay close by and will not let Digby (who is the alpha of the two) come within 5 feet of Melanie and Madeleine. When Madeleine cries, both dogs are really concerned and want to do whatever they can to help.