Why there haven't been many pictures of Claire

C's going through a shy phase right now and doesn't want any pictures taken of her. When we try, we typically either get a glare:
Or a tongue:
We've even had to resort to bribing to get her to smile for a picture:

Birthday weekend

Daddy, Aunt Jamey, Grandma, and Grandpa all have their birthdays around the same time, so we usually do one big celebration for everybody. This year we stayed in a bed and breakfast out in Helotes and ate dinner at the favorite Grey Moss Inn. The grounds around the house were great--a catfish pond, lots of space to run around, and a bluebonnet patch for pictures! We played outside for most of Saturday afternoon, then enjoyed the air conditioning and some wine while the girls napped before our reservation. The girls did a great job behaving themselves at dinner. Claire sat nicely the entire three hours, either eating her dinner or coloring. And Madeleine slept just about the entire time. It really couldn't have gone better.

Happy birthday everybody!!

Sneak Peak

Madeleine's Eye

Madeleine's had an infected tear duct since she was about two weeks old, and it just isn't getting any better. Her doctor has prescribed a couple of different antibiotic eye drops that haven't made a dent in the gunk. The only relief we found was the week she was on oral antibiotics for her ear infection, but as soon that ended, the goop returned. So the pediatrician decided it was time to see an ophthalmologist, and we had the appointment yesterday. After a super-long wait (thirty minutes to just get into a room, then another thirty minutes after putting the dilation drops in her eyes), we saw the doctor. He said that there's a membrane completely blocking her right eye's plumbing. Because the tears don't have anyplace to drain, they build up and become infected. The solution is "popping" the membrane, which we will hopefully be able to do at home. We have to push as hard as we can a few times a day on the side of her nose/corner of her eye. If we can't pop it, then he'll have to do a little surgery to open it up. We'll go back in a month, but he said he wouldn't do surgery until she was 6 months old. Let's hope we don't have to go down that road.

Melting my heart

The girls have recently discovered that the other one can be a good play partner. While Claire was playing outside yesterday, I put Madeleine's bouncy out there so she could watch Big Sister and get some fresh air while I did some kitchen clean up. It wasn't long before C started including M in her pretend play. C was pretending the little portion of the patio was M's house and she needed to go visit her. She'd get in her roller coaster car and drive all over the backyard visiting her "friends", including M. It was so sweet!

And just tonight, M started giggling at C! Claire was doing her I'm-out-of-the-tub-and-feeling-wild dance, and something about it must have been funny to a 3-month old. M's always liked watching Big Sister best of all, and I'm even having issues now trying to nurse her while she's playing in the same room, but something about tonight tickled her funny bone. This was the first time I've actually heard a real laugh from Madeleine. Oh, how I love those baby belly laughs!!!

Laughing!

Madeleine laughed for the first time today! I heard her laugh in her sleep a few nights ago, and she gave Daddy a welcome home giggle this morning while they were cuddling on the couch. Of course, I didn't hear her and now she's playing hard to get. I can't wait to hear it!

And the question is....

....nothing nearly as exciting as your guesses, Erica and Kellie. :) Boy, wouldn't that be a surprise!

The real question is "How many times did Mommy and Madeleine have to change their clothes yesterday?" Madeleine is sick AGAIN. Congestion, coughing, and more projectiling. She was even kind enough to throw up all over me in the middle of Claire's dance class. I took her in to see the doctor today, and sure enough, she has a double ear infection. We also have a referral for a pediatric ophthalmologist because of her gunky eye that just won't get better.

OK, enough complaining. Daddy's coming home tonight!

The answer is 9....

Any idea what the question is?

Madeleine is Three Months Old!

Time sure is flying by over at our house. Madeleine is growing and growing and becoming a more amazing part of our family every day. Here's a little glimpse of her three-month-old life:
She's still fitting perfectly in her 3 months clothes and size 1 diapers.
She has the cutest, roundest head that sports her reddish-blond hair, but she's starting to lose a bit of it in the back.
She sleeps in her own bed in her own room every night, usually all night. Her bedtime is around 8:30 and we usually don't hear a peep from her until 5 or 5:30. Then she eats and falls back to sleep. And if it was up to her, she'd sleep until 9 every morning. Big Sister usually prevents that luxury from happening, however.
She's becoming more and more alert, but Big Sister is still her most favorite thing to watch. She's also recently discovered the tv and balloons. And "Olive, the Other Reindeer" is currently her favorite book to study.
She's at her happiest first thing in the morning and at jamma time in the evening. She loves to lie on our bed and smile and coo up at us.
She realized just last week that she has feet, and she purposefully tries to touch things with them, especially books. She also started trying to grab her toes yesterday.
She coos and coos when she's feeling in the mood. The sounds we hear the most are "aaaa" and "ooooooo", "caaaa" and "goooooo".
She's no longer colicky!!!! There's still a bit of fussing that goes on at night if she doesn't fall asleep early enough, but it's nothing compared to the wailing.

One Bad Bug

The girls have been sick, sick, sick for the last few weeks. Claire came down with that nasty cold that's going around, and just when I thought Madeleine and I were in the clear, we caught it, too. I was able to kick it pretty fast, but poor M is having one heck of a time. She's been so congested she can hardly breathe, and because of all the sludge she was swallowing she was throwing up Exorcist-style 3 or 4 times a day. "Projectile" is now a verb in our house. Needless to say, nothing remotely exciting has been happening here. But everyone seems to be on the mend now, so hopefully we'll have more stories to tell soon!