17 Weeks

Seventeen weeks seems like way too many weeks, and yet, here we are!

Madeline is adjusting well to daycare.  She's returned to her normal, joyful self.  I'm so thankful for my easy-going little miss.

It's amazing how vocal she has become in the past week.  Her little coos have turned into full blown squeals and yells.  She has two kinds of squeals.  One is happy.  It's as if she makes the noise just because she's excited to hear her own voice.  Sometimes I feel like she's having a contest with me to see who can squeal the loudest.  She'll make the noise, and I'll make it back to her.  She'll make the noise louder and higher, and so on, and so on.  It's really funny.

Observe Madeline in action.  Trust me when I say that this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Maddie's vocal abilities, but capturing it on camera is proving to be a challenge.







We refer to her other squeal as "baby angst."  Instead of immediately bursting into tears when she gets upset like she used to, she'll now squeal in disgust.  It's a mad, annoyed, and sorrowful sound.  She'll do it over and over again until she either gets what she wants, or she melts down into real tears.  Pretty soon she'll be standing in the rain while listening to The Cure and crying, "Woe is me!" It's also really funny.

She laughs on a regular basis now.   It's a hearty chuckle that emanates from somewhere deep inside her chest.  It's a surprising sound for such a little girl.  She laughs the most when she gets startled.  Does that mean she's going to be a thrill seeker?  Eric gets her laughing by jumping up at her from under the changing table, or by shaking his head really fast and making funny noises.  She laughs at me when I nibble on her cheek or behind her ear.  I think she's starting to get ticklish.

We've started using her high chair while we eat dinner.  Last night, she happily chewed on the edge of her seat the entire time we ate.  In fact, she's been trying to put everything she can in her mouth lately.  She'll grab onto the edge of her blanket and chew on it.  She chews on my shoulder.  If she's grasping my hand, she'll pull my fingers into her mouth.  I'm sure once she figures out how to hold her toys better, those will be making their way to her mouth as well.

I'm so proud of my little baby.  She's getting so big and human-ish.  She's not only beautiful, but she's pleasant, sweet, smart and funny.

Meanwhile, we're getting blasted with a huge snowstorm tomorrow.  Eric has already been given the day off.  I'm still waiting to see about my school, but I'm already daydreaming about lounging on the couch with Maddie.  Also?  I really, really, really need to take down the Christmas tree.  Oh!  And laundry....there's always laundry.