New Photos - Trip Report to Follow

Sorry for the lack of recent posts. We spent the last 5 days introducing Madeleine to her extended B family (including great-grandmother Grummy, above) and friends in Ohio.

We didn't have a chance to blog from the road and have been busy getting settled in back home. We'll follow up with a more fulsome trip report tomorrow - and hopefully some new video too. But, to keep grandmothers from boycotting the blog, here's a few photos from her latest adventure.

The road warrior gets a big smile when she knows we're headed to the car. Her new crinkle toy kept her occupied for hours - we could tell she was playing with it from the noises in the backseat!






She spent lots of quality time with Grummy and even learned about new animals from her!




She met Uncle Jack, who graciously put us up and promised us a kitty-free zone for the weekend.







She and Mommy had fun relaxing together, although I doubt the nuns are going to let her expose her midriff quite as much.







We brought the bouncy seat to keep her occupied - which turned out to be one of our best decisions.



And we got to try on lots of new clothes - including our fancy dress from Barney's in New York.

It was a great weekend - Daddy will follow up tomorrow with more details and hopefully some new video.

Weekend Update

We had a fun weekend with Madeleine. Our neighbors Phil and Deb had a group of us from our condo building down to their house on Lake Anna for a murder mystery weekend. Everyone has a character to play (complete with costume and motive) and you have to figure out whodunit by the end of the night. *** WARNING: PLOT SPOILER HERE *** This year, Daddy was the killer!

Madeleine was a good little traveler and even slept through the murder! That didn't stop her from screaming bloody murder at 11:30, 1:40, 3:15, 5:30 and 7:00, though.

Whenever we drive through Fredericksburg on the way to/from visiting friends, we have two rituals - a wine stop and a coffee break at our favorite local establishments.

Meanwhile, we've definitely made progress on getting Madeleine back onto the bottle. This has been the result of plenty of trial and even more error. After experimenting with literally 8 different kinds of bottles, she seems to like the Playtex Drop-Ins the most - in large part because of the nipple shape/texture. She also seems to like pre-made (read: expensive) Enfamil formula as opposed to the powdered mix that you can buy. Go figure - her palate is too refined at 14 weeks.

Madeleine's tolerance for tummy time is increasing as her neck muscles get stronger and stronger......



But it isn't unlimited.......



She also loves it when Mommy and Daddy read her a book.




Madeleine has developed a sudden case of camera shyness whenever the camcorder is involved. It's the surest way to get her to stop talking! We're having some technical difficulties with Blogger but will try to post new video as soon as they get their act together.

Madeleine Finally Turns a Profit

It's been a busy week, so it's been hard to keep up with blogging. Hope to post more pictures and videos this weekend. But there's one quick story from this week that we have to share.

We went to brunch the other day at a hotel down the street from our place where they have pretty good food and, more importantly, the servers are VERY kid friendly.

While we were eating, an elderly gentleman (even older than Madeleine's grandparents!) walked up and took a peak at the little one, who was in her stroller. He thought she was adorable and raved about how pretty she was before wandering off. Said she reminded him of Ingrid Bergman, who he met on a tour (I assume a USO tour) during "The War."

A few minutes later, he came back and put a $20 bill into the stroller with Madeleine. He said it was because she was so lovely and that he wanted her to have it for her college fund. We tried to give the money back to him but he insisted on her keeping it.

So, she's finally started to earn her fair share. Maybe next week we'll go down to the Ritz and the Four Seasons and see how she does there.

Another Medical Report - Baby Style

Madeleine made her trip to the cardiologist today. This was a recommendation from our pediatrician, who has heard a bit of a heart murmur since her first checkup back in January.

The cardiologist gave her an EKG and an ultrasound. He said that she has something called an atrial septal defect (ASD) - in layman's terms, a "hole in the heart."

The doctor said that the hole is small. That's good news because most babies diagnosed with this condition grow out of it - something like 90 or more percent - and the treatment options for those who don't are much less invasive than they were even a few years ago. Two more plain English articles on ASD here and here.

So, the doc said there's no particular cause for alarm. We have to schedule a followup appointment in 3 months and he'll want to see her again when she turns one.

When they got home from the doctor's office, Hannah and Madeleine decided to work off some extra energy with a good dance!



And, after a long and stressful day, there's nothing like a nice dip in the hot tub (or the closest facsimilie) to help you unwind.



Daddy capped the day off with a bedtime story, a new sleep ritual that we're trying to launch. For this initial foray into storytime, Daddy read a selection from the classic book Blankie - one of Mommy's favorite children's books. During the pregnancy, Mommy couldn't get enough of Daddy's dramatic readings of Blankie.

Freedom (sort of)!!!

A quick medical update. The doctor is very pleased with how things are looking and said that I'm even a little ahead of where he thought I would be. Don't need to see him again for a month, although I still have twice-weekly physical therapy sessions to keep me occupied.

I am also allowed to "wean" (doctor's term) myself off the crutches. What does that mean, you might ask? Basically, I can walk without them as long as it is comfortable, with a goal of dispensing with them altogether by the next time I see him. But, if my ankle gets sore or otherwise uncomfortable, I should use them.

So, it's not quite the "leave those crutches here" line that I was hoping to hear, but it's close enough for government work. As I write this, the crutches are sitting in the car!

One word of caution from the doctor. He told me to be very careful to watch where I'm walking because a misstep (or missed step, for that matter) could cause me to reinjure the tendon. Apparently this would be a quite unpleasant experience. So, if you see me walking around with my eyes focused on the ground instead of looking up, that's why.

Still, all in all, it feels good to be back on my feet again!

Long Awaited Florida Pix

Long-delayed by technical difficulties, we are finally able to post some pictures from Hannah and Madeleine's trip to Florida.

Here's Madeleine smiling because she's conned Mommy into doing all the work once again, using patented skills taught by Daddy.



Here's the girl plotting how many times she's going to wake Mommy up that night.



Madeleine with Grandma Kay.



Listening to one of Grandpa Bob's fish stories.



Here are my girls with their cousins.



And here are Madeleine and Hannah talking to Daddy before going out to dinner. Check out the fancy outfits!

A Wonderfully Frustrating Time

It's been great to have my girls back home. The day after their return from Florida, we went to scenic Lynchburg, Virginia where Hannah is serving on the alumni board of her alma mater.

We stayed in a delightful new hotel in a converted century-old shoe factory. It had interesting architectural elements like exposed brick and masonry - and shoe-related decor all over the place. The people there couldn't have been any nicer or more helpful, and they were exceptionally tolerant when The Monster made her appearances.

The girl was a real trooper on the car ride to and from Lynchburg. She even managed to squeeze in a brief visit to her first winery on the way home (she slept the whole time).

Unfortunately, Hannah wasn't kidding when she said that the little one refuses to take the bottle. My mom (who made the trip with us) and I found that out the hard way while Hannah was off at her board meetings. The little one would scream about being hungry, then scream bloody murder when we tried to give her the bottle. She would fight it for 30+ minutes, getting increasingly agitated the whole time. We tried 4 different brands of bottles and 3 different kinds of formula - same reaction each time.

Finally, on Saturday morning, we had a brief moment of "sucksess" when, while coming up for air in between screams, she decided to take a few slurps from the bottle. Unfortunately, she's still not doing much more than that, which means that Mommy is constantly on call.

Despite being difficult, she still can be pretty cute. She looked just like a Bunny Bear for her first run with mommy in the fancy stroller.