Happiest Baby on the Block

Last Friday, our little girl turned three months old and reminded us just how quickly she and her brother are growing up. It's hard to believe it's been three months already since we met Madelyn.

The last three months with Madelyn have been amazing. She's one of the happiest, most easy going babies I've ever seen. She can fall asleep anywhere, she smiles at everything, she sleeps through the night, she eats faster than anyone else in the family and she can get anything she wants with a curl of her lips and a bat of her long eyelashes. I'm hoping all the playing we do together now builds up my immunity to her charms so by the time she's old enough to know how to use them I won't be so weak.

The hardest part of having Maddy, for me, really has nothing to do with her, but everything to do with the time I get to spend with her. Our busy schedules, my work and already having Patrick make giving Madelyn the attention she deserves more difficult. Being the second child means a lot of things and one of them is that you probably don't get the same amount of attention the first did. I knew that would be the case going into this but I didn't realize how much it would effect me. I wonder daily if I'll ever not have that guilt in the back of my mind and the feeling that Maddy's getting the short end of the stick sometimes. I have to remind myself that she only knows what she knows. Her beautiful, toothless smile reassures me that she's doing just fine and loves us just the same even if we can't spend every waking second staring at her chubby little face like we want to.

In the last month, Madelyn's attempts at talking have increased too. She squeals with happiness when she sees someone or something familiar and gabs at length at anything in her line of sight. She's also started reaching for things lately which is fun to watch. She reaches for whatever she can and clumsily tries to grab it with her clenched fists. When she sleeps, she either likes to have her hands up by her face or she'll fold them across her tummy. Her modesty has gone right out the window as she now loves diaper changes and the cool breeze they bring. Madelyn and Patrick are still getting along very well and only have occasional bumps in their otherwise smooth relationship (read: Patrick sometimes wants her to know which toys are his. And he thinks they're all his.)

Here are a few more pictures of our sweet girl from the last month:

Now if you'll excuse me, the little girl who's been napping on my lap while I typed this just woke up with a big stretch and an even bigger smile. Time to play!