A Whole Lot Going On

There's been so much going on for Maddie lately. We recently bought her a high chair in preparation for solids. It's great because she'll sit in it during mealtimes and Eric and I can finally eat together again. It's bittersweet because Maddie is getting to be such a big girl. We've gotten her some toys so she has something to play with while we're eating and let her play with spoons so she'll get used to the feel in her mouth.



Also, my mom came to visit and spent lots of time with Maddie. We took Maddie all over the city and even took her out for dinner at Ray's. I was a bit nervous that she would fuss because it was close to her bedtime, but she was great! Maddie even sat in a high chair for part of dinner. My mom also babysat for us while she was here and Eric and I went to dinner and to see a movie. It was quite nice. Maddie does really well with people she doesn't know very well and seemed to take my mom's visit with a huge smile and lots of fun.

Maddie turns six months next Sunday and we've got her six month checkup on Monday. I'm sure we'll start solids soon after! Stay tuned for Maddie's six month report!

Maddie's Friend

When I was pregnant, I met a woman named Claire in a childbirth class. Her daughter, Ramona, was born exactly two weeks after Maddie. Ramona and Maddie are very different and have only recently become interested in one another. This picture is just too cute for words!

I can't believe it!

Yesterday, for the first time, I looked at Maddie and thought she was big. It was, and still is, amazing. Maddie was such a small baby and now she seems giant. I know she's still on the small side (she's only in the 10th percentile for weight, but the 50th percentile for length), but she's up to about 13 pounds now and finally has fat rolls. Her 6 month clothes fit her and she's so cute and rosy. Also, she acting like a much older baby. When she was first born, she cried all the time and seemed totally freaked out to be alive. Now, she's so happy, she smiles all the time, and she loves to play. She can roll over both ways, though she doesn't do it a lot, she can sit up, and she's really, really good with her hands - she even holds her own bottle. Oh, and when she's laying down, she tries to do sit-ups. It's very cute - she looks like she's trying to do pilates. Within the next few weeks, we'll start her on rice cereal. It's just amazing how quickly things change.

Starting back up again

OK, the extreme kids blog has been out of commission for some time, but now we're back! We've changed our format, so now we'll pretty much post exclusively about Maddie. I know, I know, it's been about 4 months or so, but having a baby takes a lot of work! But, we feel like we're starting to get the hang of it, so we can get back into blogging.

So, for our first post, here are some very recent pictures of Maddie. She's cute, full of energy, and lots of fun! We love her tons (obviously) and feel so lucky to have such an amazing baby!

Madeline is here!

Madeline Mariner Howell
Born 2:21 pm 8/10/07
5lbs 7oz
18 1/4"






Madeline and Sabrina are healthy and home now. It all happened a bit sooner than expected. Sabrina saw the midwife on Tuesday who was concerned about the high blood pressure she had developed and that the baby seemed to be small. As a result of this she had an ultrasound on Wednesday. The ultrasound confirmed that the baby was small and the midwives decided that it was best to induce. We went to the hospital Thursday morning to begin inducing. After a couple doses of that medication, contractions started. They were not very strong, but were coming far to frequently to bring on "real" labor, so our midwife medically slowed the contractions and kept us in the hospital overnight. Early Friday morning she started Pitocin. While this did bring on regular contractions, our baby was not tolerating the contractions very well; after a contraction, her heart rate would drop a little. It always came back up right away, but it was a sign that she would not be able to tolerate labor.

At this point, we decided do a C-section. We were a bit scared, but felt that it was best for the baby. The C-section was surprisingly painless and only took about 40 minutes. About 20 minutes in at 2:21 pm our little girl Madeline was born. She cried a little bit right after she came out, but was otherwise quite calm. Luckily, she's continued to be very good and eats well. We love her so much and are very excited.

Sydney

In our final hurrah before coming home, Eric and I spent some time in Sydney. Well, Eric had to come do some work up here and I came along. What else was I going to do?! Even though Eric worked, we were able to get out and see some of the sights. While Sydney is great and is definitely tourist friendly, I prefer Melbourne. It's just cooler.

Anyway, this will probably be our last post from abroad - our flight home is April 28 (only 11 days from now)! As much as we've enjoyed our time here, we're both ready to get back to Seattle and set up our home for Wiggles! I'm sure we'll be in touch with all of you not too long after we get back to the States. We're very excited!!!

Fiji Trip

Here are pictures from our trip to Fiji. We called it our babymoon (last vacation for a while). We only really had two full days there, but managed to get in some snorkeling, kayaking, swimming and relaxing.