Bottles

While we haven't been consistent about giving Maddie a bottle every day, since we've started using the MAM bottles, she's much happier about each bottle feeding session - usually a couple of times a week.

 

Since the feedings usually happen at night and after Joseph's gone to bed, he hadn't had the opportunity to give her a bottle, until this past Saturday night.  While Joe held Madeline, Joseph was happy to help.

 

He's always super concerned about what she's doing, and generally still spends as much time as possible sitting as close to her as he can, and telling us what she's doing.

After watching Dad's style, he finally took over holding the bottle. For all of his fussing to help, he got disinterested fairly quickly and let Joe take it over again. 

Once her neck control is even better (and he's a bit more careful around her) we'll probably let him hold her to give her a bottle, but for now this arrangement works out well for everyone!

Someone was awfully worn out from all the extra attention and passed right out.

 

And I don't think Joe minded much either!

7 weeks!

On Friday, while Joseph was at school, Madeline hung out with me while I cleaned the kitchen. Realizing that she was quite content, just watching the hanging toys from her rocking chair, I thought I'd snap a few pictures of our growing girl.

 

While she still sleeps most of the time, she's becoming more and more alert and inquisitive when she's awake. Those big steely blue eyes just take everything in, and you can almost see her learning all about the world around her.

She still doesn't have any control over her arms, but she's definitely starting to bat at things. She'll be there soon enough!

Finishing Madeline's room

We finally got Madeline's picture for her cross stitch that Lisa made, and found a fun frame for it ! Joe spent a few minutes this weekend hanging the cross stitch and two prints I had made earlier this summer, so now the wall over the changing table isn't bare anymore.

 

I love how the cross stitch turned out - thanks again Lisa!

I also hung a quick project I made earlier in the month. I realized I was doing a terrible job of putting bows on Maddie when I had them in a dresser drawer, as quite frankly I'd forget about them! So I put some fabric and ric rac into a large embroidery hoop, so that I have a place to hang and display them. It's not entirely finished, but seeing them hanging up has been a great reminder to dress Madeline up more often. :)

 



Jello Love

One of Joe's favorite things to eat is a mandarin orange Jello dish. It's basically orange sherbet, orange jello and mandarin oranges, mixed together. While it's probably designed to feed a bunch of people, it normally last no longer than 48 hours in our house. And I rarely, if ever, eat any of it.

 

Now that Joseph has been deemed old enough to enjoy the orange jello, I think Joe's beginning to regret his decision to let Joseph try it.

 

I'm not sure if this was supposed to be Joe's bowl, Joseph's or a "shared" bowl, but it quickly turned into Joseph's bowl of jello! 

And no, we don't have to play any eating games to get Joseph to devour the jello - he goes to town on it all on his own. 

Apparently he loves the orange jello enough to not want to share any of it with his daddy. Poor Joe!

Best Big Brother

Joseph is really settling into his role as big brother quite well. He still adores Maddie and gives her more kisses than Joe, me and Molly combined. It's really sweet, although his need to take care of her means lots of time spent in time out as he learns what's appropriate in terms of taking care of his sister and what isn't, and why it's still important to listen to Mommy and Daddy. Selective listening has really started to kick in!

 

On Tuesday, I had started to make lunch for Joseph when Madeline woke up from her nap fussing. I told him I'd be right back and convinced him I didn't need him to come running up to her room as well (which is what usually happens). As I was getting her calmed down, I heard scuffling sounds and a clanging in the kitchen. Concerned, I ran back downstairs to see this:

 

I had gotten as far as spreading peanut butter on some bread for his sandwich before I had left the kitchen. Joseph just about melted my heart when I asked him what he was doing, and he responded "JoJo making sammich for Mommy!" Could he be any sweeter?

And although he knows that he's not supposed to use a knife, he was delicately putting it in the jar,  

inspecting the amount he managed to get on the knife,

 

and spread it oh so carefully on a new piece of bread for my sandwich. There was no way I could be mad about him using a butter knife when he was so sweet and careful about the whole thing! It definitely reminded me to slow down and enjoy him, so I finished up making our lunches and we sat at the kitchen table, enjoying each other's company while Maddie continued to nap quietly.

 

 

Later that night, Joe let Joseph help him give Madeline a bath. Joseph has been so excited to help out with most tasks, and bathtime is definitely a big one for him!

Madeline loves being in the bath!

So happy to help out!

For all of his sweetness, though, I'm learning that I really have to keep a close eye on Joseph when he's around Madeline. He just doesn't understand what's safe and not, whether he could be hurting her or himself. We've already taught him how to lock the rocking chair into place, as he was climbing up and rocking back and forth while trying to reach her on the changing table.

Then earlier this week, I was swapping loads of laundry when Madeline started making noise. Joseph had been watching Mickey Mouse on our bed, and when I came back into the bedroom, realized he wasn't there. Maddie's door was still closed, so I headed downstairs, looked around, and couldn't find Joseph. That's when I heard a different noise coming from Madeline's room, and walked in to find this:

Actually, he was snuggling with her, with his eyes closed. I ran to grab the camera, and by then he was eager to show off.

I realized that he somehow managed to climb from the rocking chair up and over the side of the crib to get in. He told me she was sad, so he gave her the pacifier and turned on the mobile, and just wanted to be with her. While adorable, I also made sure he realized that he couldn't get into her bed again, as I'm amazed he didn't fall on her while climbing in.

So that's how's Joseph's doing, now that Madeline's been a part of the family for almost 2 months!



Madeline's Newborn Session

 We had Madeline's newborn photos taken when she was one week old. Although we've had the pictures back now for a couple weeks, I kept forgetting to post them on the blog. We opted to buy the rights to all of the photos, and this is most, but not all of them.

Joseph was a really good sport at the session. We knew we wanted some of the two of them, and he's in a phase now where he knows to say cheese when he sees a camera, but doesn't usually smile. Luckily Sarah, the photographer, got a few really cute ones of the two of them.

And thanks to Aunt Lisa for making a bunch of adorable headbands, and being in town the day before the photo shoot to deliver them! The photographer had tons ready to use, but it was so much more meaningful to be able to use some that have a meaning behind them.

The pearls Maddie's wearing in the picture below are the same ones I'm wearing in the family session, and were a gift to me from Joseph the day Madeline was born. I thought it would be to have a picture of her wearing them as someday they will probably be hers. :)

We've booked the same photographer to take more shots during Madeline's first year, so it'll be fun to see how different she looks as she grows. We were really happy with how these turned out!

Old Mission Fall Carnival

Last Sunday our Halloween festivities kicked off with the Old Mission UMC Fall Carnival. We volunteered to set up our car as a trunk-or-treat station and I was quite happy when Joseph really seemed excited about dressing up in his halloween costume - he's a sheriff/cowboy this year.

 

 

We had talked about making a saddle for Molly so this little cowboy could have a horse, but it didn't happen. It's ok, he found something else to ride...

Maddie came along for the fun too, but mainly slept in the Baby Bjorn the whole time. At least there's proof she was there! Joe took Joseph around to the other cars for the trunk or treat, and Joseph definitely figured out the candy part of halloween this year! Although they had a bunch of craft activities and games, Joseph mainly wanted to stay around the car and tell the other kids "happy halloween!" I think he figured if he interacted with them, when they took a piece of candy, he could take one too. And did, frequently. He ate more sugar that night than he's had in a long time!

Joe tried to get him to say "trick or treat," and was confused when Joseph would only say "trick" or "treat" but never the whole thing. Until he realized that Joseph thought he was asking him to pick one! Definitely confusing for a 2 year old to understand.

One car opted to have a "science experiment" which Joseph enjoyed watching over and over.

Although our car didn't win, it was a big success - we also met a handful of other church members who are young runners, and we talked about setting up a weekly running group of sorts. If nothing else, it's always nice to meet other members who we have things in common with.

They forgot to take a picture of all of the kids until after many had left, but all of the trunk or treater cars were stuck waiting until the very end so our kids got to be a part of the group picture.
 Do you see sheriff Joseph?

Just hanging out  at the front of the group, keeping things under control.

And now he's really excited about all the other opportunities to wear his costume and get candy.