5 Month Photos

We took some new photos of Maddie recently that we wanted to share with you! She just gets cuter every day!

Bundled up in her towel after her nighttime bath...

Last weekend she wore the cutest outfit - this double layered skirt and matching tank top - she was so adorable!


If you have ever been curious about Maddie's favorite toy, Mr. Lion, we finally got him in a photo with her (all be it from behind!)! Maddie loves playing with him during all of her car rides!

Hanging out with Tami...

Her first trip in the baby bjorn as we took a walk around the neighborhood today...

We love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie

Bring on the Bottle

When I picked up Maddie yesterday Ms. K told me that she had a great day - she held her bottle all by herself for a few seconds! Ms. K has been working with her on being able to hold her bottle and yesterday was the first day she did it without any help from Ms. K! It was only for a few seconds, but that still counts!

It is so crazy to see how much she is learning each day. We have a smart little cookie on our hands and we couldn't love her more!

Love,
Nile, David & Maddie

An Incredible 5 Months

Today is Maddie's 5 month birthday! I don't know where the time has gone and am just amazed that she is almost half way to her first birthday! She is such a joy in our lives and it's been so neat to watch her grow, change and learn new things every day!

Our little peanut is doing so much these days! She loves...

• Rolling over in both directions and lift her head up really high (stretching an arm or two out in front of her so she can lift her head up even higher)!

• Smiling when you see her and talk to her...this one just melts your heart!

• Laughing almost every day...still haven't figured out what makes her laugh but I love hearing it!

• Relaxing in the bath...she is just about too big for the infant hammock that is in the tub, so she relaxes one leg (and sometimes an arm!) off the side and lets it dangle in the water. She gives off the beach vibe...just sitting back and chillin!

• Noticing the little things...when I change her diaper, she is now noticing my wedding rings and my watch and wants to touch and feel them. To see her curious about new things like this and exploring what they are is so fun to watch!

• Reaching out and grabbing onto things...her carseat toys (Mr. Lion is her favorite!), Mr. Monkey that we play with at home, her pacifier, my hair...just about anything she can reach!

• Sitting in her bumbo chair and showing us all what a big girl she is! When we put the tray on and give her toys, she loves to reach for them, then move her hand to her side and drop them on the floor! She's enjoying the "throw them overboard" game and having us bring the toys back to her.

• Waving goodbye to daddy when he drops her off at daycare every morning! I haven't been able to see this yet, but I know it must be so sweet!

• Learning to hold her own bottle when she's being fed at daycare - I can't believe she's almost able to do this on her own already!

• Being completely entertained by Baby Einstein and singing along at some points! Her current favorite is Baby Van Gogh (which of course I love!)!

• Standing up on our laps and exercising her legs! We will hold her up, but it's really just for balance at this point - she's able to stand and hold up all her weight on her own!

• Hating the booger sucker and now being strong enough to push my hands away when I try to use it! I can't blame her on hating it, but those boogies must come out!

She is the most amazing little person and is so precious to us! What a blessing it is to be her parents! We love you Maddie Lou!

Love,
Nile, David & Maddie

Moving In All Directions

Maddie is now moving all around! On Saturday she learned how to roll from her tummy to her back, so she can now flip around in both directions! We had been working with her on that for a few days but I honestly didn't think she'd pick it up so quickly! When she first started trying to roll from her belly onto her back, her stumbling point was that she would the bottom arm out to the side. So we practiced a few times and reached her arm up above her head, so that she was able to roll over easily. And low and behold, just a couple days later she was doing it all on her own with no problems at all!

The first time I saw it was on Saturday morning when she first woke up. I went in to get her and she rolled from her tummy to her back. I thought I was going to help her along in the move, but she did it all on her own! I was clapping and congratulating her and she had this look on her face like "what's the big deal?!" And then she went on to show me the move a few more times to prove how easy it was for her!

Our little girl is growing up so fast! It's so neat to see her learning new things!

Love you all!
Nile, David & Our Rollie Pollie Bean (aka Maddie)

There Once Was A Belly...

...and actually there still is! I think my belly may be stuck at the five month stage right now, but hopefully that will go back down to the early pregnancy size soon!

When I was pregnant, we took photos of my belly each week to chronicle the pregnancy and see the belly progress. I think we started taking photos when I was five or six weeks pregnant and took our last one the week before Maddie arrived. David has animated all thirty some-odd of those shots into a video so you can see my belly growing and changing!

Hope you all enjoy this! We thought it was a great way to capture the pregnancy and the wonderful time leading up to little Maddie's birth!

Love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie

Rolling Around

As much as Maddie doesn't like cameras, David was able to catch her rolling over! We were playing on her activity mat in the living room and she started rolling over again and again! She generally rolls to her left side (so her right side is coming up in the air and flipping over). She hasn't rolled the other direction yet, but she has been starting to get herself up on her side from her tummy, so soon she'll probably be rolling from her tummy to her back. It's so incredible to see her learning all these new things!

In the video you can also see that she has discovered her feet and just how flexible she is! She brings her feet up to her mouth and has actually tasted her toes a few times!



The last couple nights she has slept primarily on her tummy - she turns herself over and stays content that way. It still freaks us out because of SIDS so we've been up checking on her through the night. I know we can't keep that up, but it's a little nerve wracking to know something could happen to our precious little one! So far she is doing great though and loves to show off her new found talent!

Love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie

New Moves

Yesterday Maddie had her first day with Ms. K at her permanent daycare and it went great! She was all smiles and so happy when I picked her up which was awesome to see! I have to admit though that I missed having her with me on my drive into and home from work - the car is so lonely without her! She had a really good day though - slept well, watched her first Baby Einstein video (Baby Van Gogh - I love that it was an art one!) and enjoyed being in the swing. It was the best of a first day that I could have asked for!

Yesterday Maddie also made a move - rolling over from her back to her tummy! I looked in on her at 6am yesterday morning and then went to get ready. About 10 minutes later she started talking and doing little cries. When I go in to her room, I see that she has rolled over onto her tummy and is now stuck there! She didn't roll over at all at Ms. K's house so I thought it might be a one time fluke like last time. But early this morning, our little love bug rolled over three more times! In fact she kept me up from 4am - 5am trying to roll over instead of falling asleep on her back! Here's what happened...she had started talking at 4am today so I went in to look on her and there she was on her belly just chatting away! For the next hour I tried to get her to go back to sleep, but she wanted to keep practicing her rolling skills instead. So around 5am I let her roll over completely and she cried once she was flipped over. She fell back asleep in little 15 minute chunks until 5:45am and then she had an early breakfast at 6am. I put her back down a little after 7am so I could get ready and when she woke up at 7:40am she was on her tummy again! So, I think we officially have a roller on our hands! It's so neat to see her learning these things...a little hard at 4am...but still incredible!

We love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie