Checking up on Madeline

Big smiles
Originally uploaded by the golbys.

Our littlest girl is giving us plenty to smile about these days. Madeline is amazingly social and has accumulated an array of crowd-pleasing skills -- she coos and gurgles, blows raspberries, and giggles. She'll watch until she's sure she has caught your eye, and then flash her biggest grin. She's quite the little flirt!

I can already see that our days of a stationary Madeline are numbered. We've still got a ways to go before I'll be chasing after her, but this little girl can hardly wait to get on the move! She's mastered rolling. I hadn't realized how adept she'd become until the other day, when I laid her on her back on a blanket to play while I folded laundry. I'd just straightened up when I noticed Madeline was already on her tummy, pushing herself up with one arm and reaching for a toy with the other!

And although I don't remember starting Kathleen this early, we've recently given Madeline her first couple tastes of rice cereal. So far, so good. She has taken a few tentative bites, and seems happy to be a part of meal time. I think watching all of us eat was making her a little jealous!

We took her in for her four month check up last week. (A little late, but she's still four months old!) Madeline weighed in at 14 pounds, 15 ounces, and she's 24 inches long. According to her pediatrician, those numbers put Madeline a touch above the 75th percentile. Madeline again charmed everyone in the office, and weathered her vaccinations like the little trooper she is.

And one more important thing about sweet Madeline: no one can make her laugh like her sister. Madeline laughs a lot, but she laughs most consistently for Kathleen. Honestly, half the time I can't even figure out what the two of them are laughing about. (Of course, I am well aware that in a few years time they'll be laughing about me!) Here's just one of example of our two giggling girls in action: