One Month Old

Madeleine's one-month birthday was today, and it is hard to believe that it's been a month since she was born. In some ways, however, Madeleine has changed and grown so much in the past month that it feels like we've always had her in our lives.

On Sunday, Don's family had a small celebration of Madeleine's one-month birthday. The one-month mark is a special one in Chinese culture, celebrated by the distribution of red eggs and sticky rice to the baby's family, friends and neighbors. In honor of this tradition, Madeleine's grandmother prepared a delicious meal of sticky rice and barbecued pork buns.

It's a shame that Madeleine couldn't enjoy these tasty treats, but her parents were very grateful. Here's Madeleine with her grandma:

And here she is posing with her granddad with a big post-meal yawn:

The meal was followed by an exceptional nap in her new crib at grandma's house (thanks, Darlina, John and Jennie!) We forgot all swaddling blankets at home, but Madeleine's grandma did a good job of improvising:

Today, Madeleine and I went to her pediatrician for her one-month checkup. Her visit went extremely well, and she has moved up significantly in the growth percentiles. While her birth weight of 5 pounds 9 ounces put her in the 5th percentile of all babies, her one-month weight of 8 pounds 11 ounces places her well over the 25th percentile. It has been an impressive gain this month. She definitely has filled out!

Grandma came over today to give me a bit of a break (read: nap. I'm actually starting to like napping!) She brought a sweet present for Madeleine's one-month birthday. It's a jade plant in an adorable planter featuring a photo of Madeleine and the phrase "A Star is Born." The jade plant has special significance since Madeleine's Chinese name, Mei Lin, means "beautiful jade." Here's a picture of the plant, followed by an enlargement of Madeleine's photo:

Yes, she can be quite a ham! We're definitely looking forward to our second month with Madeleine...