The Madden family expanded on March 13, 2012 at 9:53 a.m. to include our little buddy, Merrick James Madden. We all have been in love with our little Merrick since his arrival. He is such a precious, cuddly, and perfect addition to our family.
Merrick did not beat his sister Laila in size as he weighed 9 pounds 2 ounces to Laila's 10 pounds 1.5 ounces. Additionally, he is his own little guy and does not really look much like Laila. He has her nose and mouth, but his eyes are completely different. Merrick has a copper or rusty tint to his hair, which I love.
I thought that my favorite baby time period was when they get a little older and can smile and respond to you. However, I have been cherishing this newborn stage and loving every minute of it. I just love holding him, watching him sleep, watching him discover his hands, tongue, etc. The word that comes to mind when I think of Merrick is precious. He is truly a miracle, and I am so thankful that God chose our family to have him.
I call this pose the "Super Merrick" in the picture below. He does his "Super Merrick" quite a bit. Merrick is laying on a beautiful quilt made by my Grandma Reet.
Laila was so excited for Merrick to be born, and she has adjusted remarkably well. Laila just loves Merrick to pieces, and she has been quite helpful. Laila constantly gives Merrick hugs and kisses, and I just love hearing her talk to him. Sometimes we have to make sure Laila does not love Merrick too much as she is constantly right in his face and rubbing his head.
I thought Laila was totally fine with Merrick, so one day I went down to the basement to do some laundry while Merrick was sleeping in his swing and Laila running around. I came upstairs to find Laila trying to pry Merrick's little eyes open. My lesson was learned that I have to watch them more carefully. I can tell Laila will be excited when Merrick can respond to her and play with her. I am putting in writing that Laila stated that she will share her barbies and babies with Merrick and will have no problem when he tries to play with her toys. We will see how that works out. =)
In this picture, Laila is holding Merrick at the hospital. She could not get enough of him and held him for approximately 20 minutes at a time.
As for some of Merrick's characteristics, he is relatively laid back and so sweet. He has a true cry when he is hungry, and he has the cutest little high pitched shriek when he wants attention or to be held. I really want to get the shriek videoed on camera because it is so cute and funny. Merrick likes his bath time as long as he is not hungry. Although, he is not a fan of having his tummy washed, and he is also not a fan of having lotion rubbed on this belly.
Merrick is also a pretty good sleeper for his young age. However, the first week was pretty tough as Merrick's owl eyes came out at night where he wanted to be awake and look at his surroundings for hours. Plus, Chris and I were both sick. Starting at one (1) week old, Merrick goes to bed between 9 - 10:00 p.m. and wakes up only twice, once around 2:00 a.m. and once around 6:00 a.m. Although, the little guy does have some fussy spells where I have a hard time getting him to go to bed. Merrick got the nickname "Captain Awake" for the nights I have a hard time getting him to go to bed.
We are known to have numerous nicknames for everyone in our family. So far, Merrick gets called little bubs (Laila's favorite), bubs, little buddy, buckaboo, buckies (short for buckaboo), baby boy, and a number of people like to call him MJ. Below is my little newborn Edward (Twilight Vampire) with his copper colored hair and smirk that melts my heart.
Overall, we are so thankful and so blessed to have the addition of Merrick to our family. We could not be happier, even when sleep deprived. =) I am not much for showing the world the lovely hospital pictures of me, but it is always good to get that first new family picture.
