Bumbo!

The Bumbo...such a simple invention (sure wish I would have thought of it!)  I first tried it out when Maddie was 2 months old.  She was able to sit and hold her head up surprisingly well for being so young...

At the time, she could tolerate it for small periods of time, but she wasn't the biggest fan of it.  However, now that she's almost 4 months old, it's great to have.  It's the perfect seat for Madeline right now.  She isn't quite strong enough to sit up by herself, so we put her in the Bumbo, and she loves it.  Well, most of the time she enjoys it.  Sometimes, she is in more of a mood to lounge in her swing where she can just kick back and not have to worry about holding up her head since holding up her head is an awful lot of work for little Miss Maddie sometimes :)  Here she is the other night sitting with us while we ate dinner...

 I love how she has her right arm resting on the edge.  She's just relaxing and taking in the world around her, which involved watching all the puppies run around, come to check her out, and lick her feet one at a time...

I was able to get another Bumbo from a friend who was getting rid of some of her baby things, so I gave one that to my mom to keep at her house.  Now, Maddie sits in her Bumbo while my parents eat breakfast and lunch.  Here she is just kicking it (with a hand in her mouth of course)...

You can usually tell when she's about had her fill of it though as she doesn't hold her head up as well, at which point she starts to get fussy if you don't take her out of it pretty quickly....

Since she isn't quite big enough to sit in her high chair, the Bumbo is great to use in the meantime!