Dear Madeline,
Every morning you ask for your dad. If it's a weekend I tell you to yell for him (he usually gets up before us to read) and he will usually come running up stairs to greet you; if it's a work day, I tell you Daddy has gone to work, and then you say, "work! bus!" because he rides the bus to work. After work, if you are not napping, you usually wait at the window and then greet your dad at the door. He loves it!
You still love doing Tae Bo, and if I ask you if you want to watch a movie you either say "bi-bo" (tae-bo) or "Shrek T-you" (Shrek 2). Sometimes, you will do sign language, which means you want to watch your Baby Einstein sign language movies. When you say Shrek 2, you hold one finger on each hand up because your dad is trying to teach you how to count. Two is your favorite number. When I count with you sometimes you will still just say "two" over and over while I count.
You love your blankies, especially in the morning. When you wake up you immediately say, "penkey" (blankie) and you moan with satisfaction when I wrap you up and take you downstairs for breakfast.
You love to dress up. You like to put on mommy's and Daddy's shoes and you love to wear hats. Especially different, extravagent hats.
You also LOVE to dance. Whenever there is music you grab me or your dad and spin and twirl and bounce up and down. There are times I don't feel like dancing, but I always get up anyway because I can't help but think you may not do this later on when you are older and I love sharing fun and special moments with you.
This month we finally got our land shipment of all our furniture and belongings from the States. This meant we said goodbye to the Aramco curtains and Aramco furniture. Something I don't think any of us will miss. It was nice of them to supply us with temporary furniture at no charge though, so I try not to seem ungratful.
Kitty will actually sit by you sometimes now. We were surprised when she came right up and sat by you one night when we were all watching a movie. Most of the time she is weary and aware of you though. You still harass her at times by screaming at her and chasing her or pulling her tail. You know that you shouldn't do it, but I think you like to tease her sometimes.
Ever since we got our shipment you have been in heaven with all your toys. Every day you look at me with this bright smile and you say, "Play?!" You particularly love your dollies and will have one with you wherever you go. You love to wrap them in blankets but you have a hard time doing it for some reason and usually end up throwing the blanket and crying. You don't like for me to help you. You get extremely upset if I wrap your baby in a blanket. So I have just put the blankets up for now. It just causes too much drama. You vacuum with your toy vacuum whenever I vacuum with my Dyson. You do a really good job too!
Sometime this month when you were dancing with one of your dollies you accidentally dropped it. I must have said, "Oh no! Madeline, pick her up so she doesn't get hurt!" Or something like that, because you regulary drop your dollies and stuffed animals now and then you turn and yell, "Mom!" with this concerned look on your face. You wait until I say, "Oh no! You better pick her up," and then you go on about your business.
We are working with you on your ABC's and 123's. You love to sing the ABC's with me but you usually only sing certain letters. It goes something like this...
"ABC....E....FG..........P......S...TUB......S.......Z.........Me!" With mumbles inbetween the letters you do say. It is REALLY cute. You love to sing! When you hear a song you know you will sing along, mostly mumbles, but you catch certain words. A lot of the songs on Shrek are familiar to you now. You also act out a lot of the scenes from the movie, like when Fiona gets turned back into an ogre in the morning and she winces from the sun shining on her. You put your hands up like you are her. You are also getting to know your colors. For some reason whenever we ask you what color something is the first thing you say is "blue!" Then we usually say, "no... what color is it? It's red," and then you will say the right color.
We had the walls in our house painted this month and for a couple of weeks every time we entered a room you would say, "blue!" You also love popsicles, and every morning you run to the fridge, point to the freezer and say, "blue!", which means you want a purple poscicle.
Sometime this month when you were dancing with one of your dollies you accidentally dropped it. I must have said, "Oh no! Madeline, pick her up so she doesn't get hurt!" Or something like that, because you regulary drop your dollies and stuffed animals now and then you turn and yell, "Mom!" with this concerned look on your face. You wait until I say, "Oh no! You better pick her up," and then you go on about your business.
We are working with you on your ABC's and 123's. You love to sing the ABC's with me but you usually only sing certain letters. It goes something like this...
"ABC....E....FG..........P......S...TUB......S.......Z.........Me!" With mumbles inbetween the letters you do say. It is REALLY cute. You love to sing! When you hear a song you know you will sing along, mostly mumbles, but you catch certain words. A lot of the songs on Shrek are familiar to you now. You also act out a lot of the scenes from the movie, like when Fiona gets turned back into an ogre in the morning and she winces from the sun shining on her. You put your hands up like you are her. You are also getting to know your colors. For some reason whenever we ask you what color something is the first thing you say is "blue!" Then we usually say, "no... what color is it? It's red," and then you will say the right color.
We had the walls in our house painted this month and for a couple of weeks every time we entered a room you would say, "blue!" You also love popsicles, and every morning you run to the fridge, point to the freezer and say, "blue!", which means you want a purple poscicle.
Unfortunately this month we were all sick. You started with a fever and it went on for 4 days. Right before I was going to take you to the doctor it went away and you were fine. But then a couple of days later you got a cough and a runny nose. Thankfully, that only lasted a couple of days. Then your dad and I got sick. It was pretty brutal. Our colds lasted at least a week. We're still actually getting rid of them, but almost in the clear. So TWO WEEKS of our month was spent being sick. We tried to keep you busy and happy throughout the germs though. You are a happy and loving little girl, so it wasn't hard.
We've had lots of boxes in the house and you and kitty both love to get inside them. If it's quiet and I can't find you, you are usually in a box. Either that or you are in a corner drawing on yourself or spreading your food all over the floor.
This month we went to Bahrain for the first time. You had a really good time at the mall and the hotel. You ran all over the place, rode lots of little kid rides, and you got to see your first movie - Shrek 4. You only saw the first 30 minutes of it though and then had a tantrum so your dad took you out and you and him did something else while I watched the movie.
You are a sweet ltitle girl and we love you so much, but you're tantrums are crazy! You throw yourself on the floor, screaming like someone is torturing you. When you do get in trouble for doing something, you usually try to give me kisses and hugs and you tell me you "yuv" me. In your little mind you have decided your kisses and hugs are powerful enough to make me forget that you just poured water all over the floor and sat you, my book, and three of your dollies in it. Your lovies are very powerful, but I still remember.
You love to draw and color. You have chewed up most of your crayons, but we still have some markers. All of your crayons and markers are washable so it's not that big of a deal when you decide to draw on everything but the paper I have provided you. I don't want to stunt your artistic talents, but we need to learn to draw in proper places.
You are picking your nose a lot more lately. Sometimes it feels like you just have your finger glued up there or something. The fun part - for some reason you think that when you actually GET a boogie, you need to hand it to me. The other day you were screaming, "Mom! Mom!" and you came running down the hall with your finger pointed and there was a little booger sitting there. I am trying to teach you to use the tissue we have all over the house, but in your mind it's just easier to give it to me. Madeline, I would do anything for you - even take your boogies.
I am truly loving having conversations with you and you are talking more and more each day. I love singing with you and dancing with you. I love showing you how to do things. You love to help me in the kitchen and whenever I am cooking you will run and get a chair from the dining room so you can help. Sometimes it scares me how closely you are watching every little thing I do, and it has been a wake up call for me. You love to copy me when I am getting ready for the day, or cleaning. You repeat things I say. One day, at a weak moment when I was frustrated, I said the bad word "shit." You heard it, you saw it, and you decided that you needed to say it when you were frustrated too. There have been 3 times now when you have said it. Once when I wouldn't give you a popsicle; once when the computer mouse didn't move the way you wanted it to; and once when Donkey was getting chased by the dragon in the movie Shrek. I feel like a horrible person for teaching you to swear. I guess, in the meantime, I have learned I need to watch my mouth and as far as you are concerned we will just have to wait it out. Your grandma Suzi suggested we try to teach you a new word to say when you are frustrated, like "shnikey's" or something. So we will see how that goes.
No matter what happens, and no matter what lessons we learn together, I love you. I will love you forever and I will always be there for you. I am so thankful that you are a happy and healthy little girl. I am so proud of you and how smart you are. You are an incredible little person and you are growing up so fast! At times I wish you wouldn't grow up so fast, but then I realize that would stop us from seeing the beautiful person you are becoming each day. So instead, I will just enjoy every minute.
Love,
You are picking your nose a lot more lately. Sometimes it feels like you just have your finger glued up there or something. The fun part - for some reason you think that when you actually GET a boogie, you need to hand it to me. The other day you were screaming, "Mom! Mom!" and you came running down the hall with your finger pointed and there was a little booger sitting there. I am trying to teach you to use the tissue we have all over the house, but in your mind it's just easier to give it to me. Madeline, I would do anything for you - even take your boogies.
I am truly loving having conversations with you and you are talking more and more each day. I love singing with you and dancing with you. I love showing you how to do things. You love to help me in the kitchen and whenever I am cooking you will run and get a chair from the dining room so you can help. Sometimes it scares me how closely you are watching every little thing I do, and it has been a wake up call for me. You love to copy me when I am getting ready for the day, or cleaning. You repeat things I say. One day, at a weak moment when I was frustrated, I said the bad word "shit." You heard it, you saw it, and you decided that you needed to say it when you were frustrated too. There have been 3 times now when you have said it. Once when I wouldn't give you a popsicle; once when the computer mouse didn't move the way you wanted it to; and once when Donkey was getting chased by the dragon in the movie Shrek. I feel like a horrible person for teaching you to swear. I guess, in the meantime, I have learned I need to watch my mouth and as far as you are concerned we will just have to wait it out. Your grandma Suzi suggested we try to teach you a new word to say when you are frustrated, like "shnikey's" or something. So we will see how that goes.
No matter what happens, and no matter what lessons we learn together, I love you. I will love you forever and I will always be there for you. I am so thankful that you are a happy and healthy little girl. I am so proud of you and how smart you are. You are an incredible little person and you are growing up so fast! At times I wish you wouldn't grow up so fast, but then I realize that would stop us from seeing the beautiful person you are becoming each day. So instead, I will just enjoy every minute.
Love,
Momma
3 comments:
Madeline is such a cute girl! I love reading your monthly messages.
omg, alexis has the same go-go boots too, except hers are hello kitty! oh, sorry, not go-go boots, i meant rain boots!
and i too love reading your pages. how incredible!
HAHA!!! sh#$! I must be behind the "emotional maturity curve" because that story made me giggle. I love that she said it in the movie theatre. Don't feel horrible Edith, my Gracie has said "hell" in frustration and then tries to pretend she is just greeting you, in a VERY frustrated tone, "Mom, I was saying HELL-O!" I know the truth, because I unfortunately and quite unintentionally taught her the word. If you think that's bad, you should hear the things Brian has taught them (again, unintentional ;). I am just waiting to weasel my way out of that conversation with her Nursery teacher at church ;)
In all seriousness though, I love your messages. You inspire me to be a better mother. I admire and respect your dedication to motherhood. Pat yourself on the back lil' mama! :) Your sweet little girl is going to love reading these someday....
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