Madison Knows The Lord's Prayer

Every night as I rock her to sleep I ask if she wants to say "Thank You" prayers or "Our Father." Lately it has been Our Father every night.

She loves to say, "Trespasses." :)

A few nights ago I asked her to start and I would repeat after her instead of the other way around. I was amazed at how much she could recite. She skipped "Thy kingdom come.." otherwise nailed it.

Go Maddy. I am so proud.

Madison's First Day of Preschool

Maddy,
Today was your first day of preschool. It's days like this that I wish I was a better writer to describe what a huge moment it is in a parent's life when their baby starts school.

You were excited to go. You had taken right to your teacher a few days prior at open house so I think that helped. It's hard to get the events of the day out of toddler but you did tell me that you heard a story about a snake that ate people and that it was very funny. You got to play with 2 pink toys and when I asked if you colored you said no, "I scribbled." (with pink and red). Love the self-assessment. :) You also said that you only played with the girls!

Lullaby

Today I was sick and on the couch struggling to take a nap. My little 3 year old Maddy came up to me and said,"let me sing you a lullaby papa."

She sang Rock a Bye Baby and I fell asleep.

Thank you Maddy

Emily Bathed Herself for the First Time Tonight

Emily, tonight I taught you how to wash your own hair and body. You will be 6 in a month and while you have had the ability to do it for a long time, you have not been willing to try it. Mommy says it's because you are a perfectionist and don't like to try things until you know you will get them perfect the first time.

Well guess what? You were perfect tonight! I showed you how to squeeze the shampoo into your hand and how to make sure you scrubbed really well. I set up a mirror so you could see yourself. You were surprised at how soapy your hair gets! After your hair was done you washed the rest of your body without prompting. You were awesome.

You were eager to try tonight and had fun doing it. We had a great time together. After the bath you even wanted to blow dry your own hair and that is when I snapped this photo.

I love you!

Madison LOVES Church Songs

I've got the JOY JOY JOY JOY

Down in my heart

Where?

Down in my heart

Where?

Down in my heart to stay...

Anyone who was brought up in a protestant faith probably sang that as a kid. Maddy learned recently and LOVES to sing it. Her version goes like this...

I've got the JOY JOY JOY JOY

JOHNNY IN MY HEART (she puts a lot of emotion into this part)

Word!

JOHNNY IN MY HEART

Word!

Johnny in my heart to stay...

It is hilarious to hear and when you try to correct her she says, "NO Papa, it's JOHNNY IN MY HEART!" Thank God for the video camera.

Emily Goes to Joes

As I type, I am watching Emily cross the street for the first time to ask a friend to play. She stood at our curb for awhile, I wasn't sure if she was going to go through with it.

She's there now. Will she ring the bell??

The door just opened and out ran their giant dog. Brianna stepped out and gave Emily a hug (Brianna is our babysitter).

She is standing in the doorway

Out comes Joe!!!

Scratch that, back in goes Joe.

Must have needed shoes. They are both running around the yard now.

THIS IS A HUGE moment for me as a parent. I wish Emily would stop growing up but apparently there's no stopping her. :)

Coming Home

Maddy,
When I come home, you come running and give me a squeezy hug. I love it!

Thank you. :)

Famly Game Night

A few Fridays ago we had a family game night. The four of us started with Handy Manny but Madison just seemed to want to play by her own rules. Instead of putting tiles back after drawing them, she kept them and would growl at you if you tried to take them. :)

We decided to play by Madison's "house rules."

Maddy ended up winning so I guess she knows what she's doing when she modifies rules. We all played by the same rules so I guess you could say she won fair and square.

After Handy Manny, I went to hall to get another game. Emily came chasing after me protesting that she wasn't getting to pick but turned all smiles when I got down Ticket to Ride.

Sondra would later say that she felt bad because she was playing so hard to win. It didn't matter. Emily won again, this time running away. We all started with one route face up and hers was a 20 pointer. Something like Vancouver to NY. Later she would draw a route that used a lot of the same track. Throughout the course of the game, Emily used the longest links possible to complete routes.

No one helped her this time aside from pointing out the colors she may need to complete her first route. The rest was her.

Kids 2
Parents 0

Emily Learns Her First Adult Board Game

They say apples don't far fall from trees. If that is the case then perhaps Emily is still on the tree somewhere.

You see, I taught her the board game Ticket to Ride. A game designed for adult play and she is but 5. I played with only 2 small modifications. We each started with one route which we played face up. I put a marker at the beginning and ending cites so she could see what colors she needed to build. From there it was all her. Asking her on occasion, "what color do you need to collect?" She would reply by scanning the board and grabbing a card that she in fact needed.

My play was only intentionally helpful twice when I grabbed cards I did not need in order give Emily different colors to choose from.

At one point in the game I was trying to explain to her the she could make her route (2nd or 3rd one) shorter by taking a short cut in the middle. She insisted on collecting green cards and taking the long way so I just let her play her game.

Funny thing is, she won. She won fair and square. She won because she took the long way around and got the 10 pts for the longest route!

Go Em.

Emily Defines "Getting Old"

Sometime this year Emily said (she's 5 - found this on a post-it to blog)...

Em - "I'm getting old"

Papa - "Huh?"

Em - "I'm half the size of mom"

Papa - "What does it mean to be 'old'?"

Em - "I need a lot of rest"

Papa - "Well, what happens when you're old?"

Em - "I feel weak."

Christmas Photos

Here is a link to our Christmas photos that I took at our house Christmas morning.

Maddy Counts to 13

Maddy is 7 days shy of 3 years old so we'll call her 2.something when she did this.

Gammy, Emmy and Maddy were playing Elefun. I sat with Maddy to count the butterflies she caught fully assuming I'd have to help. No need. Maddy dumped her butterflies out of her net and proceeded to count them one by one. Not only did she count to 13, she also won the game!

In many ways Maddy still seems like a baby, our baby, then she goes and reminds us that she is growing up all too fast.

For those without kids Elefun is a game were you load a toy elephant with "butterflies" that fly out of it's trunk and into the air. Each player has a net and must catch as many as he or she can or be the first to grab a butterfly from the floor if everyone missed it. Maddy caught a few but won by being the first to grab a lot of the butterflies that hit the floor. Good strategy Maddy!