It’s time for a long-overdue post about my marvelous Maddy. Her big news of the week is completing another session of swim and passing to the next level, yay! Now that we’re keeping her in regular swim lessons, she’s making big progress and is finally letting go of her fear.
Not only will she be in Level B this fall, she also started braving the waters on her own a few weeks ago. In the past, she’s never been willing to let go of an adult, no matter how many floaties she was wearing, but after watching her older cousin Sage, she started swimming around the pool like it was no big thing.
She also had a lot of fun in her pre-ballet class this summer, and she sure likes to pretend that she’s graceful. This fall, we’re hoping she’ll give soccer a legitimate try and we plan to get her started with tennis – we’ll see how long before she starts begging to take ballet or gymnastics again 
Maddy’s favorite games are to play mommy with any small objects, and to organize her collections. She’s getting better with Hayden and trying to include her in her games more often, which Hayden mostly loves until she gets bored and moves onto something else (much to Maddy’s dismay).
She’s still pretty emotional when things don’t work or someone is “mean” to her (usually that would be me giving her a time out), but I think she’s getting better at letting things go more quickly and resisting the urge to lash out psychically at Hayden when she does something Maddy doesn’t like. This afternoon they actually worked out a toy disagreement themselves without adult intervention! Maddy explained to Hayden in a calm voice why she couldn’t play with one of her toys, and Hayden actually listened to the long lecture patiently and then gave back the toy with an “I was bored of it anyway” look.
Maddy still loves to be read to, and she practically memorizes all of her favorite books. Today I got her to “read” one to Hayden in the car, and it was pretty impressive how well she followed along the with plot using her own words. She loves to hang out with her cousins and has been asking for them a lot lately, since we haven’t been seeing them as much as we were earlier in the summer. She’s very very excited to turn 4 next month, and has been dictating an extensive list of invitees for what she hopes will be a butterfly princess themed birthday party. We’ll see about that.
I haven’t put any Maddy quotes on the blog in forever, so here’s a compilation of the best ones I’ve shared on Facebook over the past year or so:
8/28/11 – After using the toilet: “It feels good to get all that pee out, because when I have a lot of pee inside I get all crazy and you and dad don’t like that, so when I go pee it makes you happy.”
7/27/11 – Commenting on when I check to see if she’s napping: “I’ll do the same thing I do every day, turn to the wall so you can’t see if my eyes are open.”
7/24/11 – While watching Dave’s tennis practice: “they need a coach to tell them not to hit the ball outside the lines.”
7/24/11 – “I love it when Hayden giggles like that. It’s soooooooo cute!”
7/8/11 – “Mommy, you’re the best mommy in the whole world. Even when you’re mad at me and send me to time out I even love you still when I cry.”
7/8/11 – “I’m hot in all this stuff, so I’m going to take it off and be naked forever.”
6/21/11 – “Mommy, did you put the clothes in the dry off machine?”
6/21/11 – “My tummy sounds like a fox, it’s going ‘arrghooooooo-o-o’”
6/16/11 – “I’m done with my pasta, now I want to eat some healthy food because I want to grow up and be a mommy.”
6/8/11 – Counting Hayden for banging her toy: “Hayden, that’s 1…that’s 2…that’s 3…that’s 4…that’s 5…that’s 6…!”
6/6/11 – Saying a prayer: “I hope daddy comes home okay in the weather and the clouds. I like this dinner and the salad. I like everything we did today, and all the flowers we picked. Jesus Christ, Amen”
5/23/11 – “You make the coolest rice I ever had in this whole country.”
5/20/11 – After being told she’s not allowed to hit: “You smell stinky!”
4/28/11 – Pointing to her cheek: “I have a russellsum!” Me: “Huh?” Then “Ohhh, do you mean a freckle?” Maddy: “Yes, I have a freckle, just like you mommy! I have 2 red ones and 1 brown one.” Me: “Um yeah, those 2 are actually little pimples.”
4/12/11 – Speaking to her bowl of fruit: “Cantaloupe, you’re sooo silly! whenever i pick you, you turn all around.”
3/30/11 – “Mom, thank you for everything in your entire life.”
3/5/11 – After orange juice pulp getting stuck in her sippy lid: “I have a wedgie in my cup!”
3/1/11 – “I guess Forbes and Lumas are the same because they both have black fur…”
2/18/11 – “I colored this pictures for you, so be happy. I made them for your happy-versary in Vietnam.”
11/24/10 – Playing doctor: “Mom, now don’t be scared when we shot you up.”
11/12/10 – Regarding Halloween candy… “The label says: Almond Joy, don’t share with mommy”
11/5/10 – Not wanting to go to bed: “When I get bigger, can I stay up late and do a little work and do the dishes at night like you guys?”
11/1/10 – Coming out of her room 5 times after bedtime… 1st: “I need the monitor in my room,” 2nd: “I need to go potty,” 3rd: “I want another lullabye,” 4th: “I farted,” 5th: “I peed in my Pull-up.”
10/26/10 -While I’m opening a box of cheesecake on one side of the kitchen: “It’s easier if you open it over here cause I’m lonely.”
9/21/10 – “Mommy, Hayden took off her sock again! We should glue it to her foot. No, actually, we should throw it out the window then the birds will get it and take it to Santa at the North Pole and he will wake up and say ‘Good Christmas morning! Hayden I’m bringing your sock to you!’ and he will bring it on his sleigh with the reindeer because he doesn’t live that far away.”
9/17/10 – “Oscar lives in a trash can and makes sure our dirty diapers are safe.”
8/23/10 – “Sierra, Sydney and Eva are my sisters, Hayden’s just my friend.” Me: “So, why don’t they live with us?” Maddy: “Because they live far away.”
7/24/10 – “Daddy is my best friend.” Me: “That’s great, but what am I?” Maddy: long pause, then… “Meagan.”
6/30/10 – When asking how preschool was: “You Talk ‘Bout It!” (then gets excited when I read her teacher’s daily report to her)
5/20/10 – “Mom I’m cutting up mangos for you. These are Lego mangos. You can eat them, but they’re really gross.”
5/19/10 – “We go in the girls bathroom, not the boys bathroom because that one is DIRTY!”
