October 2007 Archives
I'm late in writing this, but it has been sitting in my head for weeks so that counts, right?
Maddie is now FOUR YEARS OLD. It's still hard for me to believe as well. What happened to that little black-haired, teeny-tiny baby who barely fit in preemie clothes when she came home from the hospital? The one who would purse her lips in her sleep and slowly curl and uncurl her fingers in the air? She's now a whopping 3 feet tall with an attitude twice that size.
My teeny-tiny baby is now a beautiful little girl who is extremely funny and intelligent and dramatic (she'll be in at least one school play one day -- I'm sure of it.)
The little girl who's favorite word at one year was "El-mo!" is now talking about how "incredibly beautiful" Cinderella was in her dress.
That's my Magpie. It didn't occur to me until last year just how fitting that nickname is for her. Other people have called her "Maddie Paddie" or "Maddie Mouse" but my nickname has always been "Maddie Magpie". I think I called her that because it just rolled off the tongue one day, but then I realized just how fitting it was.
magpie [ˈmӕgpai] noun
a black-and-white bird of the crow family, known for its noisy chattering and habit of collecting bright, shiny objects.
Chattering? Loves shiny objects? Anyone who knows her, knows that it describes Maddie completely. The little princess who loves sequins and tutus, and who won't let you get a word in until she's absolutely finished with what she's saying. {You're laughing right now because you know it's true!}
I look forward to learning what it's like living with a four-year-old, and I can't wait to see how much she'll grow and change in the next year. Happy Birthday, Magpie.
Josie loves telling jokes lately. We've taught her a few ("why did the turtle cross the road...to get to the shell station) but she prefers to make up her own. Here's her latest:
Knock knock.
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana who?
I'm gonna eat your EYES! {she says with hands raised into little claws}
What do you think, Rob? Does she have a future in comedy?
P.S. In response to Julie's comment: Don't be so sure about the topics of their jokes! I'm not sure where or how it started, but both girls are starting to make jokes and talk about poop. "Poopy-poophead" and the like. Bill and I are constantly telling them "No poop jokes."
Of course, then the girls counter with, "It's not a poop joke. It a Winnie the POOH joke! See? It's okay."
We've posted our pictures on Flickr if you want to take a look:
We haven't posted anything in a while (yes, you've all pointed it out) but I thought I'd write about the last few weeks, seeing that our next post about our Disney trip will probably an incredibly long one. :)
- Bill took me to the Bjork concert a few weeks ago. Attending one of her concerts was another one of my 43 things. I'd known about her tour, but she wasn't scheduled to come to Atlanta until last month when she added some more shows, including one here. The concert was amazing and her voice was so pure that it sounded at times like I was listening to one of her CDs. It's an understatement to say that Bjork was adorable. She'd say, "Thank you!" after every song and each time the audience would laugh a little because it was so cute. (It sounded more like "Tank U" in a little girl voice.) And don't even get me started about how she sounded when she said "Gracias" a few times in her Icelandic accent. I seriously had to restrain myself from jumping up and dancing a few times. If the concert had been outdoors, that would have been okay, but it was at the Fox Theater (gorgeous!) and I didn't want to block the view of the people behind me. I know I'm going to sound like a huge dork here, but there were moments where I couldn't even believe I was in the same room as she. Has anyone else experienced something similar? Anyone that you've idolized since you were a kid and you finally see them in concert?
- Josie had the croup two weeks ago, but got over it pretty quickly. Still, it was scary. She was fine and then woke up in the middle of the night and we could hear coughing. We went in and found her barely able to breathe and crying. She would have a "barking" cough but then have trouble catching her breath. We were just about to go to the ER when she calmed down a little. We called the advice nurse instead and by that time Josie had fallen asleep on my shoulder. The nurse said she should be fine if she was able to sleep, but we made a doctor's appt. for the next morning. She got over it pretty quickly, though a little cough did linger for a week or so. We'd never experienced anything like that with Maddie. Now we can appreciate how scary it must have been for Mike and Kami when Ethan had it.
- One of Maddie's friends is in a little gym class. Her class had a "bring a friend" day and asked Maddie to come. There are only a few kids in the class and they hadn't brought anyone with them, so Josie was allowed to join the class for a tryout as well. I worried because she started asking as soon as we walked in the door if she would get to play too. The girls got a chance to get some energy out and the moms got a chance to relax and watch them learn things like walking on a balance beam and doing rolls on the floor.
- Sindri got his stitches taken out a few weeks ago as well. Things look great and he's been given the "all clear". He got over his little depression and now seems completely normal -- you know, except for missing one leg. Honestly, you'd never really notice except for the way he walks with a little extra hop in his step.
- We got a new DVR. We were using Replay TV, but since we had gotten our new HD TV we weren't able to use any of the HD channels without changing our cable package. We changed it and also switched over to their DVR as well. It's taken a little time to learn (I could use the old remote with my eyes closed) but we're pretty happy, and boy, does seeing things in HD really make a difference. In fact, there are some things I really don't want to see in HD: You really get a chance to see just how much makeup the actors wear and exactly what their skin looks like.
- I'm SO grateful that my pink eye went away in time for Tina's wedding. My brother-in-law's sister got married and asked Maddie and Josie to be flower girls in the wedding. I was in charge of the music for the ceremony. As you know, I woke up with it on the morning of our family portrait. That was ruined, but luckily it was all gone by the next weekend for the wedding. There's NO way I wanted that immortalized in any pictures. The girls were adorable and did an excellent job of scattering rose petals. I worried that they'd get nervous, but they had a great time. A few weeks before, when I had told Maddie that we were going to the wedding, she asked, "Am I going to get married-ed?" I had to explain that no, she wasn't getting married. She replied, "Can I still get a pretty dress to wear?" No problem.
- We had Maddie's birthday party this past weekend. Her actual birthday isn't until next week while we're at Disney, but we had a little party for her friends and my family this weekend. We had it at a great little park and the weather was perfect. Warm, with a nice breeze. After weather reports of 90 degrees and thunderstorms, I was relieved. It started out as just a little party for my family and close friends, but well, things grew as I sent out the invites and a few more people came. It wasn't a problem, really. The park was able to accommodate all of us and there were enough cupcakes for everyone to have more than one. Maddie really wanted a Minnie Mouse cake. In her words she wanted a, "brown cake with white on top and Minnie Mouse and it says 'Happy Birthday, Maddie!'" You know, not specific at all. It took me at least 5 different places to find a bakery that could make a Mickey/Minnie Mouse cake. None of the others were licensed for Disney characters, or the ones that were only did Princesses and Cars and Nemo. We were able to get a gigantic cupcake cake (the best invention ever! No silverware and everyone just grabs a cupcake to pull the cake apart) with Mickey and Minnie on top. She was ecstatic. My mom and stepdad, sister and brother-in-law, and Bill's brother Todd were able to come so it made it even more special.
- A Tea Party with Mommy. Our playdate group scheduled a little tea party for moms and daughters at a local teahouse. The teahouse supplies all the dressup clothes and hats. We got a chance to dress up and have a little lunch together. Finger sandwiches and "tea" (hot chocolate, which Josie informed me was really "warm chocolate) and little petit fours. They were such little grownups, sitting nicely and sipping their tea (pinkies high!) They both kept saying "This is so delightful" in little Fancy Nancy voices.
- Braves game. A company that works with Bill sponsored a day at the Braves game. The event included a catered lunch and free seats. The girls loved cheering on the team and doing the "tomahawk chop". They ran the bases on the upper deck and played in the Cartoon Network kids' area. They got to meet the Braves cheerleaders and pick out their own Braves caps.
- We leave for Disney early Saturday morning. WE CAN'T WAIT! You can physically feel the excitement brewing at our house right now. I've spent the last few days trying to pack as well as clean our house for the housesitter who will be watching the animals while we're gone. We're going at a great time because September and October are "Preschool Magic" times at Disney. They have specially planned events and activities for preschoolers. We'll get in Saturday afternoon and meet up with our friends Carolyn and Todd, who oddly enough have been at Disney this week. Our vacations are overlapping by two days, so we're going to get together and check out Downtown Disney Saturday night. I mean, how fun is it that Maddie's best friend (and Josie's as well -- Grace and Kaylie are very popular in our house) will be at Disney while she's there? Then Grandma and Grandpa will be joining us on Sunday. The girls will get to see the parks and enjoy time with them. We're hoping to visit Bill's Aunt Joanne one day as well. It's sad, but we realized the girls have never been to a real beach or seen the ocean. We've taken them to the pseudo beaches around here, but they'll get to see the real thing this time. And Wednesday, on Maddie's birthday, she'll be having lunch with all of the Disney Princesses. She can't wait. She decided to inform everyone at her birthday party that it wasn't her real Disney World birthday and she wasn't going to see the Princesses yet.
