A letter to Sophia on her 2nd Birthday

Our Dearest Fia Bia,

This has been the year of change for you!  A year ago, you had just started to crawl.  It took you awhile to walk, but now you run laps around the house.  However, when we all play together, you don't like it when we run around too fast because you can't quite keep up yet.  You've also begun to talk much more.  You still call Mommy, Daddy, sometimes.  But that's okay. It seems like every other day now we hear a new word out of your mouth.  Like messy, red ball, hands, book, flower, teddy bear and more.  You say "Where?" when looking for something.  You've even started putting words together like "Gimme some" and "Do it".  You are a demanding little thing.

When we are out and about, you yell at us to "GO!" when we get stopped at a red light and you love to wave and say "Hi" to strangers.  You aren't shy at all like your sister was at your age, especially when it comes to men.  You go up to your Uncle's and Grandpa's almost more than the women in the family.  But there is one little lady that you are in love with, and that is Dora.  You flip out in excitement when we turn on her show and request it immediately when we go to the Grandparent's houses.

You are finally starting to read books now instead of eat them which has been so much fun.  The books can't have a lot of text though, because you don't like to linger too long on any one page.  Your absolute favorite is Moo, Baa, La La La by Sandra Boynton followed closely by a Dora bedtime book. 

While you aren't completely fearless, you are definitely reckless.  You will make yourself fall backwards on the floor and actually start laughing.  Other people will gasp and say, "Oh no, is she okay?"  And we'll just sit back and laugh right along with you.  You are one tough cookie.

You have become "The Tickler" and love to run and tickle us all, especially right after dinner.  You also love to sing.  Your favorites are Happy Birthday, Twinkle Twinkle, and The ABC Song.  When you aren't being silly, you can count to 10 with minor assistance.

We aren't sure what happened to our laid back baby, because you now have the patience of your Mother and start to whine when we take too long to do something.  Also, you certainly have your opinions and say "No" while shaking your head vigorously when you really don't want to do something.  You are very curious still and don't listen well to us telling you "No", so the house is still full of barricades, gates and locked doors to keep you out of things.

While your independence is growing, you are still our cuddler.  You will rest your head on our shoulder or the crook of our neck and we eat it to pieces.  You are still Mommy's little girl, but your love for Daddy is growing great.  When he gets home from work, you join Madeline in running to him and yelling "Daddy!" with a huge smile on your face.  

Happy Birthday Fia!  We love you and look forward to another year of wonderment with you.  

Much love,

Mommy and Daddy

Madeline's 3rd Birthday Party, Part 2

Madeline's party was an absolute blast and I think everyone had a great time. Most of our closest family and friends were there and that made the day extra special. She's been talking about her party for weeks so she couldn't wait for it to start. We took entirely too many pictures to post here on the blog, but I hate not to show them all for those that want to see them. So I posted a few here but to see the rest, click on this LINK. It will take you to an album with all the pictures.

The party started with coloring and getting dressed up with necklaces, earrings, bracelets and tattoos.

The adventure I posted about earlier went great and the kids loved it! However, Madeline did cry about Swiper stealing her cake. But once she got her backpack, she was over it. Now she keeps saying that Swiper is a sneaky little fox for stealing her cake.

She wasn't too comfortable with everyone singing to her, but she was definitely gonna make sure that candle was blown out.

Alexis' First Birthday

Things are getting crazy around here and I'm behind on my updates. My niece turned one about two weeks ago and she had a great party!

She made a great mess eating her cake.

Madeline's Birthday Party

We had a birthday party for Madeline this weekend. It wasn't as grand as having 150 people sing to her like last weekend, but she had fun. And actually, we kept it pretty small because we were worried about being stuck in the house with too many people. That and I think having too many kids over would have overwhelmed her.

I don't think I have to spell out what the theme was as it is pretty obvious from the pictures.

Mickey was our greeter at the front door.

Don't make fun of my sign. It was a last-minute addition once we realized the weather was going to cooperate and let us be outside. Did I spell that right?

Madeline loved hugging and dragging Minnie everywhere.

Sophia looked cute as always!

I tried to be creative and make "M" and "2" grilled cheeses for the kids, but it took three sandwiches just to get these four cut-outs. So that didn't work out so well.

There were only three kids including Madeline and they had a blast together.

The sandbox was the big hit of the night. They had too much fun in it and all of them were in need of baths afterwards.

Thank you so much for everyone that came! Madeline had a great time and so did we.

A letter to Madeline on her 2nd birthday

Baby Doll,

Oh how you've grown in this last year! A year ago...

- you had just started walking and now you love to "run fast."

- you were saying your first words and now you tell us how it is. You will explain something in depth in your baby gibberish but we only understand a hand full of it. That doesn't mean you don't have a large vocabulary though, because you do. You can count to ten in both English and Spanish.

- you would actually eat your vegetables and most anything your Mommy put in front of you and now you basically survive off of garlic bread and fruit. At least there is something good in there.

- you were an only child and now you are a great big sister. You love to hug and kiss on Sophia. You are concerned when she cries and will sometimes go to try and soothe her yourself by patting her on the head.

- you were sleeping in the crib and now you are in your own toddler bed. When we moved you before your sister arrived, you were crazy with excitement. You had already been napping in a cot at daycare and now you had freedom at home too. When you get up a little too early in the mornings, you come snuggle with us and we love it. When you wander out of your room before we go to bed, we sometimes find you sleeping in strange places (the hall, the middle of the room, your sister's activity mat). When you sleep, you MUST have your "munkey" (a.k.a. blanket) and baby doll.

You love to read. Every month you have a new favorite that we have to read at bedtime. Madeline's Rescue, If I Ran the Zoo, The Lorax to name a few. Daddy has Oh, the Places You'll Go memorized from reading it so much. Your teachers at school comment on this as well. They say you grab a book and read by yourself in a corner all the time.

You have begun a fascination with shoes and you know which ones are your special ones. You ask us to put your dressy ones on and then you run around dancing in them. Your Daddy is hoping this is just a phase.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is your obsession. You are giddy when we turn it on and you love naming all the characters as they appear on screen.

" 'Side play toys." That is what you say when you want to go outside and play with your toys. You don't really have a favorite toy, you just like being outside and running around. Especially with your Daddy. He gives the best buggy rides around.
We weren't sure how to address this letter; Madeline, Baby Doll or "That's You." Even though you know your name is Madeline, you call yourself "that's you" all the time. This is because Mommy would point and say "that's you" when showing you pictures of yourself.

This past year has been amazing and we can't imagine what the next will bring. Watching you grow up is truly a joy. Happy Birthday!

Love and Hugs,

Mommy and Daddy