The Incident

Ella spent the morning in the church nursery yesterday while I spent time in a replay small group and did some work in the office. She enjoys the time to play with the other girls and always has a great time. When I went in to get her and her sister, the woman watching the kids said, rather reluctantly, "We had an incident." Hmmm. That got my mind thinking. Did she bite someone? Did she pee her pants? What? She actually undressed herself and was playing naked. She said she was going swimming. What an imagination. I laughed at the situation, but clearly the caregiver was uncomfortable. The good thing is that when told to put her clothes back on, she obeyed and was fully clothed when I came to pick her up. And, there were no boys in the playroom that day either. Ella and I had a talk later on about the importance of wearing our clothes.

Nanna and Pappy Visit

Nanna and Pappy Emrick drove all the way from New Jersey and stayed with us for a week. Here are a few special pictures from their time with the kids, well mostly Ella.


Pappy reading stories to Ella.


Pappy and Ella going on a Dora adventure to rescue baby jaguar.


Nanna and Ella playing in the snow.


Making a Michigan snowman.


Sledding in our backyard.


Going round and round in circles.

Birthday Girl

Here are a few pictures from Maddy's special day. If you want to see all of them, I uploaded them to an album on Facebook.

Maddy's dedication at Keystone. Look at Maddy's big eyes listening as Chris tells her she is a child of God.


Beautiful flowers that Trish arranged for the tables.


She's ready for some birthday cake! Grammy made her a birthday crown.


I made a birthday cake for the guests, a white almond layer cake with raspberry filling. Maddy had her very own smaller cake. Grammy made heart-shaped sugar cookies.


She doesn't know to eat the icing, so I give her a taste with my finger.


Mmmmm, this tastes very good. Looks like Ashlyn wants to try too.


On a sugar high!


The demolished cake.


The girls helping Maddy open her presents.


One of Maddy's favorite presents, her very own stroller. Now she can practice walking and play with her own baby doll.

Madelyn turns ONE

My little baby is now one year old. Madelyn is still a little peanut weighing just 18 1/2 pounds although her height is average at 29 inches long. At her one-year well baby visit, Dr. Macedo reported that she is healthy and developing well.

She excels in motor activities: crawling, climbing, playing with her toys, turning pages of books, and feeding herself. She's also a good problem solver and can find hidden toys, put blocks in and out of a container, and even scribble with a crayon. If you've spent any time with Maddy you know she loves to be around people and gives lots of smiles and hugs. She plays with her dolls by hugging them. She claps when we celebrate something special. And she just learned how to roll a ball back and forth with Mommy. What fun! Her communication skills are still very basic with screams, grunts, and a very basic vocabulary of Mama, Dada, Hi, and Ah (for all done). We're working on naming objects and repeating simple words that she could start to say. But really, I think she is content having Ella speak for her or having Mama get her what she needs. Still a little baby.

We had a wonderful birthday celebration beginning with a special time of prayer to dedicate her to the Lord, continuing with a special lunch and birthday cake with friends and family, and ending with a few close family playing with new toys at home. I'll put some pictures up soon.

Love you too much to argue

Tyler and I went to a short Love and Logic refresher course last night. The focus was on whining. Ella is the master of whining and arguing, so we hoped to learn some new skills to help her stop this bad habit.

First, we should go brain dead. Don't react or talk much. I normally react by explaining or getting more upset with her. Just go braindead! Then the whining will not get any positive reinforcement.

Second, we should repeat the same phrase over and over in response to the negative behavior. Use a calm, quiet voice. Some examples are, "I'll listen when you're talking in a sweet voice," or "Love you too much to argue."

So I was ready to try this out today. Situation, we are driving to Meijer and Ella does not like the music I have chosen. She wants to watch Dora on the DVD player. I say, "Mommy chooses this music right now. You can watch Dora later when we get home." Then the whining starts... just imagine how she is trying to get her way.

I repeat, "Mommy chooses this music right now."

Her whining and crying continue. "Just one show, Mommy. I want one show."

I start the phrase "Love you too much to argue."

"Please Mommy, I want Dora!"

"Love you too much to argue."

She pleads, "Can I listen to Ella music?"

"Love you too much to argue."

She screams.

...and in my most calm voice, "Love you too much to argue."

Then she responds, "I choose to argue!" Ha... this kid is smart. But I don't react.

"Love you too much to argue."

"I want a special treat!"

"Love you too much to argue."

She finally quiets down and I enjoy my music. It works. My words are golden! Can't wait to try it again soon!

Our little dinosaur

Ella and Daddy spent some time at the library learning about dinosaurs. When they returned, Ella was dressed up like a dinosaur, ready to scare me and chase me around the house. Rooooaaaaarrrrr!

Braids

Success - Ella's hair stayed in braids all day. They wanted to stick out like Pippy Longstocking. Nothing can stop Ella's naturally curly hair.