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.

Ella's Favorite Things

I'm surprised at how Ella is expressing her own interests and showing off her personality. Here are some of her latest preferences.

• Her favorite DVD to watch in the car is Dora the Explorer. She is amazed at how Dora and Diego fly in the beginning. Every time she scream, "Dora is flying! She's flying!" Ella would like to fly too, but the closest she gets is when Daddy throws her in the air. She says she can't fly because she doesn't have wings.

• Ella would like to eat olives for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if I'd let her. When we are grocery shopping and walk past the olives, she usually sneaks a can into the cart without asking. Today she tried feeding them to her baby doll.

• She runs in circles around things for no apparent reason. Sometimes she pleads me to join in on the fun. The only way Tyler could get her to eat dinner last night was for her to run around the kitchen table. Each time she passed him, he yelled "tollbooth," and she had to take a bite of food.

• Ella likes kisses better than hugs. She gives me multiple kisses, pecking my cheeks, nose, and lips. She likes it best if she is giving the kisses and not receiving them. If I hug her too much, she says I am squeezing the energy out of her and to please stop.

• Ella's is afraid of a few things... Spiders and bugs of any kind. She calls them all flies and covers her eyes until I remove the scary "fly" from the house. She's even had nightmares about bugs crawling on her. She's also afraid of me leaving the house when she is taking a nap or going to sleep at night. "Don't leave the house mommy," she pleads. "Just leave my room."

• Ella's current favorite book is her toddler Bible. It goes from Genesis to Revelation, highlighting the most popular stories in a very simplistic form with a large picture and a few simple sentences on each page. She chooses it every night for her bedtime story and would be the happiest if I would read it from cover to cover, but neither of us could stay awake that long. We usually end our reading time with her saying that she loves Jesus and wants to make him happy.
  

Ella's ABCs

January Indoor Fun

Ella draws funny faces!


This is one is a sunshine.


Ella and daddy having snack together. They have very similar tastes in food.


The future chef, Maddy explores the new kitchen.


Ella making up a game with frozen peas.


www.starfall.com is Ella's favorite computer learning program. She is so proud of herself that now she can use the mouse by herself.

Christmas in Fort Wayne

Maddy in her Christmas dress and showing off her new teeth!


Our family Christmas picture. Me with baby drool on my shoulder :)


Maddy loving her new penguin.


Ella exploring Maddy's ball popper toy. Uncle Ryan checks it out too!


The joy of Christmas! It's all in Ella's face here.


Ella dancing on her Yo Gabba Gabba dance mat. What a hit!


Ella playing with her princess castle. Thanks Grams and Gramps. Ella is shortening names these days. Grammy's name has evolved from Mimi to Grammy to Grandma to Grams.

Our finished kitchen

I love love love my husband and his most excellent carpentry skills. Check out the video Tyler took yesterday of our beautiful kitchen. I spend most of my time in this room.

Maddy video

This is my first attempt at uploading a video to blogger.



So, she's a slow learner. She's been practicing walking like this for months now. Pushing chairs, pushing toys. Who knows when she'll have the balance and confidence to walk on her own.

The Year in Review

so much depends
upon

a small baby
girl

crying to be
fed

inside of my
arms

December Photos

Daddy and Maddy waiting in line to see Santa. Maddy was very curious and did very well sitting on Santa's lap. We really talked up Santa with Ella before our visit. Here is an example of one of our conversations.

"Do you want to visit Santa and sit on his lap?"
"I don't want to see Santa. He's scary."
"Santa gives gifts to good kids."
"Oh, I could do that."

But when the time actually came, she screamed and cried and wouldn't get close to Santa.
Later, she dictated a letter to Santa (which Mama wrote). She wrote,

Dear Santa,
Thanks for the candy cane. I've been a good girl. Please bring me a present. I want a rattle for my babies and a crib for my babies. Thank you.
Love, Ella


Christmas crafts! Ella love gluing and cutting. Last night she helped me wrap Christmas presents. She said she wanted to stay up all night long. "Why?" I asked her.
"To cut ribbon with my scissors. I'm not tired. I stay up all night long."


Decorating our three little trees. Ella loves the lights and pretty ornaments.


Our antique tractor tree... decorated by Ella.


The first gift of Christmas. We were checking out at the store, and Ella really wanted this sparkly pink necklace. I told her she couldn't get it today, and she said in her sweetest voice, "I've been a good girl Mommy." The man waiting in line behind us had a huge heart. He gave her some money to buy the necklace and told her "Merry Christmas." It was really touching.


The girls love our winter walks. Only this all-terrain stroller can trudge through the ice and snow.


Ella's first gingerbread house!


The candy of Christmas...


... is meant to be shared.

Let it Snow!

Monday was our first big snow that stuck to everything and stayed all day. Maddy was fascinated by the snow and enjoyed watching it fall. Babysitter Lexie helped Ella make a huge snowman in front of our house. Yes, actually Lexie made most of it, and I helped too. Ella got so tired, I had to put her to bed for a nap. She didn't get to see the finished product until after it was dark. Below you can see Ella is quite pleased with the snowman. She keeps looking out the window today to make sure he is still there.

Don't Eat Me

It's bedtime. Daddy is tucking Ella under the covers.

"You smell so nice. I want to eat you all up!" says Daddy.
Kiss, kiss, kiss!

"Don't eat me! I taste yucky," replied Ella.

"You are yummy!" says Daddy, giving her more kisses.
Kiss, kiss, kiss!

Her reasoning gets better here and surprises us.

"Don't eat me! God made me. I'm special."

"You sure are."
Kiss, kiss, kiss!

Madelyn Rose - 9 months old

Today was another well-baby doctor visit for Maddy. Over the past three months she has grown one inch taller and gained two pounds. Here are her stats:

Height: 27 1/2 inches
Weight: 17 lbs. 5 oz.
Head circumference: 17 in.

Yes, growth is slowing down a bit. She eats so much food, but burns most of her calories moving. She's pulling herself up, standing, sitting, cruising around furniture, crawling like mad, moving from room to room, and exploring lots of neat things she can now access and reach at will. She plays happily by herself, we just have to watch what she puts in her mouth. She love to eat, even if it's leaves, sequins, string, paper, dog bones; these are just a few of the things I've caught her tasting.

I'm much more laid back with Maddy than I was with her sister Ella. However, I'm concerned that she might climb out of her crib soon. I've had horrible nightmares of her falling out of the crib and then crawling to the stairs and falling down the stairs. If she does master this act of climbing out of her crib, like Ella did, then we may have to move her into her sister's room sooner than we anticipated.

My favorite things about Maddy right now are the following:

• her huge open-mouth smile, with three bottom teeth poking out
• the little curls of hair around her ears
• her chubby, kissable cheeks
• how easily I can make her smile and laugh (she's very ticklish)
• her warm, snugly body sleeping next to me in the morning
  

This looks good

Picture this, Ella sitting in a large comfy chair, flipping through a cookbook; one of my favorites that I've borrowed from the library several times. There is much text and commentary and few pictures. Why is she drawn to this book? Why has she been "reading" it for the past 10 minutes? I'm tuning in now and overhear her conversation with herself.

"This looks good.
Peas in it.
The steam comes out right there.
This is what I eat.
I reading it.
Now I read it again.
I spell words.
How bout we make soup.
I gonna pick.
I don't like that chicken."

She just goes on and on like this. Finally she gets bored of the book and says,

"I just like Ella's books. I like library books the best."

Brown County

My dad rents a cabin in the woods each fall at a different state park in Indiana. This year was Brown County, one of my childhood favorites. We didn't get to explore any caves. Maybe when the kids get older. Ella had many favorites from this weekend in October.

• camping out on the cabin floor, sleeping in a sleeping bag
• playing with her cousin Lily
• finding an acorn sprouting and telling everyone it would grow into an oak tree
  
• going down a very fast curly water slide at the indoor aquatic center, over and over again with no fear at all (with Daddy of course)
  
• running around and around on the wooden floor in the cabin
• riding a pony (I think this was a first)
• eating all the candy and treats that Grammy brought just for her

Girls Reunion

At the end of September my dear friends, Lisa from Chicago and Helen from New Jersey, visited with their kids. When we all lived in Michigan and had our weekly coffee date, none of us were married or had children. How quickly our lives have changed! Ella at 28 months is the oldest and Maddy at 7 months is the youngest. The rest of the kids from left to right are Taylor, Grace, Kyle, and Camryn. We had a great time hanging out and playing.


All the littlest kids swinging with Ella giving pushes.


Camryn and Maddy swinging together. They could pass as twins!


Ella pushing Kyle. What a big helper!


Ella and Taylor on the gator, although they preferred throwing wood chips down the slide.

Green Goes With Everything

When Tyler reads this, he will laugh at me. When did you become so green? This is way too crunchy, too granola for our family. But, I'm a mom now, and that changes my views dramatically. I've always been a careful consumer, reading product labels and buying organic products, but nothing could have prepared me for the reality of the thousands of toxic chemicals that I've allowed into my home and my body. As a mother, I'm most concerned about the health and development of my children. A baby's body systems are still developing and will be for years. That means those systems are more vulnerable to potentially toxic substances than adults. Sloan's new book, which I stumbled upon at the library, is an easy read with her research findings and simple things that we can do to live a healthier life. This book is helping me to make better, smarter, safer choices. I urge you to check it out from your local library and skim the chapters. You'll be glad that you did! Or, you can check out Sloan's web site. www.greengoeswitheverything.com
Here are some changes that our family is going to make over the next few months... and I'm not even done reading the book yet. Yes, even though this seems extreme, even Tyler would agree that these decision are a good way to love our children.

• remove dangerous and toxic chemicals from my home including chlorine bleach and ammonia
• replace cleaners with a natural, nontoxic all-purpose cleaner
  
• replace my laundry detergent with a natural nontoxic one
• replace shampoo, makeup, moisturizers with products that are safer and healthier
• use BPA-free sippy cups and organic milk
• remove plastics from my kitchen and replace with glass containers
  
• choose organic and locally grown food more when possible
• never buy bottled water and buy myself a metal water bottle
• open windows once a day when the outside temperature is comfortable