Madison is 5!

Madison - 5 Years Old

Favorite Color: Red ('cause it's pretty and it's on my shirt)
Favorite Animal: Giraffes ( 'cause of the zoo and their lock necks and I can feed them)
What Do You Want to Be When You Get Bigger: A veterinarian and a Mama
What Do You Like To Do For Fun: Surprise people, and I like to help people
What Do You Like To Do With Friends: Play - like at a sandbox and stuff at a park
Who are your best friends: Barrett
What is your favorite food: French Fries from McDonald's
Favorite Toy: Barbies
Favorite Show: Netflix - like My Little Ponies and Odd Squad
Favorite Disney Princess/TV Character: Snow White 'cause she's so nice, and Doc McStuffins

My little baby girl is 5. FIVE. A whole hand. Ayi-i-i-i!!!

The day of her birthday we celebrated with a trip to her favoite park, a trip to her friend's house, and a surprise early arrival home from her Daddy! We had cake and ice cream with Grandpa Dave, Grandpa Tracy, and Great G'ma and Great G'pa! She opened a few presents of course, too.

We went to Rocket Park!

That afternoon she opened her first present from her Daddy.

She loved her signing cat card from Grandpa.

After lunch (while the boys napped) we headed to Barrett's house. He surprised her with a special locket.

Daddy was working in MN and due home late that night...but he made a special trip home in time for cake and ice-cream with Madison!

Love this picture of these two SO SO much!

Her awesome Barbie remote control car from Grandma!

She LOVES it!

A new fishing pole from Grandpa. (I'm not sure why my Dad refuses to smile in pictures.)

Super cool Barbie coloring/sticker book from the Great Grandparents.

A few days later she had a birthday party at Monkey Joe's!

In the ticket booth!

And...she's already asking about her 6th birthday party...

Madison 4 Years Old (Yes, I'm Posting This Almost 1 Year Late)

I am SO glad I found this post I started from last year! I must have asked her these questions and then NEVER completed the post obviously. Oh well. My new mantra is "better late than never!"

Madison - 4 Years Old

Favorite Color: Pink
Favorite Animal: Horse
What Do You Want to Be When You Get Bigger: A horse holder and petter
What Do You Like To Do For Fun: Go to the circus
What Do You Like To Do With Friends: Go to the park
Who are your best friends: McKayla and Barrett
What is your favorite food: Apple...I mean chocolate...and pudding and chocolate
Favorite Toy: Horses and My Little Ponies
Favorite Show: My Little Ponies...I mean Wreck It Ralph
Favorite Disney Princess: Jasmine...I mean, Jasmine and Ariel

Here are a few pictures from Madison's birthday and party last year.

The morning she turned 4

At her annual check up.

At her party with her friends!

Uncle and Catherine visited for her birthday weekend last year!

Happy Birthday, Madison!!!

She had a blast with all her family. Here she is with her cousin, Maddison.

Here she is with her other cousin, Luke.

I am excited to ask her the same questions this year...and NOT post the answers 1 year later....

I can hardly believe she will be 5 in a few weeks. She's a smart, passionate, and kind little girl that we love more than words can explain. She holds such a special place in my heart. I am tearing up just thinking of how much she means to me. Although, sometimes the tears are of frustration (she can be SO SASSY it scares me to think of her as a hormonal teenager)...haha.

I often look at her and wonder where my little baby went...I'm sure I'll always feel that way.

I WILL post her 5 year old updates and birthday post in a more timely fashion FOR SURE.

3 Years 2.5 Months Old

So I'm a bit behind on Madison's 'monthly' update now that she's 3 years old.
Better late than never. Right?!

I have to start with her Pre-School picture.

How adorable is this?!

At her 3-Year check up she was about 40 lbs. and 40 inches. She's currently wearing 4T-5T clothes and I've even bought her some in size 'small' in the 'big girls' clothes section. *sigh*

She is STILL a vegetarian. Beyond starving her and then only offering meat. I haven't figured out how to get her to try any meat. She is hesitant to really try any new foods. So for now...her diet consists of fresh fruit and fruit cups, yogurt (Greek and regular), crackers (gold fish and Ritz), french fries, 'junk food' - ice cream, chips, cookies, mashed sweet potatoes, ketchup, crescent rolls, cereal, and Casey's bread sticks. She loves milk. I give her juice occasionally. This has definitely been one area of parenting that I slacked on the most and have learned from for sure. The triplets will NOT be this picky (I don't think they will have a choice. lol!)

Speaking of ketchup...

She said, "I'm the Ketchup Queen because I LOOOOOVE Ketchup!"
Silly girl.

She is doing GREAT with potty training. I think she's ready to drop her diaper at nap...I just haven't done it. But I should probably start before the triplets arrive.

She still naps 5 or 6 days of the week for a couple hours in the afternoon (and I am SO grateful for that). She can handle skipping it once a week or so...but more than that and she becomes a terror. Her bed time is still between 8-9pm. And she wakes around 7/7:30am.

She is still doing great in her 'big girl bunk bed.' Once she wakes, she still stays in her bed until I come to get her. I love her for that. She's really only left her room once on her own since we switched her to her bunk bed. Isn't that crazy! I can't even believe that!

Madison Loves:
Piggy and Bunny
She loves watching Mountain Man with her Daddy
Candy
Playing Outside
Animals
Watching her 'shows' on TV
(new favorites are LaLaLoopsy, Sophia the First, and Bubble Guppies - she still loves Curious George, Dora and Diego, Caillou, and Mickey Mouse)
Using glue for crafts
Music
Books
Parties
Time with her Nabi or Kindle

Madison Doesn't Love:
Bath time
Having her hair brushed
Trying new foods
Hugging - she's stingy with hugs
Good-Byes (she usually sad all the fun is ending)

Madison is our little 'social butterfly.' It always perplexes Josh and I since neither he or I consider ourselves to be overly extroverted...but she LOVES being with people. She is constantly asking me what we're doing for the day, who we are seeing, where we are going, or who is coming to our house.

Example 1: Recently we went to Cedar Falls and spent the day with a bunch of our college friends (no other kids really) and M had a blast at the tailgating party and dinner out later that day. The next morning she asked if we were going to 'party' again and that she already missed her new friends! Meanwhile...Josh and I were ready to go home and be with ourselves of course. LOL. Josh mentioned that once she goes to college we better be prepared for her to be a 'partier.' Eeee!

Example 2: Last Thursday when she woke up from nap she asked me who would be coming to her house tonight to play. I told her no one tonight. She then cried for 45 minutes. When she finally settled down, she said, "I cried because I was so sad that no one was come to see me!"

She can put on her underwear, pants, socks, and shoes on her own. We are working on her shirts. She is also working on getting her coat on herself - that second arm in the sleeve is always a challenge.

Madison loves music. She enjoys singing and dancing, and I find her humming and singing songs a lot while she plays.

She also loves 'reading.' She has lots of her books memorized. Or she will 'read' and make up stories as she looks at the pictures.

Madison is very independent. She is all about doing things 'by herself.' She loves helping me around the house. And, she never turns down Josh if he asks her to help him out in the shop. Her independence also leads her to some questionable behavior that is usually followed by a time-out. lol.



Our Madison is a confident, smart, (semi) sweet (lol) little girl that truly makes every day a joy for us. :)

2 Years 8 Months

I finally remembered and got around to taking a few shots of M earlier this week for another update. I can't believe that in just 4 months she'll be 3 years old!!! This wouldn't be a true monthly post without me saying, "Time is flying by!" Which reminds me...better start party planning!!!! (Oh, I can see Josh rolling his eyes right now at the sound of me mentioning her party already! lol!)

Ok. Let the rambling begin....

 Madison is definitely growing out of her 3T clothes, and I'm buying anything new in 4T. She's still tall for her age, at around 37 inches and I think she's around 35 pounds. She's in size 7 or 8 shoe.

She is doing well with being potty trained during all her waking hours. I'm so proud of her. But, as of now, I am not rushing to get her trained during naps or night yet.

She is STILL a vegetarian. And a very picky eater. For example, she will ONLY eat bread sticks from Casey's.



She knows her colors. She can 'read' some books by memory. (I hope to finally teach her her letters this summer.) She's pretty good with her shapes. And, thanks to Dora, she can count in Spanish! :) She really enjoys identifying things that match. She can correctly identify sets of 1, 2, or 3 items.



She loves:
-Watching her shows and movies
-Going to parks and climbing! She LOVES the park.
-Singing
-Making stuff (what she calls baking cookies and cupcakes)
-Coloring - can draw lines and a circular shapes, can also attempt to color inside the lines
-Reading and looking at books
-Playing outside
-Birthdays (parties) - she regularly asks me if we are going to a party and wants to know when my birthday is and her birthday.
-Her Piggy and Bunny
-Helping Mommy rinse the dishes
-Ice Cream (in a cone)
-Birds (she can correctly identify robins)
-Quarters (to ride the choo choo at the mall)
-French fries with ketchup
-Dinosaurs and dragons

She's Not So Fond Of:
-Water on her face-being splashed-having her hair rinsed
-Trying new foods
-She claims she doesn't like spiders (Thanks for that, Caillou!)
-Having her hair brushed

She usually finds herself in 'Time Out' at least once a day.

(I love her red shoes!)
















Other fun phrases you'll hear from M (I forgot to post yesterday):
"Hmmmm....something's missing. (She'll declare this as she's coloring before deciding her picture needs more coloring.)
"Hey...that doesn't belong!!!" (I hear this a lot at stores when the wrong item is on the shelf with other items.)
"I wish...." I'm not sure where she learned this from...probably, Dora. The other day we were driving on River Dr. and I hear her say, "Mom, I wish I had to boat to go down that river." Or if she sees something on her show that she likes she'll tell me, "Mom, I wish I had some lemonade."

The negotiating at bedtime has begun as she will often ask for me just 2 more books (when I say not tonight) she'll drop to just 1 more book. :) She'll also ask for water, and to go hug Daddy one more time, etc..

She's still napping in the afternoons usually from 2:30pm-ish until 5-ish. Bedtime is between 8 and 9pm, and she wakes around 7:30am.

I've made the mistake of adding the long 'e' sound to words as I've spoken to her. So now she says a lot of nouns incorrectly because of me, for example, 'sheep-y,' 'snack-y,' 'giraffe-y,' and 'nappy.' Whoops.























This little lady has changed our lives in ways that we could have never imagined. Love her to pieces more than words can explain.

2 Years 5 Months

I intended on doing an update last month on M. But, it was too busy since the holidays were right around the corner and since I decided to potty train M around that time, too. So here we are at 2 years and 5 months...almost half way to THREE, YIKES!

This will be a lengthy...and probably a bit all over. But I really want to remember all these things and what she was like at this point in her life. These pictures are from yesterday.

She's about 33 pounds and 38 inches tall (estimated). She wears 3T clothes and size 7 shoes.

Some of her favorite phrases:
"What's happening?"

"What we doing?"

"Where we going?"
"What's their name?"
"Me go home now."
"Mama, phone ringing!"
"Mama, who's calling you? Who you calling?"
"I do it by myself!"
"I love you SO MUCH!"

"Keep trying. Don't give up." (learned from Yo Gabba Gabba)

She is still a SUPER picky eater. She still won't eat any meat. Her main diet consists of blueberries, french fries with ketchup, crescent rolls, mandarin oranges, milk, some cereals, smoothies, yogurt, and of course yummy junk food like some crackers, cookies, chips, and ice cream. And, lately she's back to eating mashed sweet potato! Yay! She still eats the veggie pouches, too.

She 'knows' most of the main colors. Including black, white, and brown.

We are working on letter recognition...so far she definitely knows what "O" looks like. Only 25 more to go! Haha!

We are also working on shapes. She only knows the heart and the star as of now.

She loves playing the toddler apps and games on my Kindle Fire. Her favorite are the puzzles.

Her favorite cartoons are still Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Yo Gabba Gabba. Some new favorites are Dora the Explorer and Olivia. She also has seen many Disney movies and sings along the most to Pocahontas and Aladdin.

She's in big girl undies during all waking hours of her day. We're still learning that's for sure...but overall, we're doing ok I think. She still has a few accidents if I don't get her to the potty enough, so we still have a lot of work to do in the area of her learning to alert me. But, I'm happy with where we are for now.

She loves sprinkles, frosting, and suckers. I guess I should say she loves sugar.

She enjoys singing. Some of her favorite songs are Old MacDonald and Twinkle, Twinkle.

She bites her finger nails AND toe nails! Ugh. I'm not sure how I'm going to tackle this habit. Neither Josh or I do this so...not sure where she picked this up from. I mention this habit mostly because Tracy told me that Josh used to bite his toe nails when he was a toddler, too!!!

She's begun to learn the art of negotiating with me. A few weeks ago we were at the mall. After lunch, she smiled, looked directly in my eyes, smiled, and in a sweet voice asked me, "Mama, I have cookie or ice-cream?" I caved of course. Cookie is was.

She also asks me repeatedly during the day if she can watch a show for just 2 more minutes. Or if she can play with a toy for just 1 minute. She does this when we're about to leave or if it's right before nap time or bed time. Smart girl.



Her memory surprises me every day. Just this week we read a book that we haven't read since December. After she picked it out, she declared (without any prompting from me), "This book from Grandma Bevy." She was right of course. Bev had gifted her that book at Christmas. A couple weeks ago I was fiddling with the shower sprayer and Madison said, "Oh, my Grandpa Dave fix this." She must have remembered that a couple MONTHS ago my Dad had helped us install it in our shower (M watched of course). I'm pretty impressed with her anyways.



Madison is growing and learning more everyday. 
Every day is truly an adventure with her. 
We love you, M!