Happy Birthday, Madeline!
February 20th, 2010Wow! I can’t believe that I’m officially the mother of a two year old. Time really flies in our crazy life. It’s time for another letter to Maddie.
Dear Madeline,
I can hardly believe it, but today you turn TWO. For weeks, you have known the correct answer to the question, “Maddie, how old are you going to be on your birthday?” You’ve also been saying, “Happy birthday to you, Maddie.” We have really enjoyed seeing you develop into an amazing little girl. We are constantly amazed by the things you say and the connections you are making in the world.
For the past month, we have all been making adjustments. Your brother has arrived. For the first time, I spent a couple nights away from you. You didn’t seem to mind and were able to visit us in the hospital. You had a great couple of days with Nana and Papa while we were in the hospital. When you visited, you mostly ignored your brother. You were more interested in the french fries! You finally showed a little interest during your hospital visit when we let you touch Cullen’s hands. Then you wanted to point out his facial features. We had to make sure you didn’t poke him in the eyes!
Once Cullen was home, you tried to ignore him for several days. I think you were hoping that if you didn’t pay any attention to him, that he would go away. Once you discovered that approach wasn’t working, you embraced your role as big sister. You wanted to hold him and hug him frequently. I loved seeing the two of you together and look forward to when you can play together. I hope that you will be good pals, though I know you will have your fair share of fights.
Prior to your brother’s birth, you had transitioned back to being a bit of a Mommy’s girl for maybe a month or so. It was sweet, and I enjoyed some extra special Maddie and Mommy time. It did not take very long after your brother was born for you to cling very strongly to your Daddy. You quickly learned that Mommy often needed to feed Cullen. You’ve told people that Cullen eats Mommy’s milk. Smart girl! If Daddy’s holding Cullen, you often say, “Daddy, give Mommy Cullen. Come, Daddy. Let’s play. I want to play. Daddy, give Mommy Cullen.” It’s very sweet, though I’m sure that Daddy could use a break every now and then! When I try to relieve your Daddy, you insist that “Daddy do it.” I am trying not to take it personally! It makes me happy to see how much you love your Daddy. Your love for your Mommy and Cullen shows often, too.
Every night when you go to bed, you say goodnight to your mommy and Cullen as well as other toys and household items. Around Christmastime, you said goodnight to the snowman, tree, and train. Recently, you frequently say goodnight to the bird bean bag, your blocks, and your shopping cart. When you get to your crib, you put all of your “buddies” down to bed and arrange them just right. The buddies that get the honor of sharing your crib most often are Jojo and Valentino (you never go to bed without them!). You also absolutely need your pink blanket (which sounds like “bee-net” when you say it). Winnie the Pooh and Bunny join you often. You usually have at least 5 buddies with you at bedtime and naptimes.
Sleep continues to be a struggle, though you have made some progress. When we returned from our Thanksgiving week trip to the mountains with Keira’s family and to visit your relatives in Kentucky, you suddenly changed your going to bed habits. We were amazed that you were so easy to put down to bed at night. We would set you and your buddies in the crib, put a lightweight blanket over you, and pat you a couple of times. We’d say, “goodnight Maddie” and leave the room. And then you’d actually go to sleep! Considering that bedtime has been a huge struggle the majority of your life, this was a very welcome change. You weren’t quite sleeping through the night, but we didn’t mind when you joined us in bed sometime in the middle of the night. We even had a few times where you slept peacefully through the night.
Sometime between Christmas and Cullen’s birth, you started to change again. You started to be a bit of a challenge to put to bed again, requiring us to take multiple trips to get you back to sleep. You were still joining us in our bed in the middle of the night. While we were in the hospital, this obviously wasn’t an option. Nana was able to get you back to sleep when you woke in the middle of the night, and we continued to get her to put you back to bed during the night after we got home. We were hoping that this would help you make the transition to not joining us in the bed and ultimately you would sleep through the night. With Cullen feeding every two or three hours, it wasn’t a good option for you to sleep in our bed anymore. I miss your snuggle time and have even felt guilty about the change, but it is for the best.
In the past week, you have been easier to put to bed. Prior to this, we had been struggling for up to two hours putting you to bed at night. Most nights would take no less than an hour. Your pediatrician actually suggested that we instate a later bedtime. This has worked very well! The first few nights we tried the later bedtime, we had to make one or two trips upstairs to get you back to sleep immediately after putting you down to bed. For the past week, we have been able to put you into the crib, tell you goodnight, and then you go to sleep without issues. You’re still waking up sometime in the middle of the night most nights, but sometimes you’re sleeping through the night. Your sleep is improving at the moment but who knows what the next month (or even week) will bring. And at some point, we’re going to have to transition you to the big girl bed. We are NOT ready for this transition!
We recently broke down and got a video monitor. It has been entertaining to watch you on the monitor, and it has really helped us figure out what you’ve been doing up there when not sleeping. Nap times are still interesting. You resist them somewhat, but usually you’re content to play with your buddies in the crib for a while. You put your buddies on their tummies and pat them. You’ll put the blanket over them and tell them “night night.” You’ll lay down with them, put the blanket on yourself, and then pat yourself which we find hilarious. You recently have started jumping in the crib and find that to be quite fun. And we know you’re about to call for one of us (usually Daddy) when you gather all your buddies and face the door or start throwing the buddies and paci out of the crib. You still use a paci at bedtime and naps. We haven’t decided whether to transition you to the big girl bed before weaning you from the paci or whether we want to wean the paci first or whether we should do them both at the same time. Nobody really told us how much winging it this parenting gig involves!
Speaking of your big girl room, I finally finished painting your special mural. I love how your new room is coming together and hope that you will enjoy it as well. You are growing quite a collection of cute owls! Hopefully, we can make your new space very special for you and you will love going to the new room.
You have really gotten into imaginative play since our last letter. While we were in the mountains with Keira’s family, you and Keira interacted more than you ever had previously. You both pretended to put each other down for nap. One of you would lay on the floor, while the other placed the blanket on her and pat her back. It was very cute! Since then, you have been very into putting your stuffed animals to sleep as well as anyone who will let you (Daddy, Papa, Mommy, etc). Recently, you have wanted us to swaddle your baby and stuffed animals and are interested in diapering them as well. This recent interest is no doubt due to having a baby brother in the house. You will tell us things like, “Jojo’s diaper is really wet” or “Jojo pooped” and even apply the diaper cream.
You have already found that having a baby brother is convenient. The other day, you tore the paper off of your crayon. Daddy asked, “Maddie, why did you take the wrapper off the crayon?” Your reply was, “Cullen did it.” We couldn’t believe you were already blaming your brother! Too funny. A few days later, you passed some gas when coming downstairs in the morning. Daddy asked if you had tooted and you said, “Bunny tooted.” Your brother wasn’t around, so you decided to blame your stuffed animal.
You talk constantly and narrate our lives. Your language skills have really exploded in the past few months. We have to be careful about what we say because not only will you repeat us, but you are able to process them and will bring up random things at later times. You are able to communicate with us quite well now. You often speak in fairly complex sentences. We hear you mimicking things that we say all the time. “It’s right here.” “I did a good job.” “It’s pretty good.” “I want to go to the other room.” “It’s ok, Cullen.” “My feet are going to be cold.” “Daddy, hold my hand” “come on, Daddy.” “I mean it.” “I have plenty.” “What happened?”
You don’t watch any of your own television. We try to keep the TV off whenever you are awake. We make an exception for your Daddy’s sports teams. Lately, you’ve been watching basketball. A little over a month ago, you came into the living room and grabbed the remote and told Daddy, “I need to watch the basketball. I want to watch the game.” Your Daddy was so proud! I wish I had it on video. Daddy gave you a huge hug and was grinning ear to ear. Your Daddy has done a pretty good job at watching his language during the game. This is a good thing, since you will repeat things that he says at times. You now will tell the players, “Calm down, guys.” You got a basketball goal for Christmas from Santa, and you love playing it with your Daddy.
Speaking of Christmas, you got a lot of cool stuff this year. We visited Santa, but you didn’t want to have any part of it. You certainly didn’t tell him what you wanted. Fortunately, he knew what you would like. Your grandparents, aunts, and uncles gave you some nice things as well. Some of your favorite gifts from Christmas are your drawing toy (just like Keira’s), your shopping cart and fake foods, your bike, your train sets, and your tea set. You have played with all of those quite a bit since Christmas. When guests come over, you often offer them “hot tea.” You have a new table just your size that you keep your tea set on most of the time.
You got a few new books for Christmas, too. You love your books! Sometimes you’ll look at them on your own or even read them to your stuffed animals. Most of the time, you want us to read them over and over. As soon as we get to the end, you say, “read it again.” You often prefer for Mommy to read the books to you. I do the voices better than Daddy!
Daddy does a better job building things with the Legos. You have quite a collection of toddler blocks and enjoy playing with them quite a bit. My favorite is the Duplo dinosaur set. You like to build “towers.” Daddy builds some nice, complicated towers and houses. You seem to appreciate his work. You are also pretty good at putting your blocks away when you are done (as well as other toys with lots of pieces). Apparently, you sing a “clean up” song at school. “Clean up, clean up, everybody clean up.” I have a good appreciation for your daycare teachers! They often teach you great habits. You know that everything has a proper place and put things in their places when finished.
Another thing that we have noticed from daycare is that you have a healthy respect for their disciplinary tactics. You don’t often need to be disciplined at school, but you are well aware of the consequences if you misbehave. I wasn’t even aware that they used “time out” at school, and one day recently I had my hands full with Cullen and you were shrieking. I asked you repeatedly to use your indoor voice. You continued to shriek at the top of your lungs and you thought it was quite funny. I then asked if you wanted to go to “time out.” I had never used that phrase with you before, so I have no idea why I used it then. You immediately stopped shrieking and got very upset. You ran to Daddy, crying about how you didn’t want to go to time out. It was heartbreaking! I felt awful. We had to reassure you that you weren’t in trouble and everything was ok. Another tactic that your daycare teachers use is the phrase “walk away.” We haven’t had to use that one with you. You tell yourself to “walk away” when we tell you not to do something. It breaks my heart as it obviously upsets you to find that you’re in trouble! We will have to use both of those phrases sparingly.
Honestly, you are well behaved most of the time and rarely need disciplining. I’m sure this will change as you get older and push your boundaries more and more. You do tend to throw a fit when you don’t get your way. Lately, you have gotten upset because we refuse to give you cheddar bunnies for dinner. You also burst into tears when Daddy leaves the room or is not available to take orders from you.
Your infatuation with Daddy did not keep you from tattling on him recently when he broke one of our dinner plates. We were chatting with your grandparents at the time that it happened, and you kept saying, “Daddy broke a plate” over and over. “Daddy broke a plate, trash” meaning Daddy broke the plate and put it in the trash. You told everyone about it in the next several weeks. All of the daycare teachers knew about it, including many of the floaters.
You are developing a pretty good memory for random events. Sometime several months ago, you were eating a pizza crust (which we like to call the “pizza bone”). Nana and Papa were visiting with their dog Abby, and Abby snatched the pizza bone from you and ate it. You still are talking about that. It comes up nearly every time we have pizza and some other random times. “Abby took my pizza bone. Eat it.”
The other day was a first. You tattled on Nana and Papa for something they did while we were in the hospital for Cullen’s birth. This is the first time that you have told us about something that happened when we weren’t around. Cullen spit up a little on the couch, and when I asked Daddy to get a damp washcloth to clean it up, it must have triggered the memory for you. You started pointing to a spot on the couch and said, “Papa washed it. It’s clean.” You repeated this over and over which prompted me to call your grandparents to find out what happened to the couch when we weren’t here. This was almost four weeks ago, and we were amazed that you remembered it and relayed the information to us. Abby had slobbered on the couch and Papa had indeed cleaned it up. All of us are just amazed that you remembered this and were able to communicate it to us.
Your repeated storytelling is not limited to negative events. You recently told what I consider to be your first joke. One day during lunch, I spilled my Dr. Pepper all over the place! I was talking to you about it, “Maddie, I spilled Dr. Pepper everywhere! It’s on my pants, the table, the floor, my shoes, it’s everywhere!” You responded with, “on your head??” and giggled about it. Clever girl! You mentioned the incident at random times over the next few weeks. “Dr. Pepper on your head!” You even made up some variations. “Goldfish on my knee!” I love how you say “Dr. Pepper.” “Doc-tuh Pep-puh” Too cute.
The first time that Keira’s mommy took you home from school, you talked about it for weeks to anyone who would listen. “I rode in Shannon’s car. Toys.” The box of toys in Shannon’s car was pretty exciting as you never failed to mention them. That was the first time that you had ridden in a car in a forward facing car seat, but since then your regular car seat is facing forward. We had to reconfigure the seats so that we could install Cullen’s car seat. You can see out the windows much better now and comment on all the cars. You’ll say “cars” and “beep beep” quite often.
You have ridden in the car with Shannon a few other times since then. When Cullen was born, Shannon picked you up from daycare and took care of you until Aunt Kristin arrived (followed shortly by Nana and Papa). You have ridden home with Shannon a few other times since then as well. You and Keira have so much fun together! We stayed with Keira’s family in the mountains on the way to visit your grandparents in Kentucky. They recently bought a mountain house directly on our route to Kentucky, so hopefully we will be able to do it again sometime. We had a wonderful extended weekend. You and Keira had a lot of fun together. We stopped for another night on the way back home, too. Shortly before Cullen was born, we had a slumber party at our house with Keira and her mommy. It’s always a treat to see you and Keira play together. You get so excited to see each other! Recently, you have started saying that Keira is your best friend. Of course, this has been the case for a while, but it is cute to hear you talk about it. We try to arrange to have dinner with Keira a couple times a month, and we are hoping that you’ll be in her 2-year old classroom soon.
You talk frequently about your classmate Andy. Your teachers call him “Andy Man,” so you have been calling him that as well. You have an old cell phone of Daddy’s that is your phone. You use it to call Andy most often. You’ve even started calling the phone your “Andy phone.” The other day, you walked into the bathroom and said with surprise, “Where’s Andy? Andy’s not in here!” I’m not sure why you expected him to be hiding out in our bathroom. You are going to miss Andy Man when you move up to the 2-year old classroom at school. This should be happening soon!
You have had a lot of teething in the past few months. You finally got your molars, and they are huge! I know they must have been hurting you for weeks. You have been constantly teething. We are pretty sure you’re getting the teeth in between your molars and front teeth. You have at least 12 teeth now, though we think a couple more have broken through the gums. You don’t let us get a good look at them these days. You do enjoy getting your teeth brushed “with Thomas.” You saw the Thomas toothpaste in Target and just had to have it. Somehow with just one small Thomas train set, you are very aware of who he is.
You have been pretty healthy most of the time, but you did have your first experiences with croup. This was quite scary for your parents! We were worried about whether we might have to make a trip to the emergency room in the middle of the night. Fortunately, we did not have to do that, but we did take you into the steamy bathroom multiple times with the shower running on hot for 15-20 minutes. None of us got much sleep for a couple of days, and you lost your voice for several days. You sounded so pitiful when you didn’t have a voice!
You are growing up in a hurry. You make connections on your own all the time, and you’re learning so much. I have been giving you some lessons in the kitchen. You help me make the muffins and have the very important job of putting the muffin cups in the muffin tin. You have helped me bake muffins probably half a dozen times now and are getting pretty familiar with the steps. When it is time to put the muffins in the oven (or take them out), you are very good about going over next to the sink to stand a safe distance from the oven. I’ve been impressed with how well you follow instructions. You love muffins, and we’ve recently introduced you to cinnamon rolls. You take after your Mommy and love just about all breakfast items (and snack foods).
You love coloring, though you call all of your crayons your “blue crayons.” I am pretty sure you know your colors, but you just like to play games with us when we quiz you. Just last night, you grabbed a red crayon and said, “I have the red one.” I promise you that if I had asked you what color that crayon was, you would say, “blue.” And then the conversation would go something like this: “Maddie what color is this crayon.” “It’s blue.” “No, Maddie, you know it’s not blue, what color is it” “It’s blue.” “No, it’s not blue.” “It’s not blue” “That’s right, it’s not blue, what color is it?” “It’s orange.” “No, you know it’s not orange.”
You have been drawing with more purpose. On your drawing toy, I have seen you draw spirals on multiple occasions. In your coloring books, you have started coloring shapes mostly within the lines and fairly completely. It’s so neat to see you develop in these ways. Your love of crayons and drawing inspired us to have a crayon-themed party for your birthday party later today.
You no longer will agree to wear a bib when you are eating meals with us. As far as I know, you still wear one at school. I hear that the two year old classroom doesn’t use bibs, so I guess you’ve been practicing at home. We haven’t started potty training, but that is something else you will be doing at school before too long. You have a potty and sometimes like to sit on it, and you’ve even had some potty successes. You are interested in the process, and you’re aware that Keira uses the potty and wears underwear. You seem like you may be interested in it soon. You are getting familiar with the potty process, which is one step. You will always tell us when you have a poopy diaper (though sometimes say, “It’s just gas”). You often tell us when you have a wet diaper as well. We’re not quite ready for the potty training adventure, but we will gladly welcome dealing with less diapers now that we have two kids in diapers!
You are an amazing little girl. I love hearing you talk about every little thing, and you are getting so very articulate. I am used to translating your speech for outsiders, but it’s becoming more and more clear to everyone what you are saying. My favorite development in the past 3 months has been the fact that you call me “Mommy” often now. I love being your Mommy, my sweet little girl. I am excited to see what the next year brings in your life. I’m sure you will continue to impress us and inspire us. I love you so much, Maddie. Happy birthday, sweetie.
Love,
Mommy
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