In love with Mary

Mary Poppins, that is.

We couldn't help ourselves, and let the little women open the presents from us (as opposed to Santa) yesterday morning. We figured we're going to have such an incredibly busy day on Christmas Eve anyway, why not? 

Cran's gift from us was "Mary Poppins." Ever since they got that get-well card from Nene those few weeks ago, she has been asking and asking about that movie. The card was a musical card that played "Spoonful of Sugar" and, despite never having seen it, Cran was already in love with it because of the music. She is very musically oriented. She loves anything with a good tune.

Well, they loved the movie. Maddie especially. She is constantly singing "Jolly Holiday" and "Chim Chim Cheree" these past 2 days. It makes me want to try other musicals like "Sound of Music" and "Annie" because of her appreciation for all the music and dance. She tells me, "Momma, Mary Poppins has such a beautiful voice."

*****

Cran sounded out the words "limes," "potatoes," "Zoe," and "Elmo" today while looking at her number book with me. She was so very proud of herself for "reading."

Little chef

My little Remy.

Cran is so excited to start her Holiday baking this weekend and into the early part of next week. She is counting down the days until Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We talked to her the other night about the real significance of Christmas, and she sat there very quietly listening and concentrating. She loves hearing stories, and was extremely interested in knowing the other side of Christmas that is un-related to Santa.

We've been spending a lot of time at Barnes and Noble lately due to this nasty weather. They just love it there. Maddie sits on the chair there and combs through book after book of cupcake decorating, cake decorating, and all of the kid's cookbooks of course. She is always on the lookout for a recipe that she and I could try that looks "easy" for us. We got her the Sesame Street cookbook as one of her Santa gifts, and I have a feeling that that will be one of her most favorites. 

She talks to "Santa" (Grampa) on the phone from time to time, and he has told her that his favorite cookies are oatmeal chocolate chip. So, she is excited to make those Tuesday afternoon. She and Beebster picked out the bags of carrots for Rudolph at the store on Friday, and of course she'll set out ranch dressing like she did last year. She is desperate to try making  these marshmallow snowmen and some decorated pretzel sticks that she saw in a Holiday cookbook the other day.

Too bad the kid's cooking classes would be another fee to pay, otherwise I think we'd have to enroll her. She loves her dance class though, and we can only afford to do one class at a time, so in the meantime my little chef and I will keep ourselves quite busy.

Crandaline Q.

Crannie making quite the elaborate "set-up" on the top bunk during her rest time.

Crannie sledding

Crannie sledding part 2

Finally her Crannie self

Finally! My little Cran is feeling almost 100%. She looks much skinnier to me, but maybe it's all in my head. She definitely has been affected though by being so sick, and I think this poor child has been completely traumatized from the severity of her stomach virus (and who knows what else it was) and the excessive throwing up, that she still has bouts during the day where she will cry and get very worried that she needs to throw up yet again. I don't think she's feeling nauseous though, I truly think she just is so worried now because she knows how awful it is to feel that way. She's been very, very slow to want to eat her normal foods again, and after she tastes certain things which are typically her favorites she will ask me, "Momma, do you think this will make me throw up?" I made pancakes this morning at their request, and she took a few bites only to sit and worry about what the consequences might be. Poor thing!

She was so incredibly anxious to go to dance class yesterday. I knew then that she had to be feeling much better. She was so happy to see Miss Dawn, and she told Miss Dawn that "some of these new steps are tricky" when they were learning their new tap moves. Haha. 

We went to see Santa at the mall last night, and Maddie thought this was great. She was a little stressed at first because she forgot to bring her list, but I assured her she could just tell Santa what it is that she wanted. She didn't even lift her head to say "cheese" for me when I tried to get her picture because she was so focused on telling him everything she wished for this year. Dan was standing by their side, and he came back to me laughing hysterically. He said Maddie did not stop talking from the second she sat on his lap, but yet had her head hung down and was muttering everything so softly. It was too funny.

She's been back to her crafty nature. She told me out of the blue the other day that "we forgot to give Super Nene a bracelet and a necklace" and then that turned into that she wanted to make them for all the "girls" for Christmas. So, she is busy making them and storing them in their jewelry box until Christmas. She made a little popsicle stick frame the other day for Dan which has become little sis' new favorite thing because Maddie drew pictures of the 4 of us which Faith loves. I let them paint today since it was ridiculously cold and windy outside, and we were housebound regardless. And, she's been so excited to be working on her lowercase letters again, which she calls the "little brothers," so I know that she's definitely feeling much better!

Make that 33 lbs

A tell-tale sign of Maddie's afternoon and night last night?

She lost one entire pound in less than 24 hours. 

Just yesterday when we took both she and Faith to the doctor, Maddie was 34 lbs. I ended up having to take her again today, and she was 33 lbs- same sneakers, same jeans, shirt and sweatshirt just like yesterday. I couldn't believe it. Then again, at the rate she was throwing up yesterday, I can believe it.

They're getting some stool samples to check for worse viruses than the common gastroenteritis bug and also to check for bacteria. She hasn't even wanted to go to the bathroom though since we got home, so I am not quite sure how I am going to get them this sample. But, I'll find a way.

My poor, poor Maddie.

If it's not one, it's another

I should learn to live with this fact!

Crannie was not feeling well this morning, but was almost 90% by the time her "rest time" came around at 1pm. In fact, I was quite convinced she was back to normal because she didn't take a nap for the first time in 3 days, which is more like her! She played with her Potato Heads and was singing Mexican kid's songs to them in her room. Her diarrhea has continued throughout the day, but she hadn't thrown up or had a fever.

I took them to feed the ducks this afternoon and to the playground. They need their fresh air. We took them for a little bit yesterday too, and it really seemed to do them some good, even if only for half an hour. But, she was having a blast today (bundled up from head to toe) with Faith-y and running from the geese. They watched a little of "Lady and the Tramp 2" when we got back, and it was then that I noticed that Maddie had her back turned to us and her face towards the couch. She told me her head hurt when I asked her what was wrong. That's about the 5th time now she has said that since yesterday. I knew it was time for their Tylenol since it was 5:30pm, and I'd been trying to give it to them every 4 hours just to prevent their fevers rather than chase the symptoms once they appeared. She started crying hysterically that she was "shivery" and I took her temperature. It was 100.6. I had planned on giving her a warm bath with Faith after dinner, but I figured it might not be a good idea to have wet hair then and have to get out from the warm water to the cool air. 

She asked to go to bed at 6pm. She wanted her cozies, and she passed out within a minute on the couch. We ate dinner with only one little girl at the table, a very unsettling feeling.

I don't think I would worry so much if it weren't for these darn fevers that don't seem to want to decrease. Not to mention, the headaches and she also had a bizarre symptom this morning. I noticed her right eye wasn't tracking me when I would talk to her this morning. That was concerning to me, although I'm sure it could be that she was totally out of it this morning. Needless to say, I will be calling their doctor tomorrow if things don't change. I feel awful that she and Faith are still feeling so crappy.

*****

On a much brighter note, Cran has had some eventful weeks lately. She had SO much fun with her Cheese Mouse, Guero, and all the "beautiful ladies with blondish hair, Momma." Hahaha. She asks about them constantly, and is insistent that she can now speak a "smidge of Spanish." 

She had a blast at Sesame for Faith-y's birthday, and also at Chuck E Cheese. She has requested now that we spend her birthday at Chocolate World. I think it will work out perfectly since they are having a Sesame Live show up in Hershey right around her birthday. She tells me constantly that she doesn't want to be 4, doesn't want to grow up, and always wants to be "your little Crannie." I tell her, "Maddie, you will be our little Crannie even when you're 83!" She responds with, "Mommmmmmma! I don't want to be 83!!!!!!! EVER!" I think I need to stop telling her all the time that I like them so little and don't want them to get older, because she takes it all to heart! Yet, at the same time, I'm glad she's like that and appreciates her childhood!

This little woman is so very dedicated to her new baby brother/sister. She is constantly worried about the baby and asking me if I am ok, and if anything I just did hurt the baby (I had to get their Playmobil bin out of the very bottom of Maddie's closet today and she was so worried about any effects on the baby). She asks me al the time when she'll be able to feel the baby kick, so that will be something really neat to share with her when the day comes.

Santa list complete

It took about a week, but Crannie has now finished her Christmas list for Santa.

The girl is psyched about Christmas. She is all about any holiday, but she especially loves Christmas! She and Faith spent forever this afternoon browsing the Christmas section of Target. They could look at all of that stuff for hours. Maddie loves the Christmas villages, and is anxiously awaiting late November to roll around so that she can help me set up all of our villages and our Christmas decorations.

She wrote about 2 new 'items' a day on her list. She's starting to write effortlessly, and it's really cute to watch her. She writes her name on everything that she does, and is now intent on writing all of her numbers from 1-100. She loves to learn. 

Her Christmas list is funny. She could have added about another 30+ things to the list, but it would have taken her a whole month. Her list includes, 

1. Ice cream set

2. Shopping Cart

3. Gumball machine

4. Aurora Tea set

5. Doctor Playmobil

6. Sweet Creations Play Doh

7. Cookbook

8. Princess crown, doll, and dress

My favorite part of the list?

"I love you, 

Maddie"

Santa list

Little Cran has "officially" started writing her Christmas list. It is only "official" since it is on paper. But, the girl has been making a mental note now for the past month or so of hundreds of things she would love for Christmas. 

She absolutely loves writing her letters, and knows every single one of them. She comes up with the funniest new words everyday that she wants to learn to write. Yesterday she asked me how you write the word 'scrapbook' and the day before that she wanted to know how to write 'Holiday princess.' She's been working on her numbers now and writing them (which she actually has more trouble with ironically) and after we work on them, she tells me she wants to write more words. So, I figured today we would start writing a list to Santa and everyday we would add to it. She thought this was the best idea ever. Since it takes her a good while to write, I figured we could make it a project for the next few days. I told her tomorrow we could start with #1 and #2 on her list.

This was what she wrote today. I told her to think about what she would want to write to Santa, and she told me she wanted to write "Maddie's List. Dear Santa, I was a good girl." There were about 3 other paragraphs of stuff that she wanted to write as she went off on a tangent about everything she wanted to tell Santa, but it would most likely entail 3 pieces of construction paper to fit it all and it would take her probably until Christmas itself to finish writing!

Halloween came early

Crannie just loves her dance class. She looks forward to every single Saturday! And, she had been looking forward to today this entire week. 

Miss Dawn had told the class last week that they could come dressed in their Halloween costumes today. Maddie was beside herself with excitement, and was so very much looking forward to this morning when she finally got to wear all of her cat accessories that she loves. Not only that, they had been sent home  two weeks ago to decorate their brown paper bags that would hold their Halloween treats. She loved decorating her bag with stickers, and wrote 'Maddie' on it and her favorite letter which is 'I.' They've been doing a little Halloween song and a dance with the bag, and Maddie remembers all of the lyrics. She is the only one who sings the song, and sings it loudly at that.

She thought it was great seeing all of the little girls in their costumes today. Almost all of them were one Disney princess or another, and Maddie was so sad when she saw the one little girl dressed as Aurora. She so desperately wanted to be Aurora, and wants a Disney princess costume. I figured we would get her one for Christmas instead of spending on it for just one night of Trick-or-Treating. But, she was extremely proud of her kitty costume and especially her tail and ears. Faith donned the ears when Maddie started her class!

She is so incredibly excited for Trick-or-Treat this year, and I hope that this year makes up for the botched attempt last year. She has NOT forgotten the fact that nobody gave her candy last year, and tells me all the time "Momma, I didn't want the dollar from that lady." Haha. She only got $1 last year. Miss Dawn had told them she was going to give them a treat for their bag today, and she let them pick out one piece of candy. Maddie sat there after everybody had run out of the room, and I could tell she was thinking she was going to get more candy. She told Miss Dawn "thank you" and then came out to me and quietly said, "Momma, am I going to only get one piece of candy like last time?" Hahaha. Poor Cran! I assured her that on Trick-or-Treat night that she and her Beebster will fill their pumpkins with treats. 

She is excited!

Baggy Pants McGee

A best friend is a sister

It is a special day for Maddie when she meets a new friend.

And, today was one of those days.

We went to the playground this afternoon after Faith's nap, and Maddie met a little 4-year old girl named Nancy Rose. She was just as outgoing and talkative as Maddie, and just as sweet. They became ever-so-close after Nancy pointed her dad out to us, and told us "this is my Prince." That bonded them for the hour or so that they played together at the park. Dan and I laughed so hard when we looked at Maddie's face after this announcement by her friend. She seemed in awe that another little girl described her daddy the way that Maddie describes Dan. Maddie goes, "Oh my. My daddy is the prince of my dreams too. Look, this is my dad. He is my prince!" 

They played so well together, and ran up and down the steps a million times. They ran from Beebster 'the Monster' and swung on the swings like Peter Pan. We found out that the little girl takes dance classes at Maddie's dance studio too, but on Monday nights. Maddie thought this was a great coincidence, and is now anticipating seeing her new friend at their dance recital in May. She cracked us up because she didn't quite understand the name 'Nancy Rose' at first, and kept calling her 'Fancy Nancy.' Hahaha. She talked about her new friend the entire drive home. Our Crannie loves meeting new friends.

*****

Cran was in heaven playing with her little friend at the park. And yet, it was so funny because she kept a watchful eye over her Beebster the entire time and would keep coming back to Faith to check in with her and see how she was doing. She kept saying to the little girl, "this is my little sister. Her name is Beebster." When we had to leave the park to get back home for dinner, Maddie and Nancy gave each other a big hug. Then Cran noticed that Faith was off and running ahead of her towards the car, and Maddie goes "oh boy, I gotta go get my Beebster! BEEEEEEBSTER!! Wait for me!" She was giggling the whole way, and Faith saw her coming after her and started giggling hysterically and sprinting. They give each other hugs now all the time without any prompting, and they gave each other a huge hug when Maddie caught up with her Beebster.

After we read them their stories tonight, they sat in bed together during their 5-minute time of 'lights on' time and read to each other. Maddie was reading Faith "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and Faith was reading Maddie a Christmas book. They're hilarious. I couldn't have ever dreamt for them to be closer. Maddie was funny because she notices things that I notice too, and on the drive home from the playground she was telling us how much she enjoys meeting new friends. Then I was telling her that someday Faith will also get the chance to meet new friends too. She thought about that, and says very matter-of-factly, "yes, Momma. We like friends. But, Beebster will always be my best friend."

The very best friend is definitely a sister. 

Knock-knock jokes

Cran learned a knock-knock joke in her dance class this past Saturday, and is now on a knock-knock joke kick.

Today was Dan's first day of 3rd shift (plain lovely..), and so I took the little women to play at the McDonald's jungle treehouse in the morning before lunch. While putting on her sneakers to get ready to leave this morning, Maddie approached me and asked me if she could bring her "trusty harmonica" with her for the drive. Needless to say, Faith followed suit with a xylophone. I told her she could bring her trusty harmonica.

On the car ride over to McDonald's, Maddie was on fire with her knock-knock jokes. 

"Knock, knock. 

(Momma, say "who's there?") Who's there?

Olive.

Olive who?

Olive my jokes are funny."

And, then she would BURST out in her fake laugh and blow a little tune on her harmonica (I was telling Dan, it was like she was doing the drum sound after somebody thinks they tell a funny joke!) Faith would also burst out laughing, even though the child had no clue what she was laughing about. 

******

Nene got Cran a new dress-up dress on Saturday, and some Aurora shoes. Technically, the shoes were meant for Beebster. Maddie saw them though and goes "hmmm.. these look too big for Beebster. I think I'll make them mine then." Although she was right that they were way too big for Faith, it was quite sneaky on her part. Haha.

Naps are reserved for holidays

Cran informed me today at 2pm that she will take a nap for Christmas. Then she went on to tell me, "don't worry Momma, I'll probably take a nap for Halloween, Beebster's birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, my birthday, Easter, and the 4th of July. You know, all the holidays" (and in that order too since she's been asking me which holidays are coming up next and wants to know the order). I told her "thank you, Cran" and then started laughing. I am looking forward to the 7 special occasions within the 2008-2009 year where Cran will be napping. 

She is so funny with the things that she does and says. I was sitting with Faith after she woke up from a short nap (no blankie to sniff as the culprit) since short naps = the need to sit and actually wake up fully before engaging in normal activities otherwise said-child will be unusually grouchy. Anyway, while I was sitting with the little Beebster, I see Maddie out of the corner of my eye with her finger in the goldfish bowl that sits on the dining room table. She was saying "oh, hi there my water baby. You're so cute. What a good water baby." She was pretending to be Gepetto from Pinocchio and it was the cutest thing ever. Wouldn't you know the darn goldfish would go up to Maddie's finger and suction it, and Maddie would giggle. Slightly gross, but true (and I had her thoroughly wash her hands afterwards). 

Maddie and Faith are on an "Alice in Wonderland" kick. This has led Maddie to be obsessed with the fact that it is her "un-birthday" every single day of the year, except for January 11th when it is her actual birthday. She thinks this is great. She went around to each of us this morning wishing us a very merry un-birthday. She is intent on making a cake with her Guy and Ella and her Beebster since she thinks it's wonderful that they all share an un-birthday. Haha.

We spent a lot of today outside since it was beautiful. She and Faith played with their chalks forever, and actually made quite the drawings on our steps. Without me even prompting her, Maddie drew an 'I,' a 'B,' and an 'E' and told me to look. She was so proud! Then during our afternoon walk, the little women ran into a nice woman that we had never seen before. The woman commented that she loved Maddie's shoes (Maddie had chosen her outfit for the afternoon-- her princess shirt, purple shorts, a bracelet, headband, and green and blue sandal shoes that have a sort of heel that did not match whatsoever) and asked if Maddie could run OK in them- which was my mindset as well since I was concerned the entire length of our walk that she would fall flat as a pancake while sprinting with those darn shoes on, but thankfully did not. Then the woman was saying that she loved Maddie's reddish hair and freckles, and Maddie goes "yes, I do have reddish hair. And, it's also blondish, just like Aurora." 

My little princess loving, holiday napping, goldfish touching Cran!

Little student

My little Cran is one smart cookie, there's no mistaking it.

Children always amaze me at how perceptive they are at an incredibly young age, and Maddie and Faith are no different. Maddie has proven since a very young age to have one amazing photographic memory and a knack for details. She is a perfectionist who is usually hesitant to even start a project or learn anything, unless she seems to know she'll do well at it and not fail. I swear that was how she all of a sudden completely did the whole toilet thing in a matter of a week. She may have been 2 years and 8 months old, but she knew she would figure it out at that age and do it 'right' according to her, so she waited and sure enough was in underwear at night by the end of that week. It has always been the same with Cran about almost every other aspect of learning too.

For the past month or so, she and I have had "school" while Beebster naps. Cran of course has her downtime for an hour, but by 2pm if she hasn't fallen asleep, she is extremely excited to start her new 'letter of the day.' She just finished 'Y' and 'Z' yesterday, and is now one proud little student girl who points out all her letters in everyday life. We went to Toys R Us this morning, and she told us all the letters on the sign (except for 'Y' which she didn't recognize since it looked different than how she had learned it). On our walk this afternoon, she would stop at all of the signs pointing to the different names for the apartment buildings and show me the letters. It's great.

We intermixed the numbers with the letters, so she's got a lot of her number recognition down pat too. And, today I asked her what she wanted to do and she told me she wanted to learn to write. So, now I figure we'll spend a part of every day practicing writing a few letters each day. Not to mention that after our "school," she always tells me that she needs her "science lesson" which is a few segments that she gets to choose from either "Blue Planet" or "Planet Earth." She's MY girl in that aspect, totally mine! She laughs hysterically when the ducks fall out of the tree in the 'seasonal forests' portion of Planet Earth, she tells the killer whales that they are disgusting when they eat baby sea lions that are just learning to swim in Blue Planet, and she knows that a male elephant seal has a huge nose compared to a female elephant seal who is "cute" according to Cran. It's the coolest thing in the world to see Maddie always so proud of herself with everything that she learns. And, I feel that it's so incredibly rewarding to know that I can teach her everything that she knows without going to preschool, etc.

She has really done so well. A part of me always feels guilty that I don't get as much quality one-on-one time anymore with Cran as I used to. Our time together as the three girls of the family is always priceless, and yet the time that I get with them by themselves is so precious that I always think, relax and have fun. Don't become overly obsessed with the whole 'what should my toddler be doing by so and so an age.' Same goes for Beebster, and in her case I often feel even more pangs of guilt. Poor Faith has never had me completely and utterly to herself (or Dan for that matter) the way Maddie did for all of those 22 months before her little sis was born. I suppose that is just inevitable, those pangs of guilt. And, I'm sure they are only compounded with each child thereafter.

But, I remind myself that Cran is one HAPPY little girl. I have really never met a happier 3-year old. Clearly, I am doing something right. The mother guilt constantly hangs over my head, as it does I'm sure with every single mother out there-- by night's end, 'did I give 100% to Cran? Did I give 100% to Beebster? Did I give 110% to both of them?' The questions that I am sure linger on every mother's mind at night's end. And, I can always confidently say that I tried and almost always that yes, I did succeed.

Our princess Cran

It is inevitable that we will have to buy this poor girl some real Disney Princess dresses at some point in the very near future. Probably Christmas and birthday gifts.

Maddie LOVES dressing up like a princess. If the dresses weren't so darn expensive, I am sure she would have every single Disney princess character that is on the market, and in every color and style available to the known world. She's funny though and makes do with what she has. Usually her "rest time" is when she asks to dress up in a certain dress from her closet. Today she told me she wanted her "wedding dress." I had no idea what she was talking about until she pointed to a cream colored dress that she hasn't worn in a long time. I heard her talking in her room a little bit later, and went to stand by her door to watch her (those can be the funniest times to watch her and Faith.. the times when they don't know anyone is watching). She was pretending to be Cinderella with some purple dress up shoes on her feet, and a bracelet and headband for her accessories. I kept hearing her say "Oh, sorry Prince. I don't really know you and I can't tell you my name. Oh gracious, it's midnight. I have to go!" She is too funny.

*******

Yesterday she missed her first dance class since she started a month ago. She has a cold, and we don't want anyone to catch it so thought it'd be best to wait until next week to go again. The owner of the dance studio told me that she can go in to a make-up class this week, so we might do that. We also got information for her big dance recital at the end of the dance year. They'll already be fitting them for their costumes in early November. I was beside myself with excitement. It brings me back to all the years that Lis, Steph, and I were at good ol' Carol's Academy dancing and performing in our shows. I have a feeling Maddie will be a riot, and everytime I tell her that Daddy, Beebster, and I will be watching her and waving to her from the audience she gets so excited! We used to always go to Denny's after our shows for breakfast as a late night "treat" (the shows used to end WAY past our bedtime when we were little, about 10:30pm or so) and loved that as our tradition. Dan thought that was a cool idea, and we're looking forward to doing something along those lines with Cran.

Anyway, we went to Weaver's for their Saturday Fall Fest since Maddie couldn't go to her dance class. Of course Maddie and Faith just love this place. They each picked out their pumpkins-- Maddie's is a medium sized one since she's the big sister, and Faith's is a little smaller since she's the little sister, haha-- and they used glitter paint today to decorate them. Poor Maddie though was having a blast in the straw jump, and had waited her turn FOREVER (literally forever since she's the type of kid that will stand there and watch if there's other kids doing the same thing since she thinks it's not polite to just go, and therefore will keep waiting and waiting even though it would have been her turns years ago) to go down the straw slide. She finally went down, and thought it was the coolest thing. She posed for a picture and did a typical Maddie pose, and seconds later was nailed in the head by some boy with huge boots who flailed himself down the slide without waiting for Maddie to get up from the bottom. She sat there dazed for a little bit. It's no wonder she is constantly telling me of only a handful of boys that she likes, hahaha. But, other than that, she and Beebster had a great time! Now she's looking forward to everything else pumpkin and fall related before Halloween, and then figuring out a costume for her first trick-or-treat with a walking Beebster!

Maddie's world

I think Maddie's 2nd dance class was funnier than the first.

I was proud of myself for not crying this time like a big dumbie, even though I still get watery eyes every time she puts on her tap shoes or ballet slippers. I think that's how our life will always be-- a flubbering mess of pride every time my little women do something new!

She was so excited to see 'Ms. Dawn' today, her teacher. She has surprised me thus far in that she hasn't really approached any of the little girls to ask them their names or make conversation with them. But, I truly think that she has her attention 100% focused on her teacher and her class. She is definitely in her own world though! For the first 40 minutes or so, she does a really good job of focusing. But, those last 20 minutes she is totally adrift in her own world, her own thoughts, and checking herself out in the mirror. Then again, she is the only 3-year old in the class and although she does have an awesome attention span, she's still little and gets off track from time to time. They were doing some "hip hop" dance at the end of the class, and Maddie totally broke out in her own moves. The teacher and the entire row of parents that were watching (including myself and Dan) could not stop laughing. She provides a lot of entertainment! That's not to say though that she doesn't listen, because she definitely wants to please. Once the teacher reminds her of what they are supposed to be doing, she always goes right back to that. So, that's good.

In the beginning of the class, they went over the song that they had learned from last week. Maddie was the only one that remembered the lyrics and the motions to it. I could tell she was proud since she turned to us and waved after 'Ms. Dawn' told her "good job." A little bit later after they had learned some 'tricky' lyrics ('tricky' according to Cran), the teacher asked them "do you want to learn some more?" and everyone was silent. Maddie goes, "No, thank you!" Everyone was dying of laughter.

****

We were the first ones there today, and the classroom was still dark at that point. I felt so bad for Faith because she was pretending to tap with her sandals. She wants so badly to go in there with her Maddie! She fussed a little when she realized she couldn't go in to the room with Maddie and the other girls, but waved and blew kisses as only Cran's #1 fan could do.

Ballerina Cran x3

Ballerina Cran x 2

Ballerina Cran x4

1st dance class

Crannie had her first dance class today!

I got tears in my eyes when she left Dan and I to line up with the little girls to go into the room with her teacher. I had to make myself stop before it became a full-blown cry. The crazy emotions that go with seeing your kiddos grow up and do things independently of you! I can only imagine what the first day of school will be like for me; but, that is something I'm not willing to think about right now.

Anyway, Maddie had a blast. She was adorable with her little black tap shoes. They went in with their tap shoes first. Dan put them on for her since I was shaking. He got such a kick out of watching her dance class; he's definitely not used to anything related to dance considering he's only ever known boys his entire life. The two of us and little Beebster waved to her when she would look and Faith kept blowing kisses and saying "Bah, Da Da" to her beloved big sis.

There were actually a lot more little girls in her class than I had thought there would be. Then again, this is the 4-year old class since she was the only 3-year old signed up for her original class that had to be cancelled. She was the youngest, but definitely not the smallest. They sat in a little circle at first telling the teacher their names, and we could hear Maddie say "my name is Madison Constein." Dan had rehearsed this about 20 times before we left this morning since he was concerned she would tell the whole class her name was "Crannie" and then the teacher would be lost as to who this little girl, Crannie, was (he takes this personally considering the whole 'Jack LeFauchy' story of his elementary days). Haha.

They actually did a lot for their first class. I figured they would just goof around and basically not do anything. But, they did exercises in tap, ballet, and even got out the gym mats to do some gymnastics stuff. Maddie cracked us up the the entire time (and all of the parents actually to be exact). Each of the little girls was lined up and was supposed to sit in a designated square of the dance floor. Maddie sat there for the most part, but when the teachers would be coming down the line to do each individual girl's dance moves, she would start moving slowly to the front. She kept inching closer and closer to the mirror, until she'd be right in front of the mirror. Then, she'd just look at herself and smile and do her classic ballet moves that she does here at home: spins, weird jumps, etc. The teacher probably moved her back to the line about 6 times during the hour-long class. It wasn't that she was purposely not listening, but just that she was so incredibly eager to do everything that I think she would forget what the teacher had told her. There were a few times where the teacher would hold Maddie's hand in the front and use her as an example of what they were supposed to be doing during each song. It was hilarious.

I was so incredibly proud of my little Cran today. She melted my heart with her little leotard. I love that this is something that she really likes, and I hope she'll look forward to her class every week.

New dance class

I got a call today from Cran's dance studio. The woman told me that Maddie was the only little girl signed up for the Saturday morning 3-year old class. She told me she will still see if other girls sign up for this class to keep the class open, but in the meantime, she has Maddie signed up to begin in the 4-year old Saturday morning class. It was either take that class or basically not be able to do it because the only other class would have been a Monday night one. That would have never worked with Dan's schedule. And, the latter option of canceling Crannie's ballet dreams was completely out of the question. After all, she has been wearing her pink dance leotard non-stop unless I have her take it off to eat so that she doesn't stain it!

Anyway, she will be in the 4-year old class. She will be the youngest, but Maddie loves any friend of any age, and they'll only be a year older anyway. In this class she will need tap shoes! So, we will have to get those. I told her that now she'll be able to learn Mumble's dance moves from "Happy Feet." She is very excited to start next Saturday. And Dan, Beebster, and I are super excited to watch!

Delving into the world of ballet

Crannie got her first ballet leotard today!

Her ballet class starts next Saturday, and Dan and I are so very much looking forward to it. Not to mention how extremely excited Maddie is! It's so funny to see her practicing her 'dance spins' and 'ballerina moves' in anticipation of her class. She is thoroughly excited. 

We took her to Payless today to look for ballet slippers. They were ridiculously expensive. So, we tried Target and they were very inexpensive. She got her first pair of ballet slippers and she picked out her leotard of choice. She opted for a cute pink one with a skirt attached. She of course wanted to wear it right away when we got home. She took a nap with it on, and only took it off to go to the pool. Of course, she also insisted on wearing her ballet slippers, her crown, a sparkly headband, a hair clip, her dangly earrings, a bracelet, and her fanny pack along with the leotard. She's too funny.

Speaking of the fanny pack... Cran has a new fanny pack! Haha. We couldn't go to Kyle and Kate's picnic yesterday because Dan ended up having to work on his day off, so Nene and Gampa came to visit for a little bit. Nene brought a Disney princess fanny pack that comes with lipstick and eye shadow (pretend, of course). Maddie thought this thing was awesome! She immediately went to her room to search for things to put in her new favorite accessory. She stuffed a Christmas watch, some hair ties, chapsticks, her fake earrings, her Old Spice deodorant (hahaha.. she still loves that free sample!), and of course the lipstick and eye shadow in to it. She wanted to put her headbands in there too, but the poor thing could barely even close with all that she wanted to put in it. 

We went for a short visit to the Pagoda while Nene and Gampa were here, and then went for dinner at a little diner in Mt. Penn. Maddie was thrilled to have chicken nuggets and applesauce and kept telling us all that "I am so lucky, Momma. This is a great day, guys. Thank you for this great day."

She may only be 3 1/2 years old, but my little Cran is always so appreciative and grateful for every little blessing in her life. The new fanny pack was the icing on her day yesterday. She thanked Dan and I for her leotard and ballet slippers about a million times today. She's my little sweetheart, and I love her so much.

The subtle dance moves of a princess Cran

The misfortunes of a Cran

Maddie's misfortunes continue.

She had an awesome day today with her cousins, Guy and Ella. These two little women just adore all of their cousins. They were pumped to see Donovan and Ella today, and the four of them play so well together as usual. Maddie and Donovan were quite exhausted from not napping, but still had quite the eventful day decorating a brownie fruit pizza, giving the Veggie Tales some hair-do's with Maddie's Play Doh barber shop kit, playing outside, and playing "customer/seller" with Maddie's princess cash register and a few pretend items to purchase. They're all too funny.

Maddie and Faith were playing before bedtime tonight, and they were playing with the princesses that Uncle Matt got Maddie for Christmas this past year: Prince Eric, Ariel, Cinderella, and Prince Charming. Maddie asked me to put a pink dress on Ariel, and when I tried to, Ariel's head popped off of her body. Oh man. She seemed numb about it until she decided to go ahead and throw Ariel away in the trash, and that's when it started:

"Ariel... I'm so sorry you died. Momma killed you... Oh, man!!!!!!! I can't believe this. Ariel is DEAD..." And, the crying turned into sobs. She then picked up Prince Eric and took him to her bed while crying and crying and crying. She put him next to her in bed and started sobbing, "Prince Eric doesn't have a princess anymore... Poor Prince Eric. Poor Ariel. I can't believe Ariel is dead. Mommmmmma!!!"

I couldn't help but silently laugh. She was beyond tired, and literally passed out within seconds of her 6:45pm bedtime. Obviously the lack of nap helped send her over the edge in to the deep abyss of grief for her poor lost princess, Ariel. But, it was still too darn cute.

Princess Aurora

Crannie has now decided that we shall be calling her 'Aurora' "until Tuuuuesday." That is a quote straight out of Cran's mouth. She's too funny.

Last week we had a minor mishap here at home. Dan accidentally stepped on Maddie's crown and broke it. After trying to haphazardly put the crown back together with some tape, Dan finally gave up and we had to tell Maddie that her beloved crown was now broken. We stopped at Nene's yesterday to drop off her van and good ol' Nene had a brand, spanking new crown for Maddie. This one has blue jewels AND comes with earrings that also have blue jewels. Needless to say, Maddie has not taken them off at all. She immediately went to the bathroom mirror to look at herself, and kept saying how beautiful the new jewelry is. Last night she decided that she would sleep with a pink polka dot dress (because it's "pink like Aurora") and of course her crown and earrings. She looked adorable.

She didn't want to change out of that dress today, and wore it all day. She rode her stick horse all morning calling it "Mirette" and saying she was Aurora and that she wouldn't be answering to Maddie until Tuesday. She was doing this hilarious dance this afternoon in her swimsuit and crown and singing about what a wonderful sister Beebster is and how lucky she is as a princess to have such a nice sister. Haha. She wore her crown and bracelet to the pool today too, and took her wand. I forgot to get the stroller out of the trunk today, so we all walked up there including little Beebster. Everybody that saw her laughed and told Maddie she was such a beautiful princess.

She got the new Ariel movie today, and she and I watched it this afternoon. It's actually really cute, and she loved it.

She had quite the day yesterday at Hershey. She cried this morning because she wanted to go back again today. She's a lucky girl though, and it was so awesome to see her face the entire day yesterday. She's just one of those kiddos that has the best expressions and her whole face lights up when she gets so excited. She truly appreciates every little thing in life, and I just love her so much for that. She told Dan and I about 100 times yesterday that she was so happy and having the best day.

*******

In Cran mishap news...

Her latest clumsy adventure was the evening when she fell into the toilet bowl. I was cleaning up Faith after dinner, and Maddie had gone to the bathroom. I heard "Mommmmmmma!" I went to check it out, and Maddie had fallen IN to the toilet bowl and was crying and holding on to her Beanie baby cat, Bumble, for dear life. It was the funniest thing ever. I don't think she appreciated the fact that I took a few minutes out of rescuing her to take some humiliating pictures. Haha. She told me afterwards, "see Momma.. I told you a million times... I still need my toilet seat (the one that I insist on not using because she really doesn't need it, but Dan insists that she does) because my pompas (aka butt) are too small!" Hahaha.

Ballet should be interesting considering our Crannie's prone to clumsiness! 

Social 3-year old

Maddie doesn't cease to amaze me in so many aspects of her personality.

She went from being a painfully shy 2 - 2 1/2 year old a year ago, to completely coming out of her 'shell' and becoming our social little Cran. She lives for friendships. She thrives on conversation and wants to talk about everything and anything. She has an enormous desire to meet new people, and new friends. She loves anybody. She wants to say "hello" to every other child she ever meets. I think she wishes that every person she meets could be her best friend. 

Though she has met many snooty kids and many 'bullies,' she's also met a handful of wonderful friends recently that she truly appreciates. After playing with Kayla and Chloe at the pool on Saturday, Maddie has been asking non-stop when her friends can come play. I finally worked up the nerve to stop by at their apartment yesterday on our way to the pool and get their phone number from their mom and asked if today would work. Fortunately, it did. 

Kayla and Chloe came over today just for about 45 minutes in the afternoon. They are 10 years old and 6 years old, and yet incredibly sweet and nice to Maddie. They play with Maddie because they truly enjoy playing with Maddie, and not because they feel obligated to since she's so much younger than them. Actually, it's extremely funny to watch  Maddie with the older girls. She just loves them.

They played with all the 'Pets' for quite some time, and also set up the cottage in Maddie's room. They were very busy. Meanwhile, I sat in our bedroom just laughing under my breath at how cute Maddie is. When they first went in to Maddie's room, Maddie whipped out her harmonica and started belting out a tune. She goes, "that's my music that I like to play before we start playing. Ok, we can start playing guys!" She does NOT stop talking. She kept saying things like

"ohhhh... Chloe, your shirt is beautiful. Where did you get it?"

"ohhh.. Chloe, I like your eyes. They're beautiful."

"wow, Kaila. Your hair is so beautiful."

"do you guys like my shorts? Do you guys like my shirt? I wish it had Aurora on it (she was wearing her princesses shirt) because she is my favorite princess."

"isn't our home so nice? My momma likes it very clean for you guys." (haha).

"What do you guys call your Momma? I call my Momma, 'Momma.' I love her" (that one brought the biggest smile to my face as I sat there eavesdropping!)

"My Daddy is very silly" (when Dan was taunting Maddie about the 'Stinkus Brothers' (aka The Jonas Brothers))

"I have a pet guinea pig. He's name is Gordon. He likes to poop in his cage a lot. He's so silly."

Actually, Maddie also did something totally unlike herself when the girls had to leave. She cried very softly. She gets very embarrassed when she cries, especially in front of other people. But, she was very sad when they had to go. 

It's just so nice to have met some very nice friends that Maddie truly loves. Not only that, the friends she has met are all sweethearts just like my Cran. I hope that the day she does start school that she's able to meet nice friends just like she has met this summer. It makes all the difference now that I realize she's growing up (slowly.... SLOWLY!) and wanting to form her own friendships. I know she'll always be my best friend, and I'll always be hers but it will be that much more comforting to know one day when I play a lesser role in her life that she can make good friends.

Crannie

Old Spice?

Cran never fails to give me a good laugh, the best quality in a best friend!

Dan got a sample of some Old Spice deodorant the other day when he got his lovely Madden '09, and Maddie for some reason has taken a liking to it. I have a feeling it's her fetish with smells. She's always loved lotions, chapsticks, body sprays, etc. Anything that smells nice. Well now lately if I notice she has disappeared for a little while, I've been finding her applying Old Spice deodorant to her underarms. It's been like smelling an older man all the time.. and yet it's just my Cran. She always has the funniest little grin on her face too when I catch her putting on more deodorant. She tells me that it smells too good not to use. Hahaha. 

She and I kept busy this afternoon making cookie bars. This was something new we hadn't tried, and she had a lot of fun making them. Not to mention, it was also a good day because she found her crown that she's been looking for for 3 days now. She LOVES her crown. Once again, she wore it up to the pool today. 

My little Old Spice wearing princess.

Leave it to Crannie

We've been reading one of her very old Mother Goose books lately at night. Since there are so many pages and so many short stories/poems, I let her choose about 10 or so. I told her it was time for bed after reading, and she asks for "one more Momma, the one with the little boy that loves sour candy." I had no idea what she was talking about, and she says "Mommmmma... it's the little boy with the green shirt. He loves sour candy." She leafed through every single page from back to front until she came to the page about Jack Dandy (who, for the record, indeed is wearing a green shirt).

Handy- spandy, Jacky dandy,

Loves plum cake and sugar candy,

He bought some at the grocer's shop,

And pleased away went hop, hop, hop.

Totally my Crannie to single out and remember a poem about a little boy who loves candy. The picture is hilarious too because it's a little boy holding tons of "sweets" (as Maddie would call them) with a huge smile on his face. Reminds me of Cran.

We were the only losers at the pool today. I say losers, but really I mean it was great. It was incredibly breezy though and really not even all that warm, so there wasn't a soul there today. It was great because they had everything to themselves. Maddie's been doing some great jumps now in to the baby pool and always loves to practice her swims in the big pool. It was weird today because the lifeguard- who we've seen the entire summer- asked me out of the blue how old Maddie was. When I told him 3, he told me that he has a little girl who is 4 and that she and his wife are somewhere in Europe either in Serbia, Yugoslavia, or Italy. I don't know what he meant by 'somewhere' but he said that he works here in the summers and doesn't see them from May until September. I felt so bad. I've finally now realized why he always seems so touched when Maddie and Faith wave 'hi' and 'bye' to him and when Maddie asks him how he's doing and sings made-up songs in the big pool. He told me that she reminds him so much of his daughter. It was really sweet. All the while Maddie was singing yet another made-up song with lyrics that included stuff about princesses, Sesame Place, candy, the HersheyPark theme song, and guns. And, while Maddie was doing her laps Faith was running back and forth doing her cute face and break-it-down dance.

At dinner tonight she asked me to say the prayers first, and then decided to say her own:

Thank you Lord for my great girl friends. Thank you for my Beebster who is very sneaky. What a happy war. (hahahaha). 

Friends day

Nene sent a card today that opened and sang the theme song to "Friends" which was an instant hit for dancing with the Cran and the B. Very fitting with the whole "Friends" theme, because Maddie had a blast today with her girl friends.

Isabelle and Cassy came to play today. I was telling their mom that it's so ironic and only my luck that we finally get around to talking more, and they've moved out of the townhouse that's right next to our apartments. We've been talking now for almost 2 years; I first ran in to them when little Beebster was only 3 months old. She was the only person that I would talk to on a slightly consistent basis, and I always thought it was cool that she also was a stay-at-home mom with my same values raising two little girls. Now they've moved though, and now is when Maddie, Faith, Isabelle, and Cassy have really started talking more and become more attached. Ironic, or just plain cruel?

Either way, today was a great day for my little women. Isabelle and Cassy came over for lunch and they all played wonderfully. On Tuesday we had decided that today would work well. Maddie cried that morning because she wanted them to come play that same day. She asked yesterday morning if they'd be coming, and was ecstatic to see them come today. She was in absolute heaven. It's one of the coolest things in the world to see Maddie now at the age where she thrives on good friends and friendships. She lives for meeting new friends, and really values all of her friends. Nice friends. Luckily, Isabelle who is 7 is exactly like Cran. She's such a sweetheart. The two of them played incredibly well together. They were in Maddie's room with her door shut inventing stuff to play. They were in our room sitting at the computer with a little cash register pretending to sell stuff. Maddie was the customer and Isabelle was selling Cran library books. Maddie had an old Disney bag filled with stuff that she had "bought." They were restaurant entrepreneurs seating Beebster and Cassy at the little table in the kitchen, all the while giggling non-stop. They were musicians playing on their keyboards.

It makes me laugh how very similar the 4 little ladies are. Cassy and Faith are just as similar a pair as Isabelle and Maddie. The little sisters are charismatic little ladies with the spunkiest personalities, and yet as sweet as can be. So funny!

I took the Cran and the B. out to play in the back after the girls had left, and Maddie kept telling me all about the fun she had had. At one point, Isabelle told Cran to go behind the cottage with her because she had a secret to tell her. The next thing I know, I was changing Faith's diaper in our room and Maddie comes up to me and tells me "Momma, she's daddy (yes, she still does the pronoun mixing up thing, which I think is adorable!) is named WOBUT." It took me a few seconds to realize that the secret Isabelle wanted to tell Maddie was that her dad's name is Robert. Isabelle talks with the cutest little lisp, and her 'r's' are 'w's.' I laughed so hard at the fact that Maddie had shared her first secret with a little girl friend, and that this was what it was about. So sweet and innocent.

Great day for my little girl who just loves new friends.

Ballerina

Looks like little Crannie will be our ballerina starting in September!

We had thought of putting her in a summer soccer league, but she had told us flat out that she wanted to do "ballerina." Unfortunately, there hadn't been any dance classes this summer that would have worked with Dan's schedule, so we figured we'd wait and see what the times for the classes for the '08-'09 year would be like. There's a 3-year old class that will work well with us, and it will be every Saturday starting September 8th until the big recital at the end of May or early June. Needless to say, Maddie is SUPER, SUPER excited. Her face was priceless this morning when we asked her if she'd still want to do ballet class. She goes, "oh yes, Momma! I will have more girl friends. Watch this.." and goes on to do some spins. Haha.

I can not deny the fact that I am so excited about Crannie doing ballet!

1. I'm so happy that this is something SHE wants to do (and has insisted she's wanted to do now for months) rather than us testing different things to see what she may or may not like.
2. I'm so happy for that her that she'll (hopefully) be able to meet some great friends. She is an extremely social, happy little girl and thinks the world of anyone who will talk to her or play with her. Yesterday at the pool she was in the baby pool with two girls surrounding her. They were 10 and 6. She is 3 and was leading the conversation! I heard her saying "oh, you both have beautiful blue eyes. That's like Ariel and Beebster. I have beautiful brown eyes like Aurora.." Haha. It was quite a sight to see Crannie surrounded by such older little girls. She was in heaven.
3. I am so excited to see Crannie in her ballet stuff and get her little ballet shoes! I was telling Dan about the recital that they do at the end of the year (he has no knowledge whatsoever of ballet!) and he thought it was the coolest thing in the world to know that she'll be in a show and that he, Faith, and I will get to wave to her and see her dance! That was always my most favorite part of doing ballet all those years-- the big show in June.
4. I think it will be so cool for Beebster to see her big sissy at dance class. I think Faith will get such a kick out of it, and I know how proud Maddie will be to show Faith what she learns.

More girl friends

Little Trig had yet another wonderful day in the world of meeting and making new friends.

She had been talking non-stop about her friends Isabelle and Cassy from the pool. She even started asking about her friend Marissa who she hasn't seen since March. She loves all of her girl friends.

Today she met a quiet little girl at the pool. Her name was Abrianna, and Maddie kept referring to her as "Friend." At one point she goes, "Friend, do you wanna race me in the big pool with our noodles?" and the little girl said quietly to Maddie "My name is NOT 'Friend,' my name is Abrianna." Haha. The little girl was very quiet and sometimes so shy that it could have come off as a little mean, but yet very sweet and would giggle at Maddie when Maddie would fall off her noodle. This in turn would make Maddie laugh and smile. She was so proud that she had made someone laugh. Beebster sat on my lap and she had a blast watching while Maddie would wave to us.

When Maddie had asked the little girl her name, she then went on to tell her her name and Faith's name. She goes "my name is Maddie. But, my real name is Madison Crannie. This is my sister. Her name is Fafe Beebster." The grandmother of the little girl could not stop laughing.

The little girl left with her grandma shortly before we did. Maddie could see her walking way up at the top of the hill while we were just about to start our trek home. She literally SPRINTED to them as fast as she could go (and this child will most likely make a career out of endurance running, because she can really go and for long distances too!) yelling at the top of her lungs, "ABRIANNNNNNNNA... WAIT!" It was a sight. She would stop at all of the intersections and wait patiently for me to catch up, and then take off sprinting again. We finally caught them at the newspaper stand and they gave each other a huge hug. It was so sweet. Of course, right after that the little girl put her head down and walked quietly while Maddie kept talking and talking and talking. My little Cran does not stop talking! I love it!

So, it was another great day for her at the pool. I'm so very thankful that she's got her best friend, her Beebster. Those two are the best of friends and they do everything together. I'm so very thankful that Cran's got such wonderful cousins because she has the relationship with them all that I never had with any of my cousins. They are all each other's best friend. And, I'm so thankful that Maddie is able to make little friendships here and there. She may not see these girls very often, or in some cases, ever again, but she is just one of those kiddos that appreciates anyone who is friendly enough to give her even a few minutes of friendship.

On top of all of that, she had her 2nd girl's night of the week since she took another great nap. Tonight her choices for her night were to play Hungry, Hungry Hippos, practice pedaling her bike on the deck a little bit, and "Cinderella" for her movie of choice. She also was very proud to take the cookies that we had made yesterday over to the lifeguard today since it was her birthday. Maddie asked to go down with the bag all by herself while I put sunscreen on Beebster, and I heard Maddie say "These are for you, friend lifeguard because it's your birthday. Happy Birthday. Sorry these are broken, my friend Beebster did it." Hahahaha. The lifeguard busted out laughing and so did I. Poor Beebster. The cookies were slightly broken, but it was because they were in my backpack and not because of poor Faith! It was funny though. The lifeguard loves both Maddie and Faith, and she loves that Maddie always makes up songs while she's swimming and then sings at the top of her lungs. Today, the lifeguard found a big goggle mask and put it on Cran and asked her to sing a song. Maddie starts singing about "I'm not a boy.. I'm just a princess... twinkle twinkle little star." That is roughly how the chorus of the song went, and she'd sing that over and over again.

All in the day of a Cran.

Great Day

On our walk back from the pool today, Crannie told me that today was a "great day."

I took them out to play chalks this afternoon since it looked cloudy to try and attempt going to the pool. She and Faith were mesmerized with the little lightning bug she caught last night (the one out of five that survived the night in her bug container!) and were playing with him for a good while. Maddie called her pet, 'Rufus Chocolate.' She's been calling everything- dolls, stuffed animals, carousel horses, etc- either Princess, Chocolate, or versions of those two. But, this was cute because 'Rufus' was thrown into the name mix. After a little while, I thought of trying to go up to go swimming even for a little bit since they love it.

There were two sweet little girls up there today playing in the baby pool. They are 7 and 2 1/2 and we've known them since we've lived here, but rarely ever see them. Maddie was so excited to have little girls to play with today. Not only that, the 7-year old is a sweetheart like Maddie. They had the best time making up games in the baby pool while Faith and the little 2 1/2 year old looked at bugs (and in the midst of it all, actually squished poor Rufus Chocolate... unbeknownst to Maddie though!) and searched for baby frogs in the pool drain. On the way back from the pool, Maddie kept giggling and telling me about how she and Isabelle had been playing "that we were ordering Chinese food.. and I ordered chicken nuggets and french fries, and my friend ordered munch munch... she's so silly, Momma." Hahaha. It was so cute to see her having a great time. It's very hard to find genuinely nice kids for Maddie and Faith to play with these days, so it's extra nice for me to know that they're having fun and not being bullied like usual.

Not to mention, she had a great weekend too. She had a blast with her Guy and Ella on Thursday and on Sunday got to visit with her Grammy and hold Tyler. On top of that, she got to go to Nene's house that same day for her birthday. At dinner she kept wanting to do "Cheers" about 12 times in a row and then says to everyone "I love you all, fellas!" Haha.

Sleeping Beauty

Been on a 'Sleeping Beauty' fix lately.

I showed Cran that I put the "Once Upon a Dream" song on her webpage, and she was thrilled beyond words. She immediately started singing the words.

She took a nap today so she got to stay up for a "girl's night" ("family night" if Dan is off and "girl's night" if it's just Cran and I) and picked "Sleeping Beauty" for her movie of choice. It always takes her longer on these nights to finally get to bed (usually by 9:45pm) and she sat Indian style on our bed playing with her 2 bins of Disney figures and reading her American Girl catalog, her Playmobil catalog, Poky Little Puppy book, Sleeping Beauty book, and the Little Mermaid book. When she finally zonked out, I noticed she had Prince Phillip, Merryweather, Flora, Fauna, and Maleficent the Dragon all laying right next to her. So cute!

Little Crannie

My  little pal makes me laugh constantly. I don't know what I would do without my Cran and her little sissy. The best two little pals there could ever be.

She says the funniest things all the time, and a lot of times without knowing what she said was so funny. Her little voice makes it even funnier. In fact, just today at Giant a sweet old lady at the cashier told me about Cran, "those freckles, that voice. What a sweetheart." Totally summed up the Cranster.

At dinner tonight she turned to me, patted me on the back, and said "Momma, this is the best dinner. I just love it. Thank you for making such a delicious, nutritious dinner" (although in Crannie language she says 'tishious nutritious' to be funny). After dinner and after the fiasco of having to wash them twice and rinse out all the toys and disinfect the tub- oh yes, Faith did poop in the tub yet again- Maddie and Faith were playing "showgirls" and this time Maddie was being the mother and Faith the daughter. Maddie tells me very sincerely, "Beebster is my daughter. I'm her momma. She's the best daughter in all the lands. She's a sweet girl. But, boy is she a sneaky girl when she poops in the tub" and starts laughing at Faith. Hahaha.

Cran also caught Dan and I off guard today. She's always known about little Alexa in Texas and just loves seeing all of her princess pictures, but hadn't asked anything about her since about a week before she passed away. When Alexa had first gone to the ICU, Maddie and I had been baking brownies and Dan and I had been stunned about it and Maddie overheard. She asked me why "the little girl in Texas" was so sick and if she could draw her a picture to make her feel better. She hadn't mentioned anything about her since then. Until lunch today. Out of the blue, Maddie turns to me and asks me "Momma, how is the little girl in Texas feeling?" I didn't even know what to say. Heartwrenching. I turned to Dan and he asked her if she remembered what we had talked about when we had talked about a 'place called Heaven.' It was a conversation I didn't even know how to address because I felt like crying. Maddie didn't seem to understand, and just continued to ask if Alexa was feeling better and if she could draw her another picture if it would help her. I left it at that and smiled.

Cran's still on her 'fancy' kick. She's so funny. She's such an awesome little girl- she can be 'fancy' and yet she's never been a typical 'girly girl.' A lot of times since I always dress Faith first, if she notices something that Faith is wearing that she knows she has a matching or coordinating outfit to, she'll run straight to her closet and ask to wear that similar outfit to 'be like Beebster.' It's so cute. And, other times she'll ask to choose what she wants to wear just randomly. Sometimes it's dresses. The other day she wanted to wear her Ronaldo soccer jersey (bright yellow) with purple shorts AND decided that she also wanted to wear her dressy Easter shoes. She looked hilarious. Dan convinced her that the shoes would be uncomfortable for playing outside, but she still went in her yellow and purple attire. She later informed us that the shoes had been chosen because they would help make her outfit more 'fancy.' Haha.

Today her 'fancy' kick was in making a cake. I've been letting her pick something from the baking section every week to make because of how much she enjoys making 'treats for Daddy.' Considering we never eat it all anyway, I guess it's not so bad. Dan and I said though that we'll have to get her those 2 cookbooks she loves so much for Christmas because she is still asking for them everyday and will sit forever at Barnes and Noble browsing through them both looking for stuff that she thinks would  be fun for us to make together. Anyway, she chose a rainbow chip cake today with cherry icing. On her own this afternoon she asked if we could put princess figures on it to make it a princess cake. I thought that was a cool idea, and it looked really cute. She was so proud! Of course, she loves making just about everything. At Donovan's house she loved making Chex Mix Muddy Buddies and she LOVES making different pizzas for dinner (we've been experimenting with a few different ones).

Yesterday before we went to the pool I'd been telling them that they needed to wear hats because of how hot it was and because we had a  UVA/UVB advisory for the day. I put on Faith's hat, and Maddie told me she'd be 'back in a flash' with a hat she had chosen. She came strolling in to her room where Faith and I were, and she was wearing Ethan's old Rugrats winter hat. I couldn't stop laughing. Faith was cracking up too because she looked so darn funny. Such a goofball. A sweet little goofball!