Madison...3 1/2 and the Mother of the Bunch

Yes, this post is well over due....

Well Madison is now officially 3 1/2 but can sometimes act as if she's 13...boy are we going to have our hands full. I think I'm now considering it a blessing that we just have 1 girl out of the bunch! She definitely is the mother of the bunch. When she is told to clean up toys she immediately dictates to Carson what he needs to do and she is clear about what his discipline will be if he doesn't obey. Much to her dismay Carson (and Jason) are fully aware that they don't really need to obey Madison. At times she is a great helper to the boys. She is doing so much better at going to discovery land at church and having others watch her. Sometimes she'll put on a "show" right before I leave but that's just really a lot of drama.

Here she is "reading" one of their many Dora books to Carson. She is a great storyteller. After hearing the story just once or twice she can tell it very well by herself.

Here is one of her first people pictures. I actually drew the face with eyes, nose, hair, etc and then asked Madison to put the arms and legs on. She did exactly what most children at this stage do (I remember this from my college human development courses). But she was very proud of herself. Now she regularly is drawing her own people with faces and all.

In the spring all the children came down with a 24 hour stomach flu. I captured this moment as Madison slept peacefully on the couch. Dress up is still a favorite. Besides picking out her dress up clothes, Madison has become quite insistant on picking out her own clothes in the morning. She actually does quite well with matching, but doesn't always understand that she needs to consider the weather in picking out her clothes. She also doesn't understand that typically we only wear one outfit a day. It hasn't been uncommon for her to appear downstairs after naptime with a new look.

She loves to help in the kitchen, but with the boys this becomes very difficult if I don't have someone else here to distract them because they want to be wherever Madison and I are. Here Madison is enjoying frosting some Valentines cookies.

Another favorite...reading to Carson.

Just enjoying some arts and crafts.

And a little video for you to enjoy.

Here are some other cute things she's done or said that I just want to hold onto.

*One day she came to me saying, "I just can't stop leaking." I finally found out after much questioning that her eyes were watering.

*When we're in the car, she'll ask me, "Mom, are you on the phone?" before proceeding to talk to me.

*When watching a TV or video program, she'll say, "pause it, I have to go potty."

*I have done a lot of talking about who Jesus is and who God is and what they have done for us. I will frequently ask her questions like, "who helps us when we are tempted?" to which she'll respond "Jesus." One day I asked Madison, "Who are you?" to which she responded with much enthusiasm, "Jesus."

*One day we were all in the car heading out to run errands. Madison asked, "where are we going?" I replied, "Sam's Club." She looked at Sam and said as both a statement and a question, "Sam we're going to your club?"

*She loves to pretend and she loves to sing...she now is able to make up songs to the tunes of other songs she knows. Recently I heard her in her room singing, "I'm going to put my music on, music on, music on..." to the tune of London Bridge as she put a new CD in her CD player.

*Unfortuneatley all of my children have become wonderful back seat drivers. They all (even Jason) regularly tell me to "go" when I'm stopped at a red light...I try to explain why I can't go. Madison at times will say "cmon, beep, beep" as she urges drivers to get out of our way....I don't think she's picking this up from me???

Well that's all for now....more updates to come Easter, Time Outside, Ballet Camp, Hershey Park, and many more.